It Came From Vegas
As promised in my recent post about the many Las Vegas musicians that suck, here’s a few that don’t. In a city known for it’s cheesey lounge acts, these artists are proof that Vegas is more than a gambling mecca, but also a town that can produce worthwhile music that doesn’t rip-off The Killers.
Dinner Music for the Gods are an energetic instrumental band that play a sonic fusion of metal, jazz, and world music. Their talent is highly respected by other bands, as their fan base includes many fellow musicians. The music is tight and concise, and all about melodic guitar playing. Their recently released album, Black Candle Cafe, has done incredibly well, particularly on the international market.
Dinner Music for the Gods – Moon Over Redrock
I’ve seen Chris Heers perform many times over the years. He plays regularly around the Las Vegas valley and also has the distinction of having performed at Nashville’s famous Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge. He’s won many songwriting awards and has put his talent into an album that highlights this fact. Western Stars garnered Chris a DISCovery Award from Nashville music critic Robert K. Oermann, and that, my friends, is huge. The album is die-hard country, and Chris went about it in all the right ways. Recorded in Nashville, Western Stars includes some of the industry’s best musicians backing Chris on the album.
Heers is very pleased with his new found success, and although he isn’t adverse to country stardom, he wouldn’t mind if his songs caught the attention of other country musicians. Personally, I’d love to hear Emmylou Harris cover “True Love” with Daniel Lanois behind the soundboard.
Black Camaro has been around Las Vegas for quite a few years and have a number of EPs and albums under their belt. Each release does better than the one before, and I honestly don’t understand why they didn’t make the Las Vegas Weekly’s list of bands to watch for 2010. Black Camaro’s music can vary, but it’s fair to say they’re a cross between Flight of the Conchords and The Flaming Lips. If they got a bit more serious and pursued their art with more sweat and vigor (rather than recording radio commercial parodies), Black Camaro could have an album of epic proportions.
Black Camaro – The Dawn’s Early Light
Hot Club of Las Vegas is Gypsy jazz at it’s best. Like other Hot Clubs around the country, the band is heavily influenced by the music of Django Reinhardt. The music is big-band, flamenco, swing and Dixieland jazz, all coming together as one, with outstanding results. Their self-titled debut CD features both original songs and covers, but the real treat is catching the band live and hearing their take on songs such as The Beatles’ “And I Love Her” and the American standard, “All of Me.”
Read more about Hot Club of Las Vegas in the Las Vegas Sun newspaper.
And there you have it. Four very different acts that all call a city in the middle of the desert their home, and I’m very glad they do.
tyge also blogs at the neon lounge.
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You should check out National Southwestern Electronic Recordings. It’s an artist run label with several great Vegas bands. I highly recommend A Crowd Of Small Adventures and Hungry Cloud.
Thanks for the comment and email Seán. Carl is the daddy of this site and is in Nashville. I’m a contributing writer that lives in Las Vegas. I did check-out A Small Crowd of Adventures when they were featured in CityLife awhile back… I should probably catch their show before I pass any judgement. Also, I was familiar with Thor at the Bus Stop, but was unaware the soundtrack was all Vegas music. Thanks for all the info and Iook forward to finding some good Vegas music with it.
Tyge
Wow thanx for the write up Tyge! We appreciate it and as soon as we can figure out how to put it up in our website; we will post it on the “raves and reviews” page.
We are at the Bootlegger Bistro this Thursday 1/21 10 PM, but we can’t wait to come back to MP’s for some “Mandatory Beerhearsals!
Mahalo- Mundo