So if you haven’t been into the independant music scene of the late nineties to the present, you’ve probably missed one of the best independent bands of the last decade – Dispatch (and, yeah, they’re better than all that modest mouse and co. stuff that’s come out so recently!). Straight out of Boston, this three man crew ripped it up all over the US, touring non-stop, and selling more than 300,000 CDs in the last eight years (pretty impressive for a group that never signed with a single record company in their existence).
You remember that software program called napster? Yeah, well these guys are the quint-essential poster-boys for that program, and the ideas about file sharing that it fostered. Without Napster, and its ability to spread music (as well as other media) all over the world, Dispatch would never have made it as big as they have. Now don’t get me wrong, under the current copyright laws, essentially free file sharing is illegal and I’m not putting my stamp of approval on it, but for bands out there like Dispatch, who refuse to trade their musical and lyrical freedom for money and notoriety (brought to you courtesy of “THE RECORD LABEL”) file sharing is one of the best ways to distribute their name to as many people as possible, quickly! And they’ll agree! (and you wonder why the record companies all hate free file sharing!)
Anyways, this summer holds Dispatch’s final show, in Boston, so don’t go lookin’ for tour dates for next year. However, all three guys, Pete, Chad and Braddigan are now off and about creating their own music. Personally I have found a lot to enjoy about Braddigan‘s new solo effort (check out his debut ep, ‘Dirt Level Demos’). This ep is essentially Braddigan and his guitar (sidenote: Braddigan played drums for Dispatch, though his primary instrument of choice is the guitar!) with a bit of vocal layering to add some depth here and there (gotta love harmony!). On top of some great skill and talent as both a musician and song writer, he’s a born-again Christian (or however you wanna state it) which is always a big plus in my book for artists I wanna highlight! So check him out and keep your tabs on his stuff in the coming months and year, cause this guy’s got talent, some big dreams, and a big heart!
(sorry, this one got kinda long)
Mick
