Downtown Harvest

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• http://downtownharvest.com

The New Familiars

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• Grown from the seed of friendships spanning over two decades, The New Familiars are a Charlotte, NC based band turning heads up and down the east coast circuit. Although former childhood cohorts Eric-Scott Guthrie and Justin Fedor originally begun collaborating just for kicks, it soon became apparent that their ability to weave words into an enticing musical tapestry was tapping them into something far beyond their own expectations.
  The two friends began performing live. Their sheer energy and musical ability captivated local crowds while the depth and delicacy of Guthrie and Fedor's softer songs often hushed the audience to hang on lingering words and harmonies. During this period the most common comment heard was along the lines of "Did you guys really write that?" or "I thought it was a take on a traditional... it's different, but seems so familiar." With this in mind and recognizing that their sound was growing far beyond the scope of just two songwriters, they hunkered down to redefine their project. As a play on words from their fans' observations the concept of 'The New Familiars' was born.
  By a bit of happenstance and a whole lot of luck, the two friends started collaborating with songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Josh Daniel. Daniel, a talented fixture as a solo musician in the Charlotte music scene, quickly bonded with the duo bringing a novel song writing perspective and sound to the music with his signature resonator guitar attack. To fill in the back line, the three musicians enticed their old friend and upright bass player Pat Maholland to move down from Philadelphia. Charlotte drummer Chuck Lee was recruited to hold down the rhythm on kit. Their combined efforts added a new life to the older songs, and the group matured into a solid collaborative song writing combo. They began to pen exciting new material with roots in folk, bluegrass, blues, and country, but with a decidedly modern edge and energy. Solidified as a five piece, the New Familiars are an adaptable, genre-bending musical act with a bright future. Writing folk music from the core, while incorporating the multitudes of influences, this band is a powerful swell in the new wave of honest roots-derived rock n' roll that is sweeping the nation.

Two Man Gentleman Band

• http://www.myspace.com/twomangentlemenband
• two-man-gentlemen-band.com/
• Free kazoos, impeccably tailored outfits, rowdy sing-alongs, furious banjo strumming, and a set full of quirky, clever, sometimes-naughty original tunes. That's The Two Man Gentlemen Band's formula for a good, old-fashioned musical spectacle.
  Hailing from New York City, The Two Man Gentlemen Band combines hot jazz, old-time country, tin pan alley, and vaudevillian swing to create a joyous two-man sound that is all their own. Performing with plectrum banjo, string bass, kazoos, and foot percussion, The Gentlemen whip themselves into a frenzy that is unlike any acoustic duo on the road today. With the energy of a band two or three times their numbers, The Two Man Gentlemen Band concocts a ruckus that is lively, danceable, and insanely fun. The music provides a perfect foundation for The Gentlemen's wry, idiosyncratic lyrics, which vary in subject from the historical, to the romantic, to the bawdy, to the inane. On their latest album alone, (Heavy Petting, Serious Business Records) The Gentlemen sing an ode to William Howard Taft, compare true love to the square root of two, celebrate the skills of a female kazooist, challenge each other to a badminton duel, and extol the virtues of, you guessed it, heavy petting. Though they pepper many of their tunes with playful innuendo, The Gentlemen - being Gentlemen, after all - never utter a vulgar word. Beginning with the ritual distribution of free kazoos (provided by the band's sponsor, Kazoos.com) and ending with a camp-revival-like shout-along about our fattest president, a live performance by The Two Man Gentlemen Band is a non-stop festival of interactive, old-fashioned entertainment. Banjoist Andy Bean serves as master of ceremonies and scarcely allows the band or the audience to take a breath. Equal parts vaudevillian comic, depression-era huckster, and society gentleman, Bean cajoles the audience to participate; scolding them playfully when they cannot answer one of his trivia questions. Bassist Fuller Condon plays the silent straight-man, stoically accepting the antics of his partner with the mild disdain of an older sibling. Two years of full-time street-performing in New York City's Central Park taught the gentlemen this: when the band slows down, the audience takes a hike. So, The Two Man Gentlemen Band never slows down. And the audience never stops smiling.

Scratcher

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