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 Bo Porter & His Dixie Rockits
Texas Honky Tonk, Rockabilly and Swing
An authentic style all his own, Bo sets a vocal standard we haven't seen in years.
His strong baritone voice has compared with Marty Robbins, Faron Young, Merle Haggard, and even Johnny Cash.
Bo's unique take on music deranges traditional hits and makes them his own. A little Classic Country, a bit of Blues, some Rock n Roll, and a lot of heart and soul is what Bo Porter delivers. Bo includes the audience in his performances, which keeps them coming back. His comedic sensibility, and audience communication endears him to the audiences.
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 Rajamani
World Music
Oliver Rajamani, born and raised in India, is a renowned world music artist. Rajamani brings the ancient folk music of TamilNadu, the nomadic music of India and the Dom and the Rom and the spiritual chants of India. Music critics have distinguished Rajamani as an "artist who has redefined Gypsy Music by taking it back to India (homeland of the Roma Gypsy) to its original roots" and "literally destroying borders." Rajamani has created his own music by arranging traditional Indian folksongs chronicling their historic path and by adding new compositions not found anywhere else on the globe.
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 Suzanna Choffel
Alternative Pop with Soul and Jazz influences
A native of Austin, Suzanna Choffel combines her poetic sensibilities and sweet smoky voice with funky urban rhythms to create a fresh and unique sound. She uses her guitar to create staccato rhythms underneath her dazzling soulful vocal melodies, all backed by a pulsing band with unique instrumentation. Her music has been described as “indie pop with urban beats”, and "jazz-infused soul pop" with comparisons ranging from Feist to Nelly Furtado to Norah Jones to Erykah Badu. In April 2008, Suzanna Choffel won the $10,000 Grand Prize in the nationwide Famecast Pop competition. Also in April 2008, she won 1st Prize in Music Videos at Ourstage.com. In June 2008, Suzanna was selected by The State Of Texas to represent contemporary Texas music in Texas On Tour, a large countrywide traveling show promoting Texas tourism.
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 Julieann Banks and the Activates!
Power Pop Covers
Julieann Banks and the Activates! are an exciting band who are joyously celebrating the most popular hit songs from every decade - 60's through the present in Texas power trio style! Julieann Banks moved back home to Austin in 2007. But she's no newcomer to the music scene. Locally, she has performed with Rotel and the Hot Tomatoes, The Big Time and Apaches of Paris. Internationally, she has toured Portugal with Percy Sledge ("When A Man Loves A Woman"), Japan with Legends of Las Vegas and has enjoyed two tours of New Zealand with The Midge Marsden Band. She was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame while a member of The Harmon Drew Supergroup. She has performed at President George Bush's Inaugural Ball in 2001, and at several events for the President and also Ann Richards when they were the governors of Texas. This trios mission: To put a smile on your face and set your toes to tappin'!
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 Tameca Jones
Jazz / Pop / R&B
Coined the "Tina Turner of jazz" due to her fierce vocal style, long legs and
wild hair, Tameca Jones brews a fragrant potpourri of jazz, blues, and soul
with her quartet. Her honeyed tone and passionate, soulful renditions of jazz
classics captivate her audience. "I come from a pop/R&B background but have always held great respect for
singers like Sarah Vaughn and Ella Fitzgerald. They make jazz singing
sound so deceivingly effortless. Now that I am a student of the genre, I‘m
carving my own path."
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 Debra Peters and the Love Saints
Texas Western Swamp Music
Squeezequeen, Debra Peters, a.k.a. Zydecowgirl and her band The Love Saints celebrates 18 years of performing in Austin and throughout Texas. Debra has been referred to in the press as the “Squeezebox Chanteuse of the Lone Star State!” The Love Saints play a variety of blues, roots-rockin', zydeco,
cajun, western swing, western swamp, train beats, and classic
country music. Included in the mix are a few original songs, favorite songs picked up along life’s highway, or, being the
daughter of a railroad engineer, shall we say... train track.
