Happy Salmon Presents - Rock The Block @ Exit/In 1/26/10

Last Tuesday's "Rock The Block" at the Exit/In definitely brought the rock but also had a little bit of hip-hop flavor. The line-up featured Nashville favorites, The Legendary Biscuits and Gravy, Mean Tambourines, and Heypenny, as well as Oklahoma City's Colourmusic.
As fans began coming in the door, Biscuits and Gravy were bringing their Roots style hip-hop in full force. Fronted by one the Nashville Scene's favorite artists of 2009, Future, the band has been gaining acclaim in the Nashville music scene and have seen increasing turn outs at every show. This may have something to do with the fact that every single band member is dripping in talent and they don't get in the way of each other. In fact, they do a phenomenal job of combining all of their strengths to bring together an impeccably full sound that has listeners eyes wide and head bobbing.
While normally I would say following Biscuits and Gravy is something you don't want to do, Mean Tambourines brought their A-game and were great. It was my first experience with the band's music, live or recorded, and I dug it. They rock, and not just in an average way, but in the sense that they are a really good straight-up rock band, which can be hard to find. They played a solid set and were warmly received by the moderately crowded Exit/In.
As Mean Tambourines wrapped up, the guys from Colourmusic were getting ready to hit the stage and hit the stage they did....hard. Colourmusic is one of the loudest bands I have seen in awhile and, as I was informed after the show, they left the big amps at home. While cranking their "small" amps, Colourmusic was able to share with Nashville the distinctive sound of Oklahoma. Combining serious stage presence with powerful drumming, driving guitar and bass, and strong vocals, Colourmusic was able to provide fans with an unique experience that I have yet to see any band in Nashville come close to replicating. One fun thing about this set was that they had many, if not all, of the members from Heypenny join them on stage for a song or two. Finishing their set with guitars over their heads and feet off the ground, Colourmusic said goodnight and Heypenny took the stage.
This was my third experience seeing Heypenny and it was by far my favorite. The band was able to sync up their music with video clips that were projected over multiple TVs all over the stage. There were able to nail it down so much so that the animated characters on screen were moving their mouths at the same time as the lead singer. Not only was I impressed with this combination of live audio and recorded video, but I was also impressed with the songs. This was my first time seeing Heypenny in a club and it provided me the opportunity to really focus on listening to the songs, which I loved. In addition to having great songs and incredible visuals, they have a very expressive and charismatic front man and bass player. By bringing together all of these elements Heypenny has all of the necessary pieces to continue to garner increasing attention from the Nashville rock scene. Check out them out at 8 off 8th on February 15th and see for yourself.

Links:
www.myspace.com/biscuitsandgravyband
www.myspace.com/meantambourines
www.myspace.com/colourmusic
www.myspace.com/heypenny

Other pictures from the show:

Biscuits and Gravy

















Colourmusic (featuring Benjamin Elkins from Heypenny)