Indie musicians on the rise

I have two music columns I write for Examiner.com. Once covers music in Orlando and the other one covers music from everywhere else. Recently, I posted two interviews, one for each column.

The first article was an interview with I did Orlando singer/songwriter Billy Wright. Billy is such a sweetheart and a rising star on the Orlando music scene. After plugging away for years as a member of other bands and as a studio musician, three years ago he struck out under his name with his own music.

He has one CD out currently, “Sunrise” and has been working on getting another one released. His music has a nice pop/rock/soul vibe.

You can read the interview here:

Moving Forward with Orlando singer/songwriter Billy Wright

The other interview was with Tallahassee singer/songwriter David Lareau of David Lareau and the Copperpots. Hew had some really interesting things to say about the music business and about his music.

His Americana music has a great vibe to it.

You can read the interview here:

Interview: Indie musician David Lareau on selling chickens to vegetarians

Check them out and let me know what you think.

FMF 09 Day 1

The 8^th annual Florida Music Festival and Conference is history. This year it ran 4 days with so many good bands to see, and a few not so good. Their scheduling still challenges me, I hate to have to pick and choose, a block of two hours with no one that I knew I’d want to see, and then 11 PM rolls around and there are four bands I want to catch. Add to that the normal scheduling hiccups, an afternoon of rain and see what the schedule turns into by the end of the night.

Day 1

Just looking at this days schedule was grueling as I could see I wanted to be several places at the same time. The BackBooth had a terrific line-up of bands for The KikiRock Leukemia Foundation Benefit, while at the same time The Social had The Florida Grammy Showcase, and then of course there were four other places with an impressive list of bands slated throughout the evening.

I headed off to the BackBooth to catch Everyday I, the BackBooth already had a good crowd building for the evening. I hadn’t seen them before; I really liked their hard, heavy melodic rock.

Then it was off to The Social to see how the Grammy Showcases were coming along. I got there in time to catch Selena Serrano’s two songs. (Each performer was only allowed to do two songs.)Her songs have a nice blend of R&B and pop with a bit of an island vibe going on.

Since there was still time before Megaphone hit the Wall Street stage, I headed back to the BackBooth to see who was playing. The place was packed, I couldn’t get anywhere near the stage to see who was playing let alone get any pictures. While I was disappointed in being able to see more of the bands scheduled there, I was glad for the huge crowd, hopefully the leukemia foundation did well.

Finally it was time for Megaphone on the Wall Street stage. I hadn’t seen them live for awhile so I was looking forward to their show. Their hard-hitting guitar rock always hits the spot. Their set included a song from their upcoming CD as well as old favorites “Drama Queen” and “Not Your Enemy.”

After that I hit Tanquerays and caught some of Kaleigh Baker’s set. She had Nathan Anderson (of JunkieRush) accompanying her on sax, a great touch. She has a nice bluesy, soulful voice. I really enjoyed her originals and she did a terrific job on an old Coasters song.

I headed back to Wall Street to see the Thomas Nicholas Band. I was curious to see how “that actor dude” did with his band. He put on a really good show. I really liked “Without Warning.” He has this merch case with its own lights and everything all neatly showcased, all bands need one of those.

The last band of the night for me was The Fling at Tanquerays. Their music is a blend of rock, soul, and blues with a modern rockabilly feel.

Next post Day 2

Derek Stroker – Take a Picture, Make a Promise

Produced and mastered by Derek Stroker
Engineered by Chris Short and Alex Amoretti
Mixed by Chris Short and Derek Stroker
Recorded and mixed at Big Shot Studios, Maitland, FL

Derek Stroker's debut full-length release, Take a Picture, Make a Promise is well worth more than a cursory listen. The top-notch production is a masterful infusion of blues, jazz, soul, and rock with poignant lyrics and stunning musical arrangements.

“Lose Control,” “Green Eyes,” and “Reality” are jam laden songs that bring to mind sunny Sunday afternoon music festivals; the listener can almost smell the BBQ on the grill and feel the sun on their face. In “Reality” the organ, piano, and guitar are interwoven in a sweeping musical dance. The next three songs prominently focus on the piano, “Struggle” also features a wailing, mournful guitar, while “Interlude” is a short, dramatic instrumental leading into the touching “Goodbye.” “Naturally Together,” “Story,” and “Stay With Me” return to the more up-tempo beats that started off the CD. The last listed song “Realize” has added depth with the addition of strings. Two minutes after “Realize” ends there is a bonus hidden acoustic track, “One.”

