Share Your Favorite Local Music With Us

Cafe Society
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Some people seem to think that in order to be good a band needs a recording contract with a big record label, and US tours. I don’t think this is true. There are thousands of bands who put out quality music without the benifit of massive amounts of cash. I know what I like, so what do you like from where you are?

It’s up to you to define your “local” music. People in big places like NYC or LA might only count the music in their cities, while those of us in tiny (population-wise) places are going to count a much bigger area. Personally, stuck in the middle of Nowhere, NH, I define my local area as Boston to Portland since those cities are as far away as I’m willing to go to see a non-execeptional show. I’m right in the middle(they’re both 1.5 hours by car), though my tastes do gravitate more towards ME bands.

However, please don’t count big national acts as your local music. Areosmith and Godsmack might be techically in my definition of local, but since most people who don’t live under rocks know who they are, I don’t think that I need to include them.

Sum them up any way you like. If your local picks have websites, that’s a bonus, but list 'em anyway if they don’t. And if they have a site and sample tracks you think we ought to listen to, by all means give us your specific recommendations!

My favorite local bands:

Portland Area

Jeremiah Freed
They have a sort of angsty alternative-folksy sound, and they are extremely popular with ME and NH listeners of WCYY. I turned all the readers of my fanfics onto this band :smiley:

http://www.jeremiahfreed.com/ I recommend you listen to their song " Again" (which hooked those readers, lol) on the audio/video page

6gig
Alt-metal. Heavy guitars, great vocals

http://www.6gig.com/ (I don’t think you can hear my favorite songs. :frowning: which are " Hit The Ground" )

Vacationland
Um… alternative? I don’t really know how describe this band. Good. Yeah, that covers it!

http://www.vacationlandmusic.com/ You must listen to “Devil You Know” and “Headache” too bad “Blood Flows” isn’t there too.

Headstart
I’m just beginning to hear this band…they make me think pop-punk but judge for yourself. I’ll probably buy this cd this summer.

http://www.headstartmusic.com/ Listen to the clip of “Bitches and Bastards” on the Media page

Twisted Roots

They were very heavy and oh-so-cool. Unfortunately they broke and took down their page. There are rumors of a reunion, though. If you can find a copy of Foot on The Gas, Body in The Trunk it’s worth buying it just for “John Doe” and “Spinning Gnashing Wheels” alone. Amazon and half.com have other of their cds, so it might be out there somewhere.
Boston area

C60
Heavy rock

http://www.c60music.com/index.html Listen to “Crazy” on the music page
Nullset (formerly known as Gansta Bitch Barbie)
alt-metal, but still nice vocals.

http://www.nullset.tv/ (If you can find a copy of Joe’s Grill CD Sampler I recommend you listen to “Smokewood”. Maybe you can, um, find it somewhere else too)

Jude
Singer-songwriter (not to be confused with the west-coast artist of the same name) Jude is really mellow. If I was going to compare him to someone it’d be Adam Cohen, but since no one knows Adam, just his dad, I suppose that doesn’t help much :dubious:

I can’t find a page for him, but the album is “No one is really Beautiful” and the song “George” will probably make even the manly-man types misty. You can hear snips of his songs on Amazon here http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00000AG8P/102-8482692-4328158?v=glance

Guster
I’m not sure how well known they are outside of New England, so I’ll throw them in just in case. I know people from the southwest who know them, but then again, I know someone from Washington state who has heard Jeremiah Freed in a music store too, so who knows :slight_smile: They used to be folksy-alternative, but now they’re more pop-alternative. I don’t like their last cd as much as the second and third, but what can you do?

http://www.guster.com/test/tanindexflashsite.html I recommend you listen to all the tracks from Lost and Gone Forever and Goldfly on the multimedia page. My favorites are “Demons” “The Airport Song” and “barrel of a gun” however. Demons has one of the best ever guitar rifts in it. ever. seriously.

So those are my local favorites. Share yours?

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Tennessee’s leading Celtic Band.

Their site is down right now, but here’s a link with listenable excerpts.

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/secretc%20

3

http://www.hiprocksoul.com/
That’s a good local band that will soon be around the world the leader is from Los Angeles.

4

Lately, it seems like everyone in my high school is in a band. The only one I’ve bothered to listen to is Fauxhemians, because one of my friends (PCon) is in it. They had some free samples online, but they haven’t been working for a while. They’re not selling CDs anymore either, and I don’t know if they will again. But I like 'em.
http://geocities.com/phunkeytown/

5

Kent, Ohio

Bellevue will really appeal to all your geekly sides. Punk band (I think we can call them punk) that has alot of synth and they sing about stuff like aliens and Atari. And girls, of course.

6

Not local to me, but they’re a Boston-area band.
Electric Blue and the Kozmik Truth
From their website: Electric Blue and the Kozmik Truth is a Western Massachusetts-based blues/soul quartet. Featuring female vocals and scorching slide guitar, their style combines elements of roots, funk, soul, and improvisational rock and roll. Formed in 1996, EBKT tours extensively throughout New England, as well as the entire East Coast.

They’re touring right now, I just went out and saw them last night and they put on a hell of a show. I’d definitely recommend that you go check them out if they play in your area. The singer has an amazing voice and the band is great.

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Ubzorb
San Francisco, kind of an ethereal sitar group.

Itsawhale
Santa Cruz, folk rock… Dave Matthews meets Phish

Hayley and the Vibe
San Francisco/East Bay, r&b funk, just released her EP.

