THURSDAY, JULY 5
Rock the Park w/Saskatchewan/Applebutter Express/Zulu Wave The July edition of Rock the Park promises high quality entertainment when dreamy Orlando outfit Saskatchewan takes the outdoor stage and delivers a set of driving yet dreamy indie rock, their sound marked by sublimely melodic vocal harmonies and finely-textured instrumental arrangements. Applebutter Express offers up a performance of their ukulele-propelled newgrass grooves while Zulu Wave adds loud and psychedelic intensity to the three-band bill. (Curtis Hixon Park, downtown Tampa)
Full Of Hell w/Nailbiter/Love Me/Made Of Glass The hurt is on when four ear-pummeling bands hit Transitions, among them, Pennsylvannia-based Full of Hell, a four-piece pounding out a harsh and relentless hail of noise-drenched hardcore with punk sludge overtones, and Nailbiter, which brings piercing shrieks and blackened powerviolence direct from South Carolina. (Transitions Art Gallery @ Skatepark of Tampa)
FRIDAY, JULY 6
The Black Honkeys CD Release Show and Soul Revue For this edition of The Black Honkeys' monthly First Friday Revue, the high-octane Motown-inspired funk and soul ensemble moves from the Local 662 to State Theatre and throws down in celebration of releasing a new concert album, The Black Honkeys Live at the State, which features a 2010 performance at the venerable St. Pete venue along with three bonus tracks from their forthcoming LP. For this night, they've invited Shevonne and the Bad Boys to warm things up along with newly-minted America's Got Talent stars, Distinguished Gentlemen of Brass. Expect covers by the likes of Al Green, James Brown, The Temptations, Marvin Gaye, Kool & The Gang and others along with plenty of ass-shakin' originals. (State Theatre, St. Petersburg)
Selwyn Birchwood Not many people can claim legendary Texas bluesman Sonny Rhodes as a mentor, but Orlando's bright young Selwyn Birchwood has bragging rights and got his start touring with Rhodes at the ripe age of 19. He released his debut full-length, FL Boy, last year, his high-energy electric blues rock packed with swampy roots and funky groovin’ appeal and driven by Birchwood's wailing guitar licks and strong smoky vocals. His band includes drummer Curtis Nutall (The Blind Boys of Alabama, Joe Louis Walker), bassist Huff Wright and sax player Regi Oliver. (Palladium Theater, St. Petersburg)
Tab Benoit w/Sol Driven Train Over the past 25 years, soulful Delta roots and electric blues axeman Tab Benoit has built up a huge body of work and a selection of career high points are featured on 2012's Legacy: The Best Of Tab Benoit release. Included in the track list is the twangy gritty stomp of "Night Train," and a swampy ominous re-imagining of the Stephen Stills classic, "For What It’s Worth," with Benoit's vocals a gruff-rusted focal point. Warming up the crowd is another Louisiana native, Sol Driven Train, their easy going Southern rock odes marked by sweetly melodic multi-voice harmonies, blasts of brass, and bluesy guitar. (Skipper's Smokehouse, Tampa)
Between Bluffs w/Ted Lukas & The Misled/Memphis Train Union New Granada kicks off the weekend with a triple serving of roots-fused music. Dunedin-based Between Bluffs is backing a recently-released second album, Faults to Fruits, which showcases their lushly arranged folk pop. Memphis Train Union, also from Dunedin, brews up a twangy Southern rock sound. And Ted Lukas & The Misled rounds brings blues-tinged alt country to the bill. (New World Brewery, Ybor City)
Spies on Bikes w/Jetlife Spies On Bikes is the brainchild of local musician, actor, and filmmaker Nathan Cochran, and his project's debut EP, Man Overbard, is competing as my frontrunner for best local album of 2012. "Long Walks and Recorded Talks" cleverly samples Woody Allen rom-com Midnight In Paris, and the nine-song effort is rife with penetrating production that ranges from glitchy synth-pop ("Wild Behavior," "Shore Leave," and "Catahoula"), to colorful instrumentals ("Sun Showers"), to airy sing-alongs ("Love Like Hours"). (Orpheum, Ybor City) –Ray Roa
Danfield w/Resinated and Matt Haley An evening of soulful acoustic pop and reggae rock grooves as led by St. Pete five-piece Danfield. (Hideaway Café, St. Petersburg)
SATURDAY, JULY 7
Daikaiju w/Auto?Automatic??/Poetry n' Lotion "Premium action heroes deliver most high rocket music! Special reverb skill combo for full impact! Loud sonic boom for earful pleasure!" Yes, it’s the return of Daikaiju ("giant monster"), the explosively freaky instrumental psychobilly-prog-surf outfit that plays sets in Kabuki masks and hails from Alabama, of all places. (New World Brewery, Ybor City)
Swearingen & Kelli A two-piece folk pop duo featuring deeply drawling singer-songwriter Al Swearingen and husky-sweet crooning songstress Jayne Kelli, their vocals gorgeously balanced against dual acoustic guitar arrangements. (Palladium Theater, St. Petersburg)
SUNDAY, JULY 8
