BAAMO

TAMPA BAY ARTISTS
Debuting at 2007 CMJ, giddy up, helicopter! creates “an almost palpable wave of sound as they weave sprawling guitar riffs, lap steel and resonating bass into a beautiful sonic fabric that is at once both rousing and melancholy. “ Reax Magazine. Soundcheck Magazine had this to say of their CMJ performance: “I’m always thrilled to see women who kick ass, and giddy-up helicopter! absolutely do.”

In both 2006 and 2007, giddy up, helicopter! was voted Best Local Band by the readers of Creative Loafing. The band was also featured in that publication’s 2007 survey of the ten most prominent women in the Tampa Bay music scene, “Chicks Rock”, which explained, “the band’s sound wraps indi-rock fuzz around a rock ‘n’ roll heart and employs organic instrumentation that proves a well-played lap steel can sound far more interesting than something programmed on a laptop.”

Matthew Burke’s acoustic solo project, Have Gun, Will Travel, was cited by Tampa’s Creative Loafing as the critic’s pick for Best New Band of 2007 and has garnered praise from music aficionados far and wide.

Evan James from American Songwriter explains why Have Gun, Will Travel was featured in that publication’s “Under the Radar” feature: “HGWT’s self-titled EP is a testament to the fact that you don’t need ostentatious artwork or $25,000 production to make it into the “Under the Radar;” all you need is good songs. Coming in a cardboard disc box with no track list and employing what is probably third rate production, all is forgotten because the songs stand out superior. A mix between Neil Young, Elliott Smith and Whiskeytown, Florida’s Have Gun, Will Travel keeps it acoustic for the most part, treading through an indie/alt-country sound that isn’t entirely unfamiliar. On the last