The impressive musical arrangements are enhanced by Stroker’s inspiring lyrics and impassioned vocals. The Nashville based singer/songwriter mines his innermost thoughts and feelings for his songs, it’s up to the listener whether it’s a pep talk for himself or serving as inspiration for everyone. In “Goodbye” he sings “you can hold your head up high / you can overcome this / you can start over again” and in “One” he sings “One does not have to understand how love works to feel it.”

The combination of professional production, skillful mastering, and talented song crafting on Take a Picture, Make a Promise makes this CD a worthwhile addition to any CD collection.

His new CD, Rise and Shine is also now available check out his My Space page for details:
http://www.myspace.com/derekstroker

The Fixx

If you’ve never seen The Fixx live you are really missing out on a great show. While their recorded music is top-notch it is in the live show where the band truly shines. Cy Curnin is very animated onstage; just watching his spirited gestures and antics is more than worth the price of admission. Add to that Jaime West-Orem’s intense guitar solos, Rupert Greenall’s keyboard action, and the steadfast rhythms courtesy of Adam Woods on drums and newly returned Dan Brown on bass and you have a combination that can’t be beat.

It must be a daunting task to pick a set list from their huge catalogue of songs, but someone does a wonderful job. There always seems to be just the right combination of the big hits, new songs and some old gems rarely heard live. The set list from the Orlando show had of course “Red Skies” and “Saved By Zero,” but also included new songs “Everyone Believes In Something” and “Life Goes On,” and gems of the past “The Flow” and “Question.”

You get very spoiled by Velvet Sessions shows; they are more intimate, like a concert in your living room rather than a big show. There is usually great interaction with the band onstage and afterwards, most band members come out to “hang out” after the show, meet the fans, and have a few drinks at the bar.

Check out what's new with The Fixx at their My Space page:
[url]http://www.myspace.com/thefixx[url]

More pictures on my Flickr page.

Florida Music Festival Day 2

Day 2


I ran around like a crazy person trying to see all the bands I wanted to see.


Chris Burns


(Rock/Pop/Blues/Acoustic)
I’ve seen Chris live before, and knew it would be a fun set. He’s a solo acoustic performer and puts on a very entertaining show, with his animated playing and use of live loops. He played several songs from his CD “CB Radio.” His song (hopefully on the next CD) “Dirty Jim” is a rousing ditty about a boss we all love to hate.

Willtown
(Rock/Southern Rock)
The Southern fried rock of Willtown was new to me, but yet another I certainly want to see again. I picked up a copy of their CD at the show and have been enjoying it ever since.

No Circus


(Rock/Blues)
This band was probably the most impressive of the bands I saw. James Killgallon’s powerful vocals and guitar mastery were an awesome combination; the other musicians in the audience stood in awe of his performance.

Ambertone
(Rock)
I have seen Ambertone before and they always put on a good show, this show was just as good, and the packed crowd at Wall Street Plaza was certainly into it.

Robbie Carrico



(Southern Rock)
I don’t watch “American Idol” so I hadn’t heard of Robbie before, but I really enjoyed his set and look forward to many more of his shows. (I bet it was fun signing all those autographs with a broken hand!)

Plain Jane Automobile
(Rock)
I have seen The Janes many times live – they are never a disappointment. The Social was packed for their set, most of which I managed to miss unfortunately (dang those schedules).

John Frank
(Rock/Pop)
John Frank is another band I have seen many times before and always look forward to seeing any chance I can. I have really been enjoying his latest CD “The Spaces Between.”

Megaphone


(Hard Rock)
Megaphone is yet another band I try to see regularly. They vow to rock your socks off at every show and never fail to do so. Their recent CD “for cryin out loud” is frequently in my CD player.

Vonray
(Rock/Southern Rock)
The night’s headliner, Vonray had left the scene for awhile so I have only seen them once before, and they are certainly worth seeing every chance you can get, the rest of the crowd in attendance must have agreed as they were chanting for the band to take the stage. The guitarist in Megaphone, Paul Smith, is also the guitarist for Vonray so he got to pull double duty that night. Robbie Carrico joined them onstage for their song “Drifted Away.”