Local artists are gaining national and international attention as the rest of the world learns Tampa Bay's secret: Our music scene rocks.
By GINA VIVINETTO
Published December 4, 2003
[Times photos: Michael Rondou]
The vanguard of local music includes, from left, Joran Oppelt, Johnny McCarthy, James McFarland, Jesse Martin and Flee (Lee Courtney).
More talent on the local music scene, from left: Rebekah Pulley, Natty Moss-Bond, Lazy (Jerry DuFrain), BC (Bryan Clardy) and 2% (Dave Drake).
We're nearing the end of a sensational year for Tampa Bay area music, one that included St. Petersburg's first music conference and this week's announcement that the Suncoast Blues Association has been nationally honored as blues organization of the year with the Keeping the Blues Alive Award.
Not to mention the release of the national-label debut from Tampa band the Washdown and dozens of other superb local releases by artists of every genre.
And there's more on the way for 2004. Jaws are flapping about new albums, new projects, another local conference.
That means more Times coverage in 2004 of a scene that surely warrants the ink. Blues long has been strong here, but I haven't seen our pop-rock-punk scene this vital in a decade. Every month I'm discovering another great band at gigs where I'm asking, "Why aren't these musicians signed to a label?"
I'm not alone.
Mike Powell, director of West Pier Records, an independent music label in Brighton, England, spent several weeks last month checking out bands in St. Petersburg. He left having signed Shotgun Wedding. Powell first saw the band, which has changed its name to Private Chinaski, when the band toured England earlier this year. Powell says he was shocked to find so many other great bands in town. He's returning this month to check out others.
"For a town this size, it's startling," Powell says. "There are a disproportionate amount of really good bands." Powell also was impressed with the tight-knit camaraderie of the music scene. He said he wished he could show folks back home how well musicians here interact and support each other.
Stay tuned: In our Night Life section of Weekend, you'll soon find a new semiregular feature, In Your Face, spotlighting local musicians.
For now, here is a sample of musical happenings to get excited about as we gear up for 2004:
SHOTGUN WEDDING GETS SIGNED (AND A NEW NAME): Is there a better way to end the year than to have one of the area's newest and best acts ink a record deal? No one is happier than James McFarland, Johnny McCarthy and Jesse Martin, the musicians in Shotgun Wedding - wait, make that Private Chinaski. Yep, the St. Petersburg trio, realizing it was one of many bands with the same name, is now Private Chinaski. (The new moniker is a nod from singer-guitarist McFarland to American writer Charles Bukowski, who regularly features the character Chinaski.)
The band, whose members are in their early 30s, only began playing out seriously this year. It's the first American band signed to West Pier Records. (Label director Powell says since the band visited Brighton, devout followers walk around the funky seaside city, less than an hour from London, sporting its tour shirts. Powell says he couldn't believe the band wasn't already signed to an American label and is "thrilled" he scooped it up.) The label will feature Private Chinaski on a label compilation disc next year and is also preparing a European tour for the boys in July or August.
"IN THE RAW" RETURNS: Local musician Joran Oppelt and singer Natty Moss-Bond never rest. Moss-Bond, 46, sings in both Sparky's Nightmare and Ronny Elliott & The Nationals. Oppelt, 27, fronts Auditorium and coordinates the Southeast Music Alliance, a network of bands, and the local Mekka Records label. In their "spare" time, the two this month resurrected the State Theatre's critically acclaimed In The Raw singer-songwriter series in which local musicians strip themselves of their backing bands and sing alone with simple accompaniment to showcase their songwriting and singing chops. Think of it as a Tampa Bay area Unplugged. In The Raw takes place at 8 p.m. Wednesdays.
REBEKAH PULLEY'S REAL WORLD: St. Petersburg singer Pulley has had critics and fans waiting for The Real World, her third album, with anticipation. The 32-year-old singer has garnered numerous awards for her sharp songwriting, singing and guitar playing including Weekly Planet's "Best Acoustic Act." The proof is on The Real World, released this month, an album of such grace it's easy to overlook the amazing craft behind the tunes. Pulley conveys chapters in paragraphs - heck, sometimes the girl needs only a sentence, the rare songwriter who doesn't need an editor.
Though Pulley's dubbed a "folkie," she's armed with much more than a guitar and three major chords. Her changes are weird and wonky without lacking elegance. Did we mention her voice? Ever had honey poured in your ear? Me neither. Thankfully, now, none of us needs to.
