Week #4- 09/08/09

I hope everyone had a grat and relaxing Labor Day weekend. This past weekend kicked off the college football season, unfortunately my Dawgs didn’t win, but hopefully your favorite team did. This week I have two groups for you that I became aware of at a recent concert. These groups were the opening groups for a recent Death Cab for Cutie concert I worked at the Fox Theater here in Atlanta. Both are unique in their sound and grouping.

First is Matt Costa. His sound is very reminiscent of Bob Dylan. Only difference is that you can understand him. Costa was always interested in music, received his first guitar at 12 and played in a band through high school. But his first love was skateboarding. He was dreaming of going pro, but that came to a crashing end when he seriously injured his leg in an accident at the age of 18. During his recovery he shifted his focus to songwriting and guitar playing. He put out an EP that caught the attention of Brush Fire Records owner Jack Johnson who signed Costa to his label and invited him to open his tour in the summer of 2005. Costa’s first major-label record debut was in late 2005 with "Songs We Sing" and then followed up with his sophomore album "Unfamiliar Faces" in 2008. I couldn’t decide which song to post by Matt this week so you have two songs to listen/watch for him, Cold December and Mr. Pitiful.

The next group is Ra Ra Riot. From the moment this group hit the stage till they finished playing I was just blown away. This music ensemble is the perfect marriage of indie rock, songwriting and chamber pop flourishes. What this group sets up like on stage is; the three guys are on guitar, bass, keyboard and drums in the middle, while the girls accent the edges with violin and cello. They were at one point a group of six, but after a very sad drowning accident that resulted in the loss of beloved member and drummer, John Ryan Pike, shortly before the release of their debut EP. The group was encouraged by friends, family and loved ones to go on with the dream the group of friends had without Pike. Over the past year this group has built a very loyal and growing fan bas. They have been touring non-stop, which has provided them with more press coverage than many band will ever get in decades of playing.