Cigar City Management's mantra is simple: music should be good. Now, the Ybor City-based group is taking to the Internet airwaves with the the hope that they can introduce listeners to great new music while also giving underground and independent artists a platform to share the stories behind that music.
"We want to give Tampa music fans a connection to their favorite artists, to learn about their lives, their music, and other passions outside of music,” co-founder Jason Solanes told CL.
For their inaugural episode, they caught Junior Boys' Jeremy Greenspan stranded in town due to an impending hurricane hitting the upper South. Greenspan talks with hosts Randy Ojeda and Solanes, 27, about the five years between LPs, being Canadian and how a Junior Boys song comes together. There's even some nerdy bits about what kind of moves the group made after completing their obligation to the record company.
Greenspan also trolled Ojeda, 26, and Solanes into thinking that he was considering a move to Tampa over L.A. or New York.
Cigar City Management plans on having a variety of guests on the show including new bands, old ones and "people we love and people we’ve just recently heard" all while working in an industry focus as well.
"We’re in the music business, so I’m always curious how bands got noticed and what they’ve learned about making a living from their art," Ojeda told CL. "I think Tampa gets overlooked sometimes as a music city, but we have excellent venues, world class festivals, and a vibrant local community. If our podcast can put a spotlight on some of the cool acts coming through and coming out of Tampa, we’ve done our job.”
For some reason, they also let the schlep that wrote this post on the podcast, too.
Listen to the episode featuring Greenspan above and the one with Roa below. Subscribe to Cigar City Radio via iTunes.