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Artist: Vanity Band
. . . And along came Vanity BandChapter 1With the creation of Vanity Band, principle member Joel Nass sought to finally realize his plans for an aesthetically continuous vintage pop act. And though the conditions in his home town of Green Bay, Wisconsin are hardly fit for the cultivation of relevant art, time has shown him to be a young man not... [+] Read More
Artist: Head
Sometimes known as "the haggis of jazz fusion bands," the small combo Head were active in Glasgow in the '70s. The rhythm section of drummer Billy Kyle and bassist Graham Mince were consistent factors in the three albums released by the group over a five-year period, as was the presence of multi-instrumentalist John Davies, who doubled on... [+] Read More
Artist: Cemetary
After bowing in 1992 with the straightforward death metal album An Evil Shade of Grey, the Swedish band Cemetary began tinkering with the genre on 1993's Goddess Beauty, incorporating both '70s rock and goth rock into the mix. Before recording 1994's Black Vanity, vocalist and guitarist Mathias Lodmalm dismissed the rest of the band, opting to... [+] Read More
Artist: Nirvana
Prior to Nirvana, alternative music was consigned to specialty sections of record stores and major labels considered it to be, at the very most, a tax write-off. After the band's second album, 1991's Nevermind, nothing was ever quite the same, for better and for worse. Nirvana popularized punk, post-punk, and indie rock, unintentionally bringing... [+] Read More
Artist: Deftones
Along with Limp Bizkit, the Deftones are often considered to be disciples of Korn, but in fact, they've been around for just as long (if not longer). They were also one of the first groups to alternate heavy riffs and screamed vocals with more ethereal music and hushed singing -- spawning a fair amount of imitators in their wake. The group first... [+] Read More
Artist: Dropbox
Dropbox formed in 2002 after Godsmack mastermind Sully Erna introduced vocalist John Kosco to ex-Godsmack guitarist Lee Richards. The two hit it off, and were soon working on new material with guitarist Joe Wilkinson and bassist Jim Preziosa. Next, Erna tapped the band as the initial signees to Realign, his vanity imprint through Universal, and... [+] Read More
Artist: Lion Fever
Portland, OR's Lion Fever features singer/guitarist Jennifer Pearl, bassist David Clifford, and drummer Kevin Garrison. In the summer of 2002, Clifford, who plays drums for Pleasure Forever and was formerly a drummer for the VSS, Slaves, and Jim Sclavunos & the Vanity Set, approached Pearl, formerly of the Lost Kids, about forming a band... [+] Read More
Artist: The Revolution Smile
The Revolution Smile was a Sacramento, CA-based alternative metal combo led by Shaun Lopez, a guitar player who had spent much of the '90s with the post-grunge quartet Far. Upon that band's 1998 demise, Lopez was set to join ex-Quicksand frontman Walter Schreifels in Rival Schools. However, a desire to pursue singing and songwriting -- not... [+] Read More
Artist: Nicodemus
Nicodemus began in late 1998 as a project of bassist and keyboard player Christopher Morris. After graduating with two music degrees, he launched his own label, Dark Throne Music, to release the new work. October of 2000 saw the release of the debut Nicodemus CD, Tales of the Lovelorn & Necromantic. Inspired by traditional, progressive, and... [+] Read More
Artist: His & Her Vanities
Robotic, quirky, and very cute, the endearing sounds of the Wisconsin-based quartet His & Her Vanities mix the tongue-in-cheek preciseness of vintage Devo with the bouncy naivete of indie rock. Coming out of Madison, the band started as a project between Ricky and Terrin Riemer in the cold months of late 1999. Originally meant as a duo, the... [+] Read More
Artist: Duke Ellington
Duke Ellington was the most important composer in the history of jazz as well as being a bandleader who held his large group together continuously for almost 50 years. The two aspects of his career were related; Ellington used his band as a musical laboratory for his new compositions and shaped his writing specifically to showcase the talents of... [+] Read More
Artist: Gene Gifford
Although virtually unknown to the general public during the swing era, Gene Gifford was a highly influential arranger whose work for the Casa Loma Orchestra predated the rise of Benny Goodman. Gifford grew up in Memphis and he both arranged and played banjo with his high school band. Gifford performed with such territory bands as Bob Foster,... [+] Read More
Artist: Mazarati
