The local Ames music scene said goodbye to some premier bands over the summer, while the remaining bands have been very active.

The alternative rock outfit Lunchbox called it quits after they lost most of their members to graduation. Bass player Byron Stevens graduated in August and is heading for graduate school at North Texas University in Denton,Texas. Drummer Chad Johnson, who graduated last December, moved on to Grand Island, Nebraska to work for PMI.

“The situation is kind of permanent now,” singer Tony Bohenkamp said from his new home in Chicago. “Our guitar player still lives in Ames, so maybe we’ll be coming home for breaks and catching up a bit, but that’s pretty much it.”

Its a different story for English professor Debra Marquart and her band The Bone People. The folk trio spent the summer finishing the recording of two CDs, an acoustic album entitled Orange Parade and a jazz poetry collection entitled A Regular Dervish.

“We began recording in December,” guitarist Peter Manesis said. “It took us four or five months to complete. Since then, we’ve been busy promoting them, doing radio interviews and stuff like that.”

The Bone People support their jazz poetry disc with shows at Borders book store in Des Moines on Sept. 14 and at Ames Public Library on Sept. 15. They kick off their coffee shop tour at Java Joes on Sept. 27 and continue with shows at Cafe Beaudelaire and Cafe Luc’s.

“After working on the same material for so long, we’re excited to get out there and do different things,” Manesis said. “I’m sure we’ll do more supporting of the discs as well. Lazer is still going to have their local music show on Sunday nights, so that will be really good for us and a lot of bands.”

Manesis isn’t the only musician excited about a new disc coming out. Jay Lyon and his band Junkpoet have spent five months planning their CD release party held last weekend at Clearwater Beach in Des Moines.

“It’s a very professional show,” Lyon said. “We’re using 12 TVs and one giant projection screen to complete a video graphic show we’ve been working on.”

Junkpoet began recording their latest CD, Chicken? All You Can Eat, on Jan. 1 and spent five months on production alone. The four-piece metal act has gone five months without playing together.

“We’ve spent a lot of time prepping for the show,” Lyon added. “We’re not sure how things are going to work out, but we’re looking forward to getting feedback. Lazer is more our market, so hopefully they’ll be throwing some stuff on there.”

The Ames punk scene took a blow this summer with the break-up of the veteran quartet Total Passover. Their latest disc, And Then You Woke Up, is still selling at local record stores.

“We’re just getting back together for a couple shows,” guitarist/vocalist Andy Levy said. “Tom Meehan, our bassist, is moving to Minneapolis. A couple of us may start something back up, but we’re not sure.”

Total Passover’s final show is scheduled for Sept. 1 at the Safari in Des Moines. Squidboy will join the four band line-up for the 4 p.m. show. “It’s all ages, so students are welcome,” Levy said.

Both Grain and 6240 headed south for the summer to the South By Southwest Independent Label Festival. “It was great,” Andy Schneider of 6240 SAID.

“We spent most of summer touring Texas and the East coast. We went as far as Boston. We were really surprised to hear that places like New Jersey were playing the record.”

6240 members made out a hit list of people to meet at the festival and Schneider said they were successful. The band has not signed with a label yet, but it did finally buy a van. The group will be revisiting Texas this month for 10 nights and plans on recording again early next year.

The Mighty Plastisols just finished recording their second record, God Of The Big Black Van, free of charge. The Ames trio won the Opening The Big O contest in Omaha this summer and took home free studio time and 1,000 free copies as the prize.

“Two-hundred-some bands entered, and we won best performance,” bassist T.J. Clemons said. “The Ranch Bowl and 93.3 were the big sponsors.”

The Plastisols played in Okoboji and will be heading through Storm Lake this weekend. They play an F.A.C. at People’s on Sept. 13 and have a CD release party in the making.

“We’re doing this huge outdoor party out in the middle of Nebraska somewhere,” Clemons said. “It’s cool though; all those farm kids who hate country come out to hear some rock ‘n’ roll.”

Both Great Big Freak and Dogtown have closed the curtain on their acts. “Everything’s pretty much in limbo right now,” is how Dogtown guitarist Tom Faudskar described it.

“Our singer and lead guitarist moved to Chicago to work on other projects. We’ve been communicating, trying to put some shows together, but I imagine we’ll be winding things up pretty soon.”

Dogtown alumni Jeff Nelson and Jason Monroe have been talking, but have yet to pursue anything. Faudskar has no idea what kind of music the remaining members will lean toward.

Seasons Calling did some work on its roster over the summer, adding two new guitarists and a new drummer. The five-piece canceled three dates this fall to allow for more time to work with the new members.

According to bassist Chad Calek, the new sound is a lot bigger. Seasons Calling will hit the road hard in November and record 17 tracks next June.

Flying Taxi, originally formed in August of ’95, spent the summer recording its debut Stranded Fare. The band is searching for a singer to replace Jason Hosch, who recently moved away.

The band, which played the Long Shot and Cafe Luc’s last year, is most recognized for its KCCQ song “Heisman Trophy Man.” The group plans on marketing its disc this fall and getting into more clubs.

Good Times formed over the summer as one of few new Ames bands. Good Times is an acoustic project by singer Maggie Colbe. The band played a few shows this summer with The Nadas at Peoples.

Look for exclusive coverage on local bands in The Moss Pit column all semester.