Props, too, to the Reluctant Prophets, the amazing backing band whose members know their job is to keep Pulley in the spotlight. These boys play with modesty, spunk and finesse. They have frequent gigs, but you can catch Rebekah Pulley and the Reluctant Prophets at 6 p.m. Dec. 21 on the outdoor stage sponsored by 107.3-FM before the Simon & Garfunkel concert at the St. Pete Times Forum.
FLEE'S MISSION - SXSW: Listeners know him as deejay Flee, host of Tuesday's Sonic Detour on community radio station WMNF-FM 88.5, but his real name is Lee Courtney, and he's the station's program director and a passionate proponent of the local scene. Flee and a group of pals have been attending the South By Southwest (SXSW) music industry conference in Austin, Texas, for nearly a decade.
"I always thought that many of the bands I've seen back home are as good as many of the bands at SXSW," he says. Flee knows how hard it is for independent bands unsigned to a record label to get selected to play at the conference. He also knows that bands that aren't from glitzy music towns such as Los Angeles or New York often get overlooked.
Flee decided to do something about it. This year the deejay and several others organized and helped raise money so several local musicians could get to SXSW for an informal Tampa showcase. The collective, which includes fellow WMNF deejays, local musician Ronny Elliott and Skipper's Smokehouse owner Tom White, will send five bands in 2004. The group plans one big fund-raiser - a multiband tribute to Johnny Cash in February - followed by several smaller shows to raise money.
Flee's SXSW strategy follows that of the record labels' daytime parties at the conference.
"(Those) get a lot of attention and attendance," Flee says, "so why not put on our own party and feature bands from Tampa Bay? That way we could invite music journalists, record labels and showcase the bands, and hopefully help the bands and the area get more of a buzz."
Flee encourages musicians to check out www.blogwood.com and click on SXSW Roundup if they are interested in attending SXSW in 2004.
RED TIDE - MOVING, SHAKING: If you're a lover of underground hip-hop, know that the best act going may be from the local music scene. Tampa's Red Tide makes some of the most fun, funky and brainy hip-hop music out there. The group - frontman/lyricist BC (Bryan Clardy, 27), deejay Lazy (Jerry DuFrain, 33) and 2% (Dave Drake, 26), who creates sonic pastiches on laptops and other electronic equipment - is joined by a fourth member, Skoolz (Jesse Potterveld, 27), who sends his bandmates musical data in the mail.
The band refuses to label itself as "intelligent" hip-hop, for fear of insulting other acts. "We consider ourselves hip-hop's New Wave," says Lazy, who adds that Red Tide is more concerned with being artistically true to itself than being groundbreaking. "We want to educate people, too, of course, that hip-hop is more than what you're seeing on MTV."
BC, who studied art at the Ringling School of Art and Design, is recording Time Pieces, a solo project. He has also laid down tracks with the poet Saul Williams and is host of WMNF's Hip-Hop Flavors at 1 p.m. on Tuesdays. Lazy also plays a large role in bringing in "underground" rap shows by bands on the Def Jux label (Aesop Rock, Mr. Lif, El-P) as well as hip-hop notables outside the mainstream such as Prince Paul.
Red Tide is recording its first full-length CD, to be released in January. Fans of the band will tell you, however, this is one rap act that shines in the live setting. Anyone who caught the trio opening for Aesop Rock last month at the State Theatre can attest.
Picture BC grooving out front, swinging an arm in the air, dreadlocks swinging as he's freestyling on his mike. BC's spouting lyrics about history and pop culture, up to and including Japanese anime. A few verses into a tune and you've detected: This cat is S-M-A-R-T, freaky smart. BC's brain locks it all in, his lips spit it out, rapid-fire quick.
Look to BC's right and observe 2% fiddlin' with his laptop, pausing only to snap Polaroid pics of the crowd. Behind both is deejay Lazy, this tall Paul Bunyan-looking fella, with - huh? - a long, red ponytail? Lazy looks like he's in wax-spinning bliss, watching his records go round and round, blurting into his mike the occasional witty response to a statement by BC, Flavor Flav to BC's Chuck D.
'Twas a beautiful thing.
-Gina Vivinetto is the Times pop music critic. Write her at gina@sptimes.com