Heavily influenced by Prince and the Time, Mazarati was among the many acts that came out of the Minneapolis funk-rock scene of the 1980s--a scene that also gave us Jesse Johnson's Revue, the Family, Ta Mara & the Seen, Vanity 6 and Apollonia 6. Mazarati never became well known nationally, although the interracial band acquired a small following... [+] Read More
Artist: The Format
Self-described as a "desert pop" band, Peoria, AZ-based the Format materialized around two friends, vocalist Nate Ruess and multi-instrumentalist Sam Means, in the early 2000s. Taking influence from '60s music to craft their own spirited indie pop melodies, the pair were barely in their twenties when they laid down a five-song EP with producer... [+] Read More
Artist: Dez Dickerson
The longtime guitarist with Prince's legendary backing band the Revolution, Dez Dickerson later enjoyed solo success within the Christian rock community. Born in Minneapolis in 1955, Dickerson began playing guitar at the age of 14, and was signed to a local booking agency while still in high school; after graduating, he spent the next nine years... [+] Read More
Artist: Sammy Herman
The famous jazz guitarist Sam Herman always discouraged folks from calling him "Sammy" because next thing they would expect him to show up for a gig lugging a xylophone. Sammy Herman was a first-call man on the latter keyboard percussion instrument for more than four decades, based out of New York City where he was part of the second wave of... [+] Read More
Artist: Eighteen Visions
Eighteen Visions' complex, often off-time, blasting metallic hardcore transforms bits of thrash, stomp, and acidic blackness into cohesive, pummeling compositions that occasionally break down and groove. All of their songs contain singalong-worthy bellowing from charismatic singer James Hart, who performs live with tongue-in-cheek pomposity... [+] Read More
Artist: Harry Dean Stanton
Harry Dean Stanton, a craggy-featured character actor whose face is more familiar than his name to many audiences, is equally adept at playing bad guys or more heroic characters. In addition to his numerous acting roles, he has long led his own musical group, the Harry Dean Stanton Band, which was formerly known as Harry Dean Stanton and the... [+] Read More
Artist: Nice
Nice is an American band with a very British sound. The alternative pop/rock unit comes from Orange County, CA, which is just south of Los Angeles, but the members of Nice are so heavily influenced by Brit-pop that they might as well be from London, Liverpool, or Manchester. Orange County's Nice should not be confused with a late '60s... [+] Read More
Artist: The Government
The Government were a British cover band of the late '60s and early '70s that would be totally forgotten if their lead singer had not been David Coverdale, who would eventually replace Ian Gillan in Deep Purple. In 1971 they recorded a four-track EP as a vanity pressing for themselves, just before they split up. Only 25 acetates were made, but... [+] Read More
Artist: Gabriel Yacoub
Gabriel Yacoub was one of the spearheads of the folk revival that swept through France. The founder and leader of influential French trad rock band Malicorne during the 1970s and early '80s, Yacoub has continued to explore the full spectrum of French music as a soloist. According to Vanity Fair, Yacoub's "voice is liquid and ready, his guitar... [+] Read More
Artist: Louden Swain
Louden Swain lives in Los Angeles and recorded their album in the Hollywood Hills, but they're not a Hollywood glamor-band. It's true that they took their name from a movie (the 1980s teen flick Visionquest), and their lead singer Rob Benedict is also an actor who plays the recurring role of Richard on TV's Felicity. But Louden Swain sees... [+] Read More
Artist: Johnny Warman
Born in Bethnal Green, London, Johnny Warman made his stage debut as a child, when his local school choir was judged proficient enough to appear in two productions at London's prestigious Royal Opera House, alongside Maria Callas and Tito Gobbi. By the mid-1970s, however, he had gravitated to rock, forming the band Bearded Lady and releasing a... [+] Read More
Artist: Martin Simpson
Martin Simpson is one of the most visible examples of the relationship between the Celtic folk of the United Kingdom and American musics such as country and the blues, which branched away from their British sources as American immigrants grew distanced from their past countrymen. Simpson's life charts a similar journey -- one of the most... [+] Read More
Artist: Hole
Throughout Hole's career, vocalist/guitarist Courtney Love's notorious public image has overshadowed her band's music. In their original incarnation, Hole was one of the noisiest, most abrasive alternative bands performing in the early '90s. By the time of their second album, 1994's Live Through This, the band had smoothed out many of their... [+] Read More
