"Why Georgia"?!

Many Atlanta locals will be surprised to learn pop/rock/blues artist John Mayer does not hail from Georgia. With lyrics such as "you can find me down on Peachtree St," "I am driving down 85 in the kind of morning that lasts all afternoon," and hit song "Why Georgia," it is easy to assume he is a homegrown Georgia boy. The truth is, Mayer is an Atlanta transplant. He came to our city from his hometown of Fairfield, Connecticut in 1998.

It was in Atlanta that Mayer began his wildly successful musical career. After attempting a stint at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Mayer felt he needed to seek his own path in a different city. He moved to Atlanta and formed band Lo-Fi Masters. They toured local venues such as Eddie's Attic but the band did not see eye-to-eye on the music they were producing. At this point, John decided to go solo. It's a good thing he did. He recorded his EP Inside Wants Out and began to get his name out in the music industry. At a Southwest Airlines music festival record label Aware signed Mayer and funded his first full length debut. Aware scored a deal for Mayer on Columbia records and it was on this label that he released his debut album Room For Squares.

Room For Squares marked the beginning of a myriad of Grammy award winning songs and albums. Off this album came Mayer's biggest hit "Your Body Is a Wonderland" and other popular songs such as "No Such Thing" and "Why Georgia." In 2003 "Your Body is a Wonderland" won Mayer his first of 5 Grammy awards. He followed up with two more solo albums "Heavier Things" and the recently-released bluesy album "Continuum." Mayer also released a blues album Try! with his side project the John Mayer Trio. Trio was made up of Mayer, bassists Pino Palladino and drummer Steve Jordan. The band opened for The Rolling Stones and went on to a highly successful club tour.

Although Mayer now resides in Los Angeles and New York City, he maintains that Atlanta is a second home to him. Mayer often discusses how the majority of the music on his debut album was inspired during his time in Atlanta. He would walk around local neighborhoods such as Five Points and downtown Atlanta and write about what he was feeling at that place and time. In fact, Atlanta is so close to his heart that it is no surprise that most people assume he's originally from here. Despite his enormous success, Mayer continues to show his appreciation toward our city by playing 3 or 4 shows a year in Atlanta. That's more than any other city on his tours. Mayer is one of the few non-Atlanta native musicians that Atlanta locals can still be proud to call their own.

Cartel...Honestly

In 2005, Alternative Press magazine named Atlanta pop/punk/rock band Cartel as one of their "bands you need to know". The bands featured on this list are what the rock magazine considers quality music on the rise.

High School buddies Will Pugh, Joseph Pepper, Nic Hudson, Jeff Lett, and Kevin Sanders formed Cartel in 2004. They made music in their hometown of Atlanta and toured local venues such as Andrew's Upstairs, Masquerade, and Ten High. The band became recognized as one of those local bands that had the potential to be huge. Their break came in March 2006 when Epic records signed them to their label.

On Epic they recorded their debut EP, Chroma. The band's sound is high-energy power punk. It's fresh. Certain songs have great lyrical content, other's don't. What the band has going for them is the freshness of their music, the addictive hooks, and the fun beats to their songs. Chroma is a feel good CD; it's something you can listen to while driving. Their debut single off the album, "Honestly", is very pop rockish. It's what you would expect from a band that wants a radio friendly single. The song is fun, upbeat and easy to listen to. "Mistrel's Prayer" brings out another side to the band, it's Christian themed and addresses their faith. "Save Me" is the song with the strongest lyrical content on the album and it runs along the same Christian theme.

The best thing about the band is that they know who they are. They aren't trying to pretend to be anyone else; they play the music they like and it's consistent. Sure, some people feel that this causes an album to sound monotonous, but it tells me that as young as these kids are they have a clear direction of what they want to do with their music. All in all, these Atlanta boys know what they are doing. They are one of the few Atlanta based rock bands to make it on a major record label, have a hit single on MTV and radio-airwaves, and tour the United States with bands such as New Found Glory, Cobra Starship, and many other punk rock superstars.

