I was contacted this week by Radio Nationals drummer, Rick Cranford (also drummer with Seattle band Big Spoon who we reviewed last fall). After hearing thier latest tracks available at thier MP3.com page, I couldn't wait another week to start the review! I liked the songwriting, music, energy, vocals...everything was fresh, original and exciting. They are playing this coming Friday at Chop Suey, a live music club in Seattle's Capital Hill neighborhood, so this may end up being the first 2-stage review ever done on HotBands.com!

Radio Nationals sound falls in the category of Americana...bridging the common ground of rock and country while creating a sound that is original and fitting for today's music market. A nice run of airplay, making the charts of KEXP (Seattle original music station) and lots of good press, all indicate that Radio Nationals is going to be more than a minor splash in the Northwest.

Stay tuned to this review! There will be an addition after I attend this Friday's show at Chop Suey!

Last Friday the 13th didn't seem to be any type of deterrent to club-hoppers wanting to catch a good live music show in Seattle. Three bands filled the 350 person nightclub Chop Suey to it's capacity.

Starting the evening was The Ones, a grunge band with a hard grunge sound that made Seattle famous.

Interviewing lots of patrons found that the majority of people were there to see all three bands, and that members of each of the bands had played in different bands before. This made it difficult to get a truely unbiased opinion, but when I asked a fan named Jason how he would rate the band, he said "They're doing great for thier first gig, but there is a lot of room for growth...but Bambi (the tattooed female bassist) looks hot as shit!"

The Radio Nationals were 2nd on the three band bill. The riddle to thier alternative country sound was solved when I saw that both lead vocalist Jared Clifton, and lead guitarist Sean Earley used a telecaster as thier axe of choice. The Radio Nationals performed all of the songs from thier new EP, follow up to thier 2001 release Exit 110. I think this band has tremendous songwriting, with a sound that has mass appeal.

Finally, Redneck Girlfriend headlined the evening, catering to a rowdy crowd of cowboy hat wearing fans with thier own blend of country/punk, dispelling the myth that Seattle is (for the most part) a 'grunge town'.

There is a new sound coming from Seattle that isn't mainstream or grunge, and judging from the crowds these bands are pulling in, it may redefine how the world views the Seattle Sound.

For more information on Radio Nationals, CLICK HERE

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