Arriving at The 5 Spot on a Tuesday half-drunk and getting sobered up by a great band isn’t necessarily a unique occurrence. But last week, that’s exactly what happened to me. I showed up just in time to catch Nashville’s Dead Sea Empire start their set after a full day showing around friends in town from Chicago. “The thing about Nashville,” I told them, “is that you can just constantly stumble across talented local bands, out of nowhere.” That had never happened to me in New York, not counting CMJ or the like. But boy, did all those groups always have nice, shiny guitars.
Last Tuesday, Dead Sea Empire, comprising Joel Larabell, Nathan Hufford and Johnny Gradone, blew through a blistering set of classic rock-inspired anthems with electric stage presence. The band actually funded their debut album, out in mid to late may, on Kickstarter. “We will be doing a release show around that time,” Gradone says. “We’re looking to make the album flow well with both ups and downs as far as the intensity goes,” he adds. “These songs definitely garner our influences of 60’s and 70’s music. Pink Floyd, Led Zep, Doors…etc.” The band will also be playing an outdoor concert on Cinco De Mayo at The Greenhouse in Green Hills.
Click the song titles below to listen to two tracks, “Pull Your Money Down” and “Allison.”
And if you stumble upon a local band you dig, please don’t forget to let me know about it.
Lockeland Springsteen 