Music Man: Good to be Home

I’ve been in England for the past ten days. Those who know me, know that I love me some British music, and when I go over there, I usually come back all jacked up about a new band that’s starting to break in the mother land. This trip was different though. I wasn’t on my usual hunt for jangly guitars and rowdy lead singers, nope, this time it was a family trip, so unless being on the same plane as Judi Chicago on my flight home counts, I saw zero bands–nada. It was all about Windsor Castle, Tower of London, Hampton Court, the city of Bath, and a day trip to Paris for me, although I did squeeze in a visit to England’s oldest pub (The Royal Standard of England–it’s 900 years old for crying out loud)…
Anyway, I’ve been back for 24 hours and I’ve already come across two bands that have my ears smiling…The Royal–From Orlando Florida, have a song on their Myspace page called Make This Place that I really dig. It was recorded here in Atlanta by producer Matt Malpass–The Royal is what remains of the 111 Records band Rory. Rory’s singer left and started another band who has recently signed with Victory (I know, I know). I’ll take the remains over the original any day.
On the prog side of things, check out Tides of Man from Tampa. For fans of The Mars Volta, this band is also recording with Malpass here in the A. Might take a minute to adjust to the time changes etc, but this is good stuff indeed. By the way, what’s going on in Florida? I was born down there and there was absolutely NOTHING going on musically (except like 2 Live Crew or whatever)…seems that’s changed dramatically these days…
Atlantis Music Conference is happening this week, I’ll be writing extensively about the various bands I see in the days to come, but in the meantime, some recommended showcases/bands to check out: ASCAP Showcase at Smith’s featuring Ponderosa, Death on Two Wheels, The Redcoats, All Get Out, Natalie Warner and more, also on Thursday, Sequoyah Prep School at Vinyl, Friday is Part Bear and The Empties at Starbar, and The Media Says on Saturday at The Masquerade to name a few…see you out and about.
-mm
Current Listening: The Royal "Make This Place"