Check them out on http://www.cartelrocks.com and http://www.myspace.com/cartel

Photo Credit: Ryan Russell

Daughtry In Depth

The name Daughtry sparks a couple of images: The American Idol rocker from Season 5 Chris Daughtry who took home the surprise of the year award when voted off in 4th place, the band with the fastest selling debut rock album in Soundscan history, and the alt-rock band that combines powerful lyrics, smooth guitar riffs, and energetic chords to create solid A grade music. All these images combine to create part of the highly popular band Daughtry.

At first glance, it is easy to associate the band with television show American Idol and write them off as pop sensations with no musical talent. That's truly not the case with this band. A little bit of history might make things clearer. Chris Daughtry was cast onto American Idol as the bald rocker with smooth vocals from North Carolina. During his idol stint, Daughtry performed a rendition of "Hemorrhage" by rock band Fuel. This performance led to an offer from Fuel for Daughtry to become their new lead singer. To the surprise of many, Daughtry declined the offer. He decided to take the risk and try to make a name for himself.

In November 2006, only 3 months after the end Chris's participation in the Idols tour, the band Daughtry had been formed and their self-titled debut album was released through RCA Records. The record label made the decision as to who was going to be in the band: Chris Daughtry as lead singer, songwriter and guitarist, Josh Steely on lead guitars, J.P. Paul on the Bass guitar, Joey Barnes on drums and percussion, and Brian Craddock on guitar. The certified double platinum album was co-written by Chris and he had an active hand in it's production.

The album Daughtry is a welcome addition to the seemingly dissipate genre of alternative rock. Chris's powerhouse vocals create a different mood to every song. The heavier songs such as "There and Back Again", and "What I Want" feat. Slash, prove that Daughtry knows how to rock. The explosive vocals mix well with fast paced memorable guitar riffs and heavy alternations. Ballads such as "Feels Like Tonight", and "What About Now" display his melodic voice in it's prominence.

Daughtry was recently in Atlanta for a follow up tour promoting their debut album. The band played a tiny venue, The Loft. The maximum capacity at this venue is 650 people and tickets sold out within 2 minutes of going on sale. Since the show was general admission, fans travelled from neighboring states and were lined up as early as 7am hoping to secure a prime spot in front of the stage. Local radio station All The Hits Q100 had a contest where listeners were admitted into a private sound check performance with the band. I was lucky enough to be part of the crowd during this performance and experienced the raw version of Daughtry. The band made last minute adjustments to ensure optimal sound quality for the concert later that night. An error with venue accommodations forced the band to play an acoustic set, something rarely experienced in modern day rock shows. The band performed at an optimal level, their music sounding almost exactly as it did on the album quality wise, but with a personal twist for the acoustic set and the intimate venue. In a day where many lead singers disappoint during live renditions of strongly recorded songs, Chris Daughtry's voice met or exceeded the quality displayed on his album during the show.

Even though they are popular on mainstream radio and sell millions of records, Daughtry is a band that delivers real rock music. You can argue otherwise or you can simply accept the fact that for the first time a real artist emerged out of American Idol.



Photo Credit: RCA Records

Atlanta Rocks On

The music scene in Atlanta deserves more media attention than it currently receives. Most of the Atlanta area artists that are recognized in the music industry tend to come out of the hip-hop and pop genre. However, there are quite a few rock and jazz artists that are either local and highly talented or from other parts of the nation/world and love to play in Atlanta. I'm going to feature local bands that people need to know about. I will also provide expert advice on the Atlanta venues and whether or not they should be avoided; Plus how to get the best seat in the house. I'm working on a calender of events that will contain numerous shows occurring in the Atlanta area that could be of interest to anyone who enjoys good music. To keep it balanced, I'm going to feature a couple of pop and/or hip-hop artists that deserve merits for their creativity. Basically, this is the inside source for everything that's real music in Atlanta.

Photo Credit: Southern Polytechnic University