OH! Six

The Year in Local Music

by Joseph Simek

Philly EDGE Correspondent

            It’s been quite a year for the Philadelphia area music community.

             We’ve had the good -- John Francis won an ASCAP songwriting award; the bad -- almost a dozen bands had their gear stolen in Philadelphia; the downright bizarre -- R5 Productions head Sean Agnew now has a stalker (Seanspotter.blogspot.com) and everything in between.

            No matter how big a music fan you might be, it’s nearly impossible to keep track of all that has happened with the bands, labels, venues, booking agents, magazines and radio shows that make up our music scene.

           So, in an effort to either introduce you to the best in local music or help you keep your all-knowing-hipster status, Philly EDGE decided to take a look back at some of the year’s most notable happenings in local music. We also included a few things you should keep your eye on in 2007.

THE RADIO

            It’s hard to overstate how much impact the digital age had on local radio this year, as the big stories about the “airwaves” revolved around Internet radio stations and podcasts.

            Perhaps the biggest story was Y100rocks.com’s move to WXPN. When its corporate owners pulled the plug on Y100 as a traditional radio station in 2005, program director Jim McGuinn and a small, loyal staff continued as an internet-only radio station. After more than a year of surviving -- and in some cases thriving -- in that format, the station was picked up this summer by WXPN. Now known as Y-Rock On XPN, the “station” can be heard Wednesday through Friday nights at 88.5 FM or at Yrockonxpn.org.

            The move comes in conjunction with WXPN’s new Xponentialmusic.org, a “music on-demand” Web site promising 24-hours a day of online programming via live stream, podcasts and free downloads.

            Giving Xponential Music a run for its (“listener supported”) money has been Gtownradio.com, an Internet station operating out of Philly’s Germantown neighborhood. Started by Jim Bear after he left another online radio program, the site has grown from a single audio stream into a fully-automated 24-hour Web cast with community news, various local content and all types of local music.

            “The vast majority of content we broadcast can't be heard on traditional radio outlets, which is a major reason for what we do,” Bear says. “Right now, G-town Radio is run from an old Dell computer sitting under a desk in our home office. This set-up will change dramatically in the New Year. ”

            Bear plans to bring in a number of programmers to create over 20 new shows exploring everything from local music to short stories to alternative healing.          

            “We will be moving into a new studio in the heart of Germantown where all shows will be broadcast,” Bear says. “This space will serve as a gathering place for people to share news and music, as well as give a voice to the needs of the community.”

            Bear believes one of those needs is a citywide wireless broadband network, which Wireless Philadelphia, a city-sponsored non-profit, and Earthlink, an Internet service provider, intend to build. G-town has been a strong proponent of the project that would make Philly the nation’s first completely wireless major city.     

            “Many neighborhoods in Philadelphia, especially poorer ones, do not have access to affordable broadband Internet,” Bear says. “Those without access are being left behind as more and more parts of our lives are found on the Internet. This network will reach the entire city of Philadelphia and offer digital inclusion rates, which start at $10 a month for those who qualify.”

From G-town Radio to 633tv.com to the many radio stations on Live365.com, finding great local music on the Internet this year was pretty easy. But it got absolutely foolproof when longtime WPRB jock and My Pal God Records owner Jon Solomon started his Local Support podcast.

His City Paper-sponsored, 80-minute podcasts feature a dozen or so tracks from some of the area’s best artists, along with commentary from Solomon himself. Now if only Solomon’s radio voice, which is...really…pause heavy...and quite...monotone, was as good as his impressive knowledge of local music. You can find new and old episodes of Local Supportt Solomon’s Web site, Keepingscoreathome.com or at www.citypaper.net.

THE MUSICIANS

            A number of artists made the jump from local giants to players in the national scene this year. From Bucks County alone, Eastern Conference Champions signed to Geffen Records and moved to the West Coast. Zolof The Rock And Roll Destroyer was a finalist in the MTV2 Dew Circuit Breakout contest. And although we still can’t tell you details, it looks as if Like Lions may have some major news in January.

            Who will be in 2007’s crop of local artists to get to the next level?

            Judging by what they did in 2006, here are four acts we think have a pretty good chance:

            With more than a dozen members, Philadelphia’s BurnDown All-Stars seems like the best of the city’s hip-hop scene rolled into one group. This collective spent the year solidifying its expansive lineup and playing shows in support of its second full-length. The group also recently won the local Bodog Battle Of The Bands, and it will represent Philly in the finals in Los Angeles. According to the band’s Web site, BurnDown is already at work on its next album.

            Peasant has risen out of the crowded ocean of local singer-songwriters with his unbelievable work ethic. In the last two years, the Doylestown singer aka Damien DeRose, has played over a 100 shows, including a handful in the UK, while releasing albums on his own label, That Works Records. Although barely over the legal drinking age, Peasant is turning heads left and right, including those of the people at Fanatic Promotion in New York, who added him to their roster a few months ago.

            Holding it down on the west side is West Chester’s Hoots And Hellmouth, a band whose Americana-meets-indie-rock sound makes WXPN listeners get all tingly. This year the band seemed to play every local festival that mattered, and even did a tour of the Deep South. Not surprisingly, MAD Dragon Records, Drexel University’s student-run label, scooped these guys up quick. Their debut for the label is slated for next year.

            And finally, 2007 should be what 2006 failed to be for Blood Feathers. Considering the background of this indie-rock duo -- Drew Mills played in Aspera, Ben Dickey played in Mazarin – some locals believed this would be the band’s breakout year. But Blood Feathers didn’t have the same success as some of its peers. Although the band hoped to have its debut, Curse And Praise, released on New York’s SpinART Records, the album eventually wound up on local imprint Box Theory Records. Still, the album is getting high praise and the buzz on this band should be deafening in the New Year.

