httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8x7L_RSyitk
From The Replacements and Hüsker Dü to Soul Asylum and Babes In Toyland, the Twin Cities area has never lacked for musical talent. Among its more recent products is a self-managed, self-promoted band named Catchpenny, whose effortless blend of punchy bass lines and radio-friendly pop hooks are just beginning to gain them recognition on the national stage.
From their more pop-oriented 2005 debut Chance For A Lifetime, the band has matured in both worldview and songcraft. The second and still current offering From Where You Are is a testament to that, and a great ride from beginning to end. In support of these two discs, the band has toured with or performed in support of differing acts including Lifehouse, 3 Doors Down, Blue October, Soul Asylum, The Rembrandts, The Gin Blossoms, Big Head Todd, and many others. The Gin Blossoms‘ frontman Rob Wilson, following a Catchpenny performance, said from the stage, “Great Job! Save some room on the charts for us.” Few bands could achieve so glowing an endorsement from someone with nine chart singles to his credit, but on a listen to their songs, it’s not hard to see that the praise is well-deserved.
However, there is one country where they are perhaps better known than in their native US of A, and that is Iraq. The uniformed men and women stationed in that war-torn nation need to be entertained too, the band reasoned, and it seems the Defense Department agreed. The DoD Program Directors, impressed by the band’s talent and dedication, signed them to perform 150 shows for armed forces personnel across Iraq. At the time of writing, Catchpenny are embarking on their third visit to the Middle East in 2009 alone, with two more Iraq tours scheduled later on this year.
As if that weren’t enough, the band are actively working to raise money for research on Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy via CureDuchenne.org, including a trip by two of the band members to climb Washington’s Mt. Rainier. Curiously, I first discovered just how good Catchpenny are while gazing at Mt. Rainier from an airplane window on route to Portland last year.
In between those efforts, the band have also scheduled a number of shows in their backyard, so to speak – in addition to an appearance at SXSW back in March, stages in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa will soon be treated to Catchpenny‘s brand of energetic rock. They are also working on their third album, though their many commitments are understandably causing some delays in recording.
If you you can wait until their return from Iraq you can get your Catchpenny fix on MySpace, Last.fm and Facebook.
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This post was by Kolys from That Other Blog, Way Over There. Him and I go back quite some time and I strongly reccomend you check out his site.
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The music world lost one of the greatest performers of the modern age last night. Whilst his well documented off stage controversies dominated the latter part of Jacko‘s career, we hope he will be remembered too for his amazing (early) recordings, mesmarising live performances, innovation in the art of the music video, and of course the world famous crotch-grabbing yelp. Mr Jackson, please join Elvis, Norma Jeane, Jimbo and Kurt in the green room.
