Band rides crest of TV fame

Tres Bien! appeared for weeks on a Fox reality show. Now comes a tour.

By TERRI BRYCE REEVES, Times Correspondent
Published January 19, 2008

Mikey Bostinto, left, hustles CDs with his friend Roxanne Evensen of Los Angeles before the band's performance in Tarpon Springs.
	[Douglas R. Clifford | Times]

CLEARWATER - City Manager Bill Horne and Vice Mayor John Doran were lunching at Pickles Plus this week when they met a couple of young mop tops from local spunk-rock band Tres Bien!

With newfound confidence, lead singer Mikey Bostinto told them, "We're putting Clearwater on the map!"

That's not just rock 'n' roll swagger.

Tres Bien!, which means "very good" in French, recently gave the city a prime-time boost on the Fox Network during its seven-week stint on The Next Great American Band, a music competition by the producers of American Idol.

Five years ago, 21-year-olds Bostinto, Cody Wilson and Michael Crowe, and 22-year-old Ryan Metcalf met at Clearwater High School and bonded over their common love of the Beatles, the Yardbirds, the Kinks and the Who.

They formed a garage band. Or, more accurately, a bedroom band: All four wrote, practiced, produced and recorded their own music in Bostinto's small bedroom.

"Our aim was never to become famous," Wilson said. "We just wanted to be able to make a living playing music."

But appearing on The Next Great American Band gave the foursome a huge boost.

Earlier this week, the bandmates were sitting in a booth at Pickles Plus, still pumped from their whirlwind trip to Hollywood.

They recalled their first night on television: the vast stage that nearly swallowed them, the lights, the cameras, the fog machines and the roaring crowd.

Then there were the judges who scrutinized their every move and musical note: Johnny Rzeznik of the Goo Goo Dolls, percussionist Sheila E. and Australian TV personality Ian "Dicko" Dickson.

Not to mention the TV viewers - millions of them - waiting to phone in their favorites.

It was quite a leap for a band used to playing in what they describe as "dive joints."

"It was surreal," Bostinto said. "I thought, 'How did this happen? Why are we here? Who am I? And what are the words to the song?' "

Wilson, also saddled with a case of the nerves, said he decided to focus on the audience.

"I told myself to forget about the cameras," he said. "It's always been about the fans."

Over the course of the series, judge Dickson remarked that Bostinto moved with "snake hips." Sheila E. said they deserved their own Saturday morning cartoon show. Wilson was teased about looking like talk show host Ellen DeGeneres.

He now sports a beard.

The fans, who apparently liked the band's amalgam of garage rock, power pop and soul, kept Tres Bien! on for seven shows. They made the final six, but didn't get farther than that. Ironically, they were eliminated from the show after playing Get Off of My Cloud.

The band returned for the finale in December. The winners were the Clark Brothers, a band from Nashville, Tenn.

Since then, the members of Tres Bien! have ridden a wave of popularity. Strangers recognize them in public and they've received calls from booking agents and music producers.

They've played in Orlando, Jacksonville, Lakeland, Ybor City and Atlanta, as well as their old stamping grounds, the Neptune Lounge in Tarpon Springs.

On Thursday they began a 25-day, 21-show tour throughout Florida and up the East Coast as far as Boston.

"It's amazing what six weeks on TV will get you," Wilson said. "You can't buy that kind of exposure."

It almost didn't happen.

After family and friends urged them to audition for the show, they decided to e-mail a video at the very last minute.

"We weren't going to do it at all," Wilson said. "But we figured what do we have to lose?"

They were shocked to make the semifinals out of thousands of submissions. There, they competed with 61 other bands in the Las Vegas desert, on a helicopter pad in 117-degree heat.

"Breathing in felt like sucking on an exhaust pipe," Wilson said.

A month later, they learned they were one of 12 final bands to compete on the show, which premiered in October.

Plane tickets, a luxury apartment with maid service and free food were all part of the package. They practiced in a studio in Burbank, Calif., where they met stars such as hip-hop artist Kanye West. They even chatted with Rod Stewart at a clothing store.

Band members said they always prayed before they played.

"We don't play off our religion and certainly aren't role models," Wilson said, "but we do have faith."

Bostinto added, "And we do have soul."

On the Web

To learn more about Tres Bien! visit www.myspace.com/tresbien.

[Last modified January 18, 2008, 21:38:37]