In the natural ebb and flow of a local music scene, Tampa Bay is enjoying an exciting deluge, the assortment of musicians in our sprawled-out metropolis coming together to collaborate and create a diverse and lively local soundscape. Plenty of folks take it for granted that we have a music scene; others aren’t even aware it exists at all. But the fact is, there are close to 150 noteworthy acts playing our region’s live music circuit.
I know; with the help of the CL Music Team, I counted.
Eventually, we’ll get the entire list online at cltampa.com/music. But for the purposes of this year’s Music Issue, I’ve narrowed down that exhaustive compendium to the 25 locals who have helped shape and cultivate the local music scene over the past year. From the regularly gigging workhorses to those who perform more infrequently (but are good enough to draw a crowd when they do), these are the 25 bands and individual performers (listed in alphabetical order) who kept the scene vital in 2010, infusing it with color and creativity, stability and vigor.
A super big shout-out to CL A&E Editor Julie Garisto for allowing me to draw on her infinite wisdom and for helping me get poetic about the bands I finally settled on. To the ones who didn’t make the cut (and to fans whose favorite band I’m sure I forgot), look for us to continue adding bands as the year goes on.
And there’s always next year … reach for the stars, right? [25 bands after the jump.]
This article appears in Dec 9-15, 2010.