I'd like to take a moment and examine a couple of bands from my neck of the woods - New England. For those of you who can't remember US geography from school, or never learned of it, New England is in the far North East section of the US, comprised of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island. We've got a long and very proud history within the states, and some fantastic musicians have come from here. Here's a couple that I could come up with. Sorry Rhode Island...
Vermont - Grace Potter & The Nocturnals / Phish
Grace Potter & the Nocturnals originated in New York, where Potter went to school at St. Lawrence, but she's from Vermont, and the band is currently still based in Waitsfield Vermont, a town over from where I grew up - I actually went to high school with Grace, even though I really didn't know her personally. The Nocturnals got their name from their all night rehearsals at the school, and they released their first album in 2004, then their second in 2005, with their latest this year. Crazy Parade - Grace Potter & The Nocturnals
Phish, well known for its live concerts rather than their studio works, formed at the University of Vermont when John Fishman, Trey Anastasio and Jeff Holdsworth got together to play in Fishman's dorm room in 1983. They were later joined by Mike Gordon and Page McConnel. The band released their first album in 1988 and they got really popular shortly after, filling a void that the Grateful Dead left when they disbanded. The band broke up in 2001 after a long tour, but most of the members are still active in the music world. Heavy Things - PhishMassachusetts - The Dropkick Murphys / Guster
The Dropkick Murphys originated out of Quincy, Massachusetts, and have become huge favorites in the region with their punk/Irish sound. Annually, they play in Boston on St. Patrick's Day. The group formed in 1996, releasing a couple of EPs before their 1998 record Do or Die. They're recently released their latest, entitled The Meanest of Times. State of Massachutetts - The Dropkick Murphys
Guster
Guster is based out of Boston, Mass, and was founded at Tufts University there when Adam, Ryan and Brian met while in attendance. They released two albums prior to 1999 that were sleeper hits, but gained traction with the 1999 album Lost and Gone Forever and have recently released their latest album, Ganging Up On The Sun.
Hang On - Guster
Connecticut - The Alternate Routes / Rane
The Alternate Routes formed a couple of years ago, out of Bridgeport, Connecticut and released their first album, Good and Reckless and True in 2005, which was later re-released earlier this year. The band started when two of the members, Eric and Tim met at Fairfield University in the state. They relocated to Boston and New York for a little while, and now they're back in Connecticut. Hopefully recording new music...
Time Is A Runaway - The Alternate Routes
Rane
Rane is a band that's still pretty small, based out of Hartford Connecticut with a sound that they describe as 'progressive pop', that's quite good. I got hooked on them right away, and their first couple albums are very fun to listen to. They started their own record label, Tides Records, and have released 8 albums in the last couple of years. Haven't heard much from them lately, hopefully we'll hear from them soon...
From The Vine - Rane
Maine (And New Hampshire)- Ray LaMontagne
Ray Lamontagne is the big artist out of Maine at the moment, and is one of my favorite folk/rock singers out there. He's got a deep and gravelly voice, not too unlike that of Sam Beam, (Iron & Wine). LaMontagne was born in New Hampshire, and moved around a lot as a child before settling in Maine. Now based there, he's been singing since 1999. His latest release is the fantastic 'Till The Sun Turns Black. Trouble - Ray LamontagneRhode Island - I couldn't find anyone from there. Anyone know of any?