THE MEDIA

            There were quite a few local record labels making serious headway pushing Philadelphia bands this year (see High Two, Box Theory and Hot Dog City), but no label had a better year than Park The Van Records.

            This Schwenksville imprint started in 2004 in New Orleans as National Parking Records, but moved north and regrouped as Park The Van after Hurricane Katrina destroyed its offices. The label had released a few well-received albums, including Easy Beat by Philadelphia’s Dr. Dog, in 2005.

            Since moving to the Philadelphia area, however, Park The Van has been unstoppable. This year the label released albums by three Philly bands that have since been praised by the national press: The Capitol Years (Dance Away The Terror), Dr. Dog (Takers and Leavers EP), and National Eye (Roomful Of Lions).

            Along with those efforts, the label also released two soundtracks. The first belonged to Cursed: The Head Trauma Movie Project and featured songs from locals The A-Sides, The Novenas and Bitter Bitter Weeks, among others.

            The other movie you might be more familiar with is Fast Food Nation. Artists on this compilation include Spoon, Elvis Perkins and Robbers on High Street. We’re still trying to figure out how Park The Van pulled that one off.

            If Park The Van marked a big addition to local music, then the ending of Plain Parade booking can be counted as a big loss. Plain Parade was created by Sara Sherr and Maria Tessa Sciarrino in 2002, and the pair spent the past few years booking intimate rock shows at various venues throughout the city. The duo even put out a compilation of local artists in 2005 called Songs From The Sixth Borough.

It’s still unclear why the Parade called it quits, but we imagine it has something to do with Sherr’s job at the Daily News, Sciarrino’s gigs at WQHS and Pitchforkmedia.com, as well as their dual blog, Herjazz.org.

            Helping fill the hole left by Plain Parade is FreshoutMedia.com, a multi-dimensional Web site launched early this year by entrepreneur Navid Safabakhsh and his partner Chris Anderson.

            “Freshout's mission is to help cultivate and grow the independent music, arts and culture scene in Philadelphia,” Anderson says, “and right now we do that primarily through producing events and publishing intriguing content on our Web site.

            Anderson lists the Green Fest on the rooftop of Whole Foods’ location on South Street, Flava Fest in Clark Park and various hip-hop and indie shows at World Cafe Live as some of the events Freshout has produced this year. As far as Web site content, Freshout has a host of music writers covering local and national acts in multiple genres.

            There are plans to revamp the site in 2007 to include even more, which is certainly a surprising move considering the impressive design and features already present. Along with the free articles and mp3s, visitors can download a page-turning e-zine or even upload their own music for consideration for the Web site’s jukebox.

            In addition to covering music, art and culture, Anderson says Freshout is dedicated to raising social consciousness about important issues.

            “As much as possible, we try to draw awareness and raise funds for worldly issues like the genocide in Darfur, the ongoing AIDS epidemic and world hunger,” he says.

            Freshout’s World Hunger Benefit is already slated for May 12 at The Rotunda in Philadelphia.         

THE VENUES

            Philadelphia started the year by losing one of its rock venues when the Pontiac Grille on South Street stopped hosting live music. Now less than a year later, the revamped Johnny Brenda’s in Fishtown is poised to fill that gap.

            Boxer John Imbrenda, aka Johnny Brenda, retired in 2003 and sold his bar to the owners of The Standard Tap in Northern Liberties. In September, the new owners remodeled the second floor and reopened it as a music venue.

            Johnny Brenda’s booking agent Brandy Hartley, with the help of R5 productions, is now mixing local and national acts to create some of the city’s most impressive shows. With Brenda’s, The Manhattan Room and The Fire all along Girard Ave., the Fishtown/Northern Liberties neighborhood is building a Monopoly-like run of the city’s best music venues.

            Not to be outdone, the suburbs added two new live music venues this year with Doylestown’s Puck and Ardmore’s MilkBoy Coffee. Although Puck has struggled at times (it recently switched booking agents) with its cocktail bar and elaborate patio, MilkBoy’s all-ages, alcohol-free coffeehouse has flourished.

            Partners Tommy Joyner and Jamie Lokoff opened MilkBoy in February as a natural extension of their nearby MilkBoy recording studio. With its healthy dose of shows on the weekends, and its popular jazz and folk open mics during the week, this venue has quickly picked up where The Point in Bryn Mawr left off when it closed two summers ago.

            Another live music venue worth mentioning is the new Siren Records location in Doylestown. This longtime D-town record store moved around the corner to a larger building this fall (though unrelated, it was near the time when major retailer Tower Records announced it would close in December). With the extra room, the store added a stage and started hosting shows with multiple bands. During its grand opening weekend, Siren hosted three consecutive nights of local music and has plans to book in-store performances of touring acts in the future.

Name your band

5 band names – for the taking – based on the suburbs of Philly

1. Hookers in Yardley – Best for a hardcore or goth sound…worth using just to see the reaction of the townsfolk (and you thought the flooding was bad).
2. Broad and Main – Named for the Lansdale intersection with the longest fucking light, either way, in the suburbs. Could be a jam band; lots of noodling can be done while at that intersection.
3. Rainbow Party – A post-teen girls pop-punk group. Think the Go-Go’s meets the Suicide Girls.
4. Sisters of Mercer – Trenton act; can be soul, transgendered or just androgynous. It works.
5. Suburban Station – Folksy-rock perfection. Think Sufjan Stevens in Doylestown; albums could be named after SEPTA lines.

Joe Student