Tampa Calling

WMNF’s 4th Annual Americana Fest at Skipper’s Smokehouse went off without a hitch this past Saturday, July 11, a hand clappin’, boot stompin’ good time that showcased the vast array of talent in Florida’s Americana scene.

Have Gun, Will Travel

Originally masterminded by Ted Lukas, Americana Fest is all grown up. This year featured ten outstanding Florida Americana bands: Ted Lukas & the Misled, Will Quinlan & the Diviners, Have Gun, Will Travel, Thomas Wynn & the Believers, Nervous Turkey, Black Finger, Roppongi’s Ace, Mike Dunn & the Kings of New England, Matt Butcher and The Nine Volts plus a national headliner: Blue Mountain. Read the rest of this entry »

Wednesday, March 18: I arrived to Austin by 9:30am, exhausted from the previous night’s St. Patty’s Day festivities. On the plane Flee and Jo Ellen (from WMNF and The Globe respectively) had the privilege to watch me zonk out with mouth agape for most of the 2 hour flight.

Excitement was high as soon as I deplaned. Dozens of people carrying guitar cases were scurrying about the terminal as if late for a very important meeting. I took a shuttle to the “Little” Ramada on the far ass north of town, where I would be staying during my visit. The driver ran me down the key places to visit in Austin (Bat Country, The Capitol), the great restaurants to visit (Guero’s) and that I shouldn’t walk the streets around my hotel alone at night. At first impression Austin seemed tired and run down, with haggard bums adorning every street corner.

Upon arriving to the hotel, I met two bands off the bat: Colombia’s Raton Perez and London’s Little Thief. I took advantage of my “journalist status” and did a quick interview with each:

Raton Perez (Screamo Heavy Metal)

Little Thief (Pop Punk ala Arctic Monkeys)

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With temperatures in the 30’s, a steady stream filed into Ybor’s New World Brewery for the release of Tampa-based alternative-country band Roppongis Ace’s first CD, Into the Night.

The album was recorded this December at Steve Connonely’s Zen studios while Drummer Max Norton and Singer/Guitarist Alex Spoto were on break from college. Spoto says the title simply stemmed from what their recording experience included. “Not much sleep and we went into the night,” he said.

And last night’s performance had the crowd there into the night as well. Many of them have watched the band grow since they were in high school, playing small shows around town.

They were joined by Max’s older brother Jessie on bass and harmonica.

It would seem a salty blues man in his sixties has crawled into Spoto’s vocal chords and made a happy home there. Spoto wrote all the songs on the album, but noted how vital collaboration from the Norton Bros. was to making the sound a complete package.

A new addition to the band was Rebekah Pulley’s bassist, Rob Pastore holding down the steel pedal.

Right off the bat, Roppongi’s Ace had the crowd pumped, but when the speakers filled with a ‘thickfreakness‘ dense version of  ”So it goes”, it seemed that even the most modest of attendees took to stompin‘ without a moments thought. That included Norton and Spoto’s family, who can only beam with pride at the turnout and support for the young band’s talent. More below the jump: Read the rest of this entry »