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 Leeann Atherton
Southern-Fried Country Soul
Leeann Atherton hails from Alabama/South Carolina, road tripped her way to Austin escaping Nashville, Tennessee and has grown beautiful roots in her south Austin home. Her warm voice is beyond boundaries, with a mellow southern charm. From jingles to jam sessions, this Queen of South Austin has generous musical heart.
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 MERIDIANWEST
Eclectic Rock n Roll
In an era of music where it has become the norm to have five members in
a band, meridianwest has managed to create a giant wall of sound as a trio. With Mark Gibson on
voclas/guitars, Ryan Magnani on bass guitar, and David Kittredge on the drums, each
member’s contributions are a powerful representation of their respective instruments and personalities.
As talented as they are as individual musicians, it is when they come together
on stage that they create an over all sound that is staggeringly unique.
They have successfully combined the rawness and simplicity of the great rock from the 60’s and 70’s, with
large atmospheric landscapes created by the artists of the 80’s. Although meridianwest is constantly striving to create
news sounds and types of songs, one element stays the same; they progressively become better musicians and
songwriters with each song.
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 The Frank Gomez Band
Texas Blues and Tex-Mex Polka
Frank Gomez began his musical career playing guitar and singing in military base service clubs with his two brothers.
Initially influenced by renowned recording artists such as James Brown, Ray Charles, Sam and Dave, Wilson Pickett and Ben E. King, Frank quickly mastered the soul vibe on his guitar. He also learned to play keyboard and saxophone and continued playing with his brothers for the next 35 years, moving to Austin in 1976. Their band, then known as Deep Heet, added a funk and disco flavor to their shows until Frank’s brothers retired from the music business in 1998.
Frank’s smooth voice and soulful guitar have been a part of opening acts for headliners such as Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Johnson, The Drifters, O.C. Smith, The Sherelles, Phillip Walker, W.C. Clark and Marvin Sease. After several years of fronting local Austin bands, Frank recently stepped out on his own with a unique blend of R&B, blues, funk, classic rock, oldies, country, Tex-Mex and Tejano music.
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 Troy Campbell
Folk Rock
Those who've followed Troy Campbell through his evolution over the years, from the punk-wired Highwaymen, to Americana-drenched Loose Diamonds, and now three albums into a stellar solo career, have always known he's a restless soul. It's written in his songs, which flit between a jumpy, let's-blow-this-town urgency, and more sorrowful expressions of longing, hope, idealism. And it's there in his remarkable voice, a uniquely expressive instrument comfortable with everything from jagged murder ballads to four-on-the-floor Chuck Berry rockers to candlelit love songs.
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No concert this week - Happy Thanksgiving!
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 Chicken Strut
Barnyard Funk and Blues
Chicken Strut combines raw barnyard funk and blues with a heaping helping of jazzy improv, seasoned with a dose of New Orleans and a pinch of down home chicken pickin' in a Southern-style musical gumbo. According to the Austin Chronicle: "...Chicken Strut scratches out a sparer sound, one rooted in the Southern instrumental soul of Booker T. & the MGs and the Meters."
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 Nakia & His Southern Cousins
Foot-stompin', heart-poundin', blue-eyed soul, hot rock n roll
Born and raised in the foothills of the Appalachian mountains, Nakia Daniel Reynoso (who now professionally goes by his first name only) made his first splash on the Austin music as Vic Odin, the larger-than-life manager of the citys finest Reno-style lounge band, the Small Stars. That is, until frontman Guy Fantasy aka Miles Zuniga of Fastball gave Nakia the boot. Youre a super-talented singer, Zuniga told him. Go out and get your band. So Nakia did just that, assembling the perfect cast of Southern Cousins to help him belt out his explosively entertaining take on Southern soul. Nakias' debut EP, Playing the Cards, is a veritable royal flush made up of his Otis-Redding-worthy originals and a show-stopping cover of Billy Prestons Thats the Way God Planned It. Take it from Nakia convert Jody Denberg, program director for Austins influential KGSR-FM: Hes got a lot of tricks up his sleeve.
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For band contact information, please call or email Vincent Kitch with the Cultural Arts Division of the Economic Growth and Redevelopment Services Office at (512) 974-9310. |
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