Welcome to The Short List, where each week we pick a topic and share our favorite -- or, in some cases, maybe our least favorite -- things about the Bay area.
This week, Tampa Tribune pop music critic Curtis Ross picks his favorite local acts.
Tampa's music scene may not have a signature sound, but it's not hurting for bands you ought to see. The list below represents just a sampling of the talent you can catch playing stages on both sides of the Bay on any given weekend. See 'em now so you can say you saw 'em back then.
SUBMIT YOUR RATINGS:
• Events
• Movies
• Venues
• Restaurants
• Previous Short Lists
1. Have Gun, Will Travel: Singer Matt Burke's lyrics are worth listening for even when his band is kicking up a storm. It's no wonder the band's latest album, "Postcards From the Friendly City," is getting national attention. These guys are as good as -- and probably better than -- any other band working the Americana genre.
2. Poetry 'N Lotion: If Irving Berlin had invented bluegrass, or Bill Monroe played hot jazz with Django Reinhardt, it might have sounded like this Tampa crew which defies classification just as easily as it wins over audiences.
3. Nervous Turkey: Blues, funk and rock splattered with mud, blood and beer, Nervous Turkey is scary, funny and completely irreverent in its approach. Somewhere, Howlin' Wolf has an evil grin on his face.
4. Worldwide Zoo: Jimmy Smith meets Aphex Twin in the music of this trio, capable of going in several different directions at once, all the while digging a groove a mile deep.
5. Thomas Wynn and the Believers: Orlando might seem an unlikely place to find the spiritual godchildren of The Band, but Wynne and his Believers play country-rock with soulful roots.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement
Advertisement