Bands and solo artists that you may not have heard of yet…but whom we think are going to make a name for themselves really soon ~  and you get to hear about them here, right before they make it big!

BAND
Tragically Happy
By Suzy Geers

Comedy and tragedy are innate forces driving many artists to create ~ for talented Worcester four piece Tragically Happy, music is pure comedy/fun.

Lead vocalist, guitarist, and veteran musician Damian Bonazzoli shares, “This is the most fun I’ve ever had in a band.” Where is the tragedy in that?!

Tragically Happy boasts a diverse sound with elements of edgy alternative rock, blues, and modern pop with additional members Peter Alberti belting out harmonies, keyboards, and rhythm guitar, Mike Mathis on bass, and Bill Crooks (aka “The Rock Doc”) bangin’ on the drums.

Bonazzoli explains, “We’ve all been playing our respective instruments for a long time, and the level of professionalism we bring to a show is pretty high. Peter and I have known each other since we were both music majors at UMass.  Bill and I were in Gearhead in 2001 which eventually disbanded, but we reunited for a show in July 2008.  I asked Peter to sit in on keys with us. Our first show we performed under the name The Free Radicals.  When our bass player quit for personal reasons, Mike came aboard. We recently changed the name after research showed The Free Radicals was in use by other bands.  So, here we are, Tragically Happy!  I think that name pretty well fits the music we do ~ fun but edgy.”

With influences ranging from Deep Purple, Pink Floyd, Bad Religion, The Dandy Warhols to more contemporary acts like Fall Out Boy and My Chemical Romance, Tragically Happy serve an eclectic mix of sweet sounding rock and roll. “Pale Blue Moon” showcases the band’s unity and maturity with nice, tight rhythms and some smokin’ blues/ ragtime piano laid down by Alberti.

“On the cover side,” Bonazzoli says, “I love playing Cracker’s ‘Been Around the World.’ It has a great hook! Peter and I get to trade some dirty blues organ and guitar leads.  It’s just a flat out fun song to play and to listen to ~ a great club song.”

If a great live show is what you’re looking for ~ you’ve found it! “We want the audience to have as much fun as we are. You’ll dance to some cool music, you might find yourself singing along but you’ll notice that when we play covers, we tend to be pretty eclectic.  There’s a chance you might not recognize some of our songs, but believe me ~ you’ll still enjoy them.”

Check Tragically Happy out on-line at tragicallyhappy.com.

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SOLO
Dave Magario
By Tine Roycroft

Dave Magario is a musician and lyricist.  Listen to his music once and be touched for years.  His words and melodies tip the cap to the works of Jeff Buckley, where those dwelling in shadows found light ~ and vice-versa.  A true Renaissance man, Magario dabbles in writing, sketching and a little bit of everything that’s bliss.  But his true love will always be the music.

“I am the youngest of 7 kids,” Magario, 24, says.  “Growing up in my family, there was always lots of things going on, lots of people trying different stuff.  I’d always try to do something that my siblings were doing but it always came back to music.”

Today, Margario is a far cry from the little kid who wandered around with a Casio Keyboard under his arm, wanting to be like who father who play over 500 songs on the piano from memory.  He has since charmed the guitar and the piano.  He is working on learning the accordion and according to him, there are always a couple of harmonicas lying around, begging to be played.  And of course, he uses his greatest tool ~ his own voice ~ to hypnotize the audiences.

“This Stone” features Magario with guitar and soul bared through revealing vocals.  It’s raw.  It’s real and it cannot be denied.  It might not belong to the “Get Up and Go” mix on your IPOD, but that’s fine with Magario.

“In all my time, my best songs are the ones that are most depressing,” the Webster resident notes the irony.   “And people ask for them.”

Magario doesn’t force the muse, he waits for the songs and sounds to reveal themselves.  But if he is looking for a little inspiration, he does turn to the music of Jeff Buckley.

“Even if I want to be down for a while his is the first music I go to,” Magario says. “It’s inexplicable how deeply it goes into me.  Behind all that sadness, there is a lot of hope and that’s something that people don’t often write about.  It’s really easy to write a really sad song about heart break, but it’s more difficult to write a sad song with hope.”

At the end of the day, Magario gives his music up to his fans for them to interpret and use as they will.  He has no agenda, just a divine love for what he does.

“I want people to feel what they need to feel in that moment,” he says.

For more info on Dave Magario, visit myspace.com/dmagario.

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GRADUATE
Evenspeak’s Next Exit
By Suzy Geers

Meet the “new” Classic Rock!  Lyrically driven with a relative hook, Evenspeak stands on the shoulders of yesterday’s greats while crafting around today’s best.