Undercover S. K. A.
San Francisco, ska band, damn good, too.

Lesterjett
Santa Cruz, now-defunct punk band

Breakshop
San Francisco, techno/DJ music, with a bit a sax thrown in. It works well.

8

In the Denver area, you can find:
Hazel Miller who sings backup for Big Head Tod and the Monsters but has her own band doing R&B/Funk/Blues.
Chris Daniels & the Kings doing blues/jazz–they’re downright famous in Europe, less-well-known in the US where they live.

and, can’t resist:

Paula Westerfield & Band of Brothers for whom I play guitar. Blues/rock mostly, but since we don’t have to make a living at it, we play any darned thing we like, such as our acoustic version of Hocus Pocus, or the blues-ish version of Aint’ Nobody that I arranged. We’re much better live than the music on the site suggests–we don’t make enough money to pay for quality studio time/professional production.

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All of these folks have their CDs available for sale online!

Saucy Monky

AM

Breech

Paper Sun

Krister Axl

The Ditty Bops

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Delaware boasts Love Seed Mama Jump, a great damned party band. They will take you back to your college days. What they occasionally lack in talent, they make up for with gusto and volume. Imagine a supersonic, up-tempo version of “Country Roads Take Me Home” and you’re close. See them Thursday nights, all summer long, at the Rusty Rudder in Dewey, playing to a drunk college crowd and echoing out over the bay.

If you’re in Baltimore, and don’t mind your bands a little Irish, The Donegal X-Press are a great band with a heart of gold. They play as far west as Dayton, Ohio, and can occasionally be seen in New York, Philly, Washington D.C., and more, but Baltimore (and Mick O’Shea’s pub in particular) is their home turf. A great sound, and they like to close out their third set with an amazing version of “The Fields of Athenry”. They’re all friendly people. If you’re buying a round for the band, make it Guinness.

Last but not least, Chicago Dopers should check out Underwater People who cover damn-near everyone. When I saw them they covered Phish, the Grateful Dead, Paul Simon, the Beastie Boys, R.E.M., Led Zeppelin, and way way more. During the set break, they went backstage for a beer and some water, then came out and mingled with the crowd. They were really nice, signed our CDs, and were really psyched to find out we had made time in our vacation to see their show.

11

Division, a local heavy metal band. I saw 'em open for Helloween back in January and I was impressed.

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www.deviltopay.net

Excellent doomy metal.

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Springfield, IL has Mr. Opporknockity. I’ve heard about 45 seconds of one of their songs, and it sounded sort-of like guitar-heavy pop. I guess like Matchbox 20, maybe?

Anyway, they have the distinction of being the local band that performed on Whaddya Know with Michael Feldman when it was broadcast from Springfield.

14

There’s is (or used to be, at least) a pretty extensive music scene in my little burg.

MonkeyPod is great if you like Phish, Zappa, etc. Good jam band that pulls from just about every genre, plus an excellent cover of “WKRP in Cincinatti”. Plus they throw a three day festival/party in August that’s tons o’ fun.

King Snyder is the local heavy band. On their good songs they remind me of Clutch.

Hubby’s been in a band since he was 15, but he’s just writing with some friends right now - no website at the moment.

Since I don’t go out as much as I used to, those are the only local bands I really see anymore…

15

I don’t know much about the Central PA music scene, but one of my favorite artists, Van Wagner, is a local fella who’s written dozens of tunes in the folk/blues/bluegrass vein. Most of his stuff is inspired by the geography, culture and history of this region. He is currently the environmental science teacher at my old high school, but has spent time as a miner and logger in addition to performing his music.

www.vanwagnermusic.com

16

Here in Gainesville, FL, we usually have a few really great bands for a few years at a time, then everyone graduates and they break up. Right now, though, we have the excellent alt-country/folk/acoustic/indie rock band Swayze, who is not only my favorite local band, but one of my favorite bands period right now. Also, Tadpole Fad, who has no website yet, sound a bit like Modest Mouse in a blender with Sonic Youth, but less gory.

And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention my own band, Building Rockets. We play melodic rock really, really loud (my ears are still ringing from last night’s forgetting to wear earplugs).

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In Sacramento, we have our own local music awards, caled the Sammies. They are in their 13th year now. After about year 4 or 5, they came up with a “Sammies Hall of Fame”, because one band kept winning every year.

The Beer Dawgs

They play a bluesy, bayou-infuenced rock kinda thing; you can find some samples on the Tower Records web site here

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Manhattan, Lawrence and Kansas City area.

Ruskabank
www.ruskabank.com

Pop ska. Great fun, fun to dance to. I shot the video for “My Friends” from the first album and it’s available on their second album.

Ultimate Fakebook
www.ultimatefakebook.com

Recently disbanded, but great pop fluffy music.

The Get Up Kids
www.thegetupkids.com

Not so local anymore, but hugely popular. Also pop silliness. Becoming very popular in Los Angeles.

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Poi Dog Pondering is an excellent group located in Chicago. They are moderately known outside of the city, so they are probably not as “local” as some of these other bands already mentioned. However, they are definitely one of the best bands to check out if you have not done so already.

Their older stuff is much more acoustic-oriented; however, their more recent music is a bit harder to describe. Give it a shot; I think you’ll enjoy it.

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bentBLUE. THey’re from the Scranton area, but have played LA and NYC in the past year or less, and are due in Ocean City in June.

I lived next to the lead singer for about 6 weeks, two years ago. Cool guy. I hope they make it.