A power-pop enthusiast turned country songwriter/performer turned rock & roll performer, Bill Lloyd earned his badge on Music Row by writing hits for others, but later as part of the duo Foster & Lloyd. After Foster & Lloyd split up in 1990, Lloyd moved on to a solo career with frequent stints as a sideman guitarist.

Born in Kentucky... [+] Read More

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Game Theory formed on the fringe of the Paisley Underground movement of the early-'80s and though they certainly had a retro-'60 sound with psychedelic leanings, the band owed its greatest debt to the proto-power pop of Big Star.

Leader Scott Miller's song craft, distinctive voice (self-described as a "miserable whine") and... [+] Read More

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Mitch Easter carved his place in music history as a hip producer in the '80s, most notably for the early R.E.M. albums Murmur and Reckoning; unfortunately, these achievements often overshadowed and distracted him from giving his full commitment to his own recording career with Let's Active, a band that, between 1983 and 1988, released some of... [+] Read More

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R.E.M. mark the point when post-punk turned into alternative rock. When their first single, "Radio Free Europe," was released in 1981, it sparked a back-to-the-garage movement in the American underground. While there were a number of hardcore and punk bands in the U.S. during the early '80s, R.E.M. brought guitar pop back into the underground... [+] Read More

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R.E.M. mark the point when post-punk turned into alternative rock. When their first single, "Radio Free Europe," was released in 1981, it sparked a back-to-the-garage movement in the American underground. While there were a number of hardcore and punk bands in the U.S. during the early '80s, R.E.M. brought guitar pop back into the underground... [+] Read More

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Suzanne Vega was the first major figure in the bumper crop of female singer/songwriters who rose to prominence during the late '80s and '90s. Her hushed, restrained folk-pop and highly literate lyrics (inspired chiefly by Leonard Cohen, as well as Lou Reed and Bob Dylan) laid the initial musical groundwork for what later became the trademark... [+] Read More

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Delivering tough but hook-laden pop/rock with lyrics that merge the witty and the cynical, the Pittsburgh-based band the Breakup Society pick up where leader Ed Masley's former band, the Frampton Brothers left off...literally. The Breakup Society's story began when vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and songwriter Masley, lead guitarist Sean Lally, and... [+] Read More

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Playing smart, enthusiastic power pop that at its best suggested a three-way pileup between the Who, Big Star, and Cheap Trick, Boston's the Cavedogs began life in 1987, when guitarist Todd Spahr, bassist Brian Stevens, and drummer Mark Rivers joined forces and put out a locally released single. A self-released cassette-only album followed in... [+] Read More

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The Golden Palominos were not a group per se, but rather the revolving-door project of drummer, programmer, and bandleader Anton Fier. Born June 20, 1956, in Cleveland, OH, Fier first made his mark as the drummer on the Feelies' seminal 1980 debut Crazy Rhythms. After leaving the group, he joined the punk-jazz unit the Lounge Lizards before... [+] Read More

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Formed in Knoxville, TN, the V-Roys began to walk the fine line between rootsy country and cutting-edge alternative rock with their formation in 1994, comprising vocalist/guitarist Scott Miller, lead guitarist John Paul Keith, bassist Paxton Sellers, and drummer Jeff Bills. The quartet signed to Praxis Records, but the label folded soon after,... [+] Read More

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