Tampa Calling

For this week’s forthcoming Urban Explorer’s Handbook, Creative Loafing is mapping out the Bay area’s Internet community. Here is one of our featured music sites:

The Merry Andrews
Who runs it: A 20-something trio of passionate but playful Bay area indie rock aficionados: Aly Carr (whom we’ve recruited as a contributor to our own music blog, Tampa Calling), Ashley Renee and Marc Karimi. They co-host a weekly internet radio show and a website that spotlights underground and indie bands with interviews, tour info, in-studio performances and MP3s. (Proof they don’t take themselves too seriously: A “Merry Andrew” is an Old English synonym for clown.)
Why you need it: If you want to know anything about up-and-coming indie rock and pop groups, this is the site for you. Though Aly, Ashley and Marc don’t limit themselves to acts that are coming through town, you can count on finding something about said acts (and music clips) on the Merry Andrews site. (Pictured below: Ashley, Marc and Aly; photo by Kenzie Shores.)

I woke from a night of Irish whiskey drinking to a throat that was pained to swallow. My dear friend, Toby, sent me along my way with two packets of Emergen-C to drink with in my day. He also asked me “Do you want a banana?” I knew it was going to be a good day. Friends that care about and influence your well being are beneficial to have around. Friends that unintentionally push your play button and endure your raspy, slightly hung-over, under the weathered version of the whimsical Tally Hall song “Banana Man“- I would say you should try to keep them around as long as they’ll stand you.

Tally Hall (pictured above) is responsible for a bulk of my amusement. Whether I am serenading the empty pub in the morning when I sing along to their album, Marvin’s Marvelous Mechanical Museum (MMMM) as I open, or I’m locked into the latest episode of the Tally Hall Internet Show (THIS), I’m always entertained. When Twitter notifies me the band has posted a new blog, you better believe I jet right over to check it. The peeks into their personalities that they provide are playful and clever. They are that gelastic in person too. Read the rest of this entry »