IT JUST WOULDN’T BE THE SAME WITH ONE BASS DRUM. The metal to be had at Eau Claire Uprising’s first Oxfest concert back in July at the Oxford Theatre in Eau Claire.

The metal scene has blossomed in recent months here in Eau Claire and a lot of that can be contributed to avid metal head Mitch Johnson. In January 2011 he founded Eau Claire Uprising, a local metal organization dedicated to promoting and booking metal shows for the Eau Claire area.

The original idea behind this was to advertise and bring in larger national acts for the area from a multitude of genres, more specifically metal and hard rock. However, since starting the organization Johnson admitted that what he was doing now differed from his original plan, and that was not a bad thing. Johnson mainly started out by posting on his Facebook page in his free time between work and band practice with Point Blank Genocide, a local metal band. Besides advertising, Johnson has worked with Nick Carroll, head booking agent for the House of Rock, to get acts such as The Devin Townsend Project and Decapitated; both of which are prominent internationally recognized metal bands.

Johnson has also started putting on a local music festival dubbed Ox-fest,”the most recent of which happened this past July. Ox-Fest usually features six to seven bands from around the Chippewa Valley playing for about half of the day. Some of the groups already featured in these massive days of rocking include We Are Legion, Reaping Asmodeia, Hightower, Desolatevoid and Micawber.

Since being located at the Eau Claire Children’s Theatre, Ox-Fest is able to have open admission, making it accessible to all ages, and also have the ability to sell alcohol, for those old enough to partake. Johnson noted that the theatre was large enough for bands ranging in genre and advocated the use of this venue more often.

“The fact that you can have a show for all ages and still have the option to drink helps bring in both a young and older audience, whereas before, if you weren’t 21 you couldn’t go to any of these shows,” Johnson stated about the benefits to the children’s theatre venue.

At the moment Johnson is saving up to invest in another large show and isn’t quite sure when that will be stating, “The problem with this business is it takes a lot [to get started], but you know in the end it will be worth it because you get it all back and then some.” Johnson hopes to get back into booking more acts in the future, but as of right now doesn’t have any specific plans, although he hinted at another Ox-Fest this upcoming year.

With acts like Cannibal Corpse and Hour of Penance having just been at the House of Rock hopefully more people can take from Johnson’s example and start bringing in larger bands for the growing music scene here in Eau Claire.

You can find Eau Claire Uprising on Facebook at facebook.com/ecuprising where you can contribute to the community and find info on upcoming shows.