Describing itself as “independent, original, honest, hard working, blue collar without boundaries,” this cohesive five piece unit features the talents of JB ~ lead vocals/guitar, Paul LaBrie ~ bass guitar/backing vocals, Frank LaFord ~ rhythm guitar/piano/backing vocals, Tiger ~ drums, and Carolyn Salls ~ backing/lead vocals/trumpet.

Evenspeak’s new release, Next Exit, certainly sets the band in the direction of stardom.  It’s straightforward rock and roll with a perfect meshing of blues, country, and southern rock ~ throw in some piano and beautiful, heartfelt ballads, and you have a bona fide great disc.

Opening track “Times Like These,” a Bob Seger-esque, toe tappin’, piano laden, catchy tune that truly sets the tone for the disc is honest rock ~ not flashy or overdone, this song, along with the others on the disc, speak for themselves.

Another highlight, “Foolish Dreams,” is a song only a musician (or artist) could write; it focuses on the daily battle of musician (loves, craves, eats, dreams music) versus world, i.e. the rest of his/her family (music is a great hobby but it can’t pay the bills). How many can relate?! “There are no such things as Foolish Dreams, only the fools who don’t follow them.”

“Will You Call Me Friend” may be the most personal for the band: “It’s an extremely relatable song, as we’ve all lost someone very close to us in our lives.”

The driving-down-495 super fast song “Good Thing Going On” showcases the electric chemistry of lead vocalists Carolyn and JB.  “I wanted to write that classic rock song that all of the greats like the Beach Boys and Springsteen, etc. have written in the past,” says JB, “that song about racing and cars and your best girl.  And so that was the main idea: great subject, rockin’ beat, and throw Carolyn’s backing vocals into the mix and hopefully, you can’t help but tap your foot!”

Paul sums up our interview with, “Hopefully if you take anything away from this article, it’s quite simply that there’s nothing pretentious or disingenuous going on with either Evenspeak or Next Exit.  We’re not out here pretending to be something we’re not.  All we really want to do is keep making music, and hopefully find a few people who want to share that experience with us!  It’s been a great ride so far!”

You can check on upcoming Evenspeak gigs and purchase Next Exit at www.evenspeak.com or myspace.com/evenspeak.

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GRADUATE
Before the Fall
By Rebecca Carter

When The Pulse first met up with Before the Fall, they were a local alt-metal band on the rise, having just completed their first EP “In the Garden.” And now, just under one year later, Before the Fall has released their first full length album, Slow Descent, and enjoyed a stint opening for Mudvayne and Nonpoint. Lead singer Misty Silva filled us in on where the band has been and where they’re going.

What makes Slow Descent different from your EP?

The first demo was to be used for promotion and we gave it away to people, the whole album was recorded in a day, there was no mix or mastering. Our latest work, Slow , is an actual album although the band wishes we had more time to record, produce, fix and master more. We were under a time constraint to meet our CD release at Hard Rock on April 10, 2009.

What was the inspiration behind the album?

The music behind the vocals was written over the last 2 years by Michael Gendron and Jon McGee. Jon was inspired by darker times and bouts of depression. The music forced him to rethink the fundamental ideology of “What is life” while Michael struggled to balance Jon’s metal influence with a more rock and radio style of writing. [It’s] a true duel personification of blending genres and decades of influences into a structured package, while Michael writes … with formal theory training, Jon writes from pure, deep, and poetic emotion.

Have you done any touring outside of New England?

After opening for Mudvayne/Non Point, we were invited to perform at the Indie Metal / Rock Showcase in Chicago, IL where we played at the Portage. We were to get a music mideo, interview footage and professional photography by Mark Goles with BangupTV, but according to promoter PapaG Productions, Mark Goles took off with the footage and we have not heard anything since April 2009. It is a shame because the place was awesome and there were like 4 HD cameras going and a few thousand people there. It would have been an awesome video. We also toured to Detroit’s legendary iRock show bar and Pittsburgh’s Lighthouse, wrapping up the tour at Boston’s Hard Rock Café playing to a full house.

And what do you have in the works right now?

Presently, we are looking at a charity show at The Palladium in September for concepts4charity.org. We play our last show of the summer at Middle East on 6/5 with Lionel of Onslaught Entertainment.

We won’t record our next album until spring of 2010, unless we get some form of financial sponsorship. We are also working on a tour to Atlanta, GA. Since we are taking the summer off from shows, we have been working on our marketing system.

For more information, including music samples and tour dates, check out myspace.com/livebeforethefall.