An All-Star good time

Last week's SE Live featured two stories about local bands doing great things -- The Big Idea working on quality original sounds with a new bass player and Rockface Barband gearing up to battle for Pointfest today in St. Louis.

I'd like to draw a bit of attention, however, to the name at the top of both of those stories. Darren Burgfeld writes often for the Southeast Missourian and often writes about music and bands in the area.

What you may not know, though, is that Darren is in a band in the area.

Tone Def All-Stars were heavy on the scene in the early 2000s, but were shelved when Burgfeld moved to Texas in 2005. The big guy moved back, and the members picked right back up. Though their shows were few and far between, they always delivered a rockin' good time -- sometimes with more "good times" than rock.

They're just a group of guys who like music and like to have a good time.

The group, with Burgfeld on mic and sometimes trombone, Pat Koetting on bass and Ron Ruppel on drums will play Saturday night at Breakaways with a new guitar player, Matt Pyeatte, a fistful of new songs and the same great stage presence.

I'll be taking a break from my Oscar screenings to hang out. You should, too. What's that? You'd like an update on the Oscar quest?

With eight days left to see all 10 best picture nominees, two down. Eight to go.