Florida Night Heat w/The Mother Machine This past December, at Brokenmold’s annual holiday party, grimy instrumental power trio Florida Night Heat staged an informal CD release show celebrating their well-produced full-length debut of propulsive stoner-groove rock, #Immortality, and hawked a suitable number of hard copies with very little fanfare before eventually offering it online for free download earlier this year. Heavy pounding psych rock outfit The Mother Machine from Orlando supports. (The Hub, downtown Tampa)
O Som Do Jazz Swish and sway to the jazzy sounds of South America. SPC music honcho and Helios Orchestra director Dr. David Manson leads O Som Do Jazz, and the band is fronted by his wife, Brazilian singer Andrea Moraes. The couple joins bassist Alejandro Arenas and flutist Mark Feinman, both from Latin band La Lucha, along with keyboardist John Richardson of Infinite Groove Orchestra, and "monster" player Austin Vickrey on saxophone and flute. Moraes sings mainly in Portuguese, and Manson plays the trombone and pandeiro. Moraes draws from Elis Regina, and the repertoire includes Brazilian samba, bossa nova and MPB (Musica Popular Brasilera) — music by Milton Nascimento, Jorge Mautner, Antonio Adolfo and Chico Buarque and songs by the composer whom Manson deems the greatest songwriter of the last century, Tom Jobim. Oh, and "an original or two." What's left to say except, "Obrigado!" (Palladium Theater, St. Petersburg) –Julie Garisto
Yo Mama's Big Fat Booty Band w/Beeb$ and Her Money Maker$ I don't know if you could tell by the name, but Yo Mama's Big Fat Booty Band serves the sort of music that makes you get down. Like, shake what yo' mama gave ya music, stanky percussive-permeated funk rock with tight horn arrangements that encompass tenor and baritone saxophones, flute and trombone, waka-waka guitar, thick and heavy-pulsing lowend grooves, and vocals traded off between bassist Al Al Ingram, axeman John Paul Miller and keys mistress Sister Mary Frances. (Skipper’s Smokehouse, Tampa)
MONDAY, JULY 9
Girl in a Coma w/The Honorable South/The Slow Changes Mexican-American Diaz sisters Nina (on sultry demanding vocals and guitar) and Phanie (on easy or aggressive drums) formed Girl in a Coma with long-time bass-playing friend Jenn Alva in 2005, and only a few years later, were personally signed by Joan Jett on her Blackheart label. Their fourth record of pleasantly grungy post-punk fused alt rock, Exists & All The Rest, dropped last year. (Local 662, St. Petersburg)
Best Coast LA's infectious indie garage pop duo Best Coast (made up of songwriter, vocalist and guitarist Bethany Cosentino and multi-instrumentalist Bobb Bruno on bass, lead guitar and drums) dropped their highly anticipated follow-up to 2010's acclaimed Crazy For You in May. The Only Place has a lusher and more polished sound, and was recorded at Capitol Records' famed LA Studio B with producer and composer Jon Brion (Fiona Apple, Kanye West), the title track paying loving homage to the band’s home state of California. (The Social, Orlando)
TUESDAY, JULY 10
Showcase Nite: Milka Ramos/Jennifer Lee and Nevaeh Peek/Ladies Of Death Row Swimsuit Calendar/The Roundhouse Social An ongoing Tuesday night series showcasing acts fresh to the Skipperdome stage, among them, rockabilly and blues songstress/guitar player Milka Ramos (who played a stint with the Red Elvises and may very well have been to the 'dome at least once before), and weirdo disjointed indie rockers Ladies of Death Row Swimsuit Calendar. (Skipper’s Smokehouse, Tampa)
WEDNESDAY, JULY 11
Tyler Hilton w/Dion Roy/My Name Forever/New Cathedral Tyler Hilton was a real life working musician before he played a fictional self-important one on TV in the CW hit drama series, One Tree Hill; he also took on the role of Elvis Presley in the Johnny Cash biopic, Walk the Line, because really, who turns down the chance to be the King? He issued two LPs in 2000 and 2004 before acting took a front seat, but he's been putting together some new material for the past several years and in April, finally released a third album, Forget the Storm, which draws on elements of folk rock, Americana, ball-busting rock n' roll and radio-friendly AC pop. (Orpheum, Ybor City)
Impending Doom w/Within The Ruins/Molotov Solution/Erra/To Each His Own Riverside, Calif. quartet Impending Doom produces self-styled "Gorship” ("worshipping God through our gore-sounding music"), apparently a synthesis of crushing Christian death metal, thrash, grindcore and hardcore. This tour backs their 2012 fourth studio album, Baptized in Filth, which was produced by Andreas Magnusson (Black Dahlia Murder). (State Theatre, St. Petersburg)
BBQ Wednesday Acoustic Series w/Unpainted Souls Get your grub on and enjoy an evening set of acoustic music as performed by Unpainted Souls, a local sextet that dishes out old-timey gypsy-flavored jazz, newgrass, folk-blues, roots music and rock as layered with banjo, mandolin, acoustic guitar, occasional sax, light drums and jaunty vocal harmonies. (New World Brewery, Ybor City)
CLICK HERE to see a complete rundown of shows taking place this week and in the coming weeks.
This article appears in Jul 5-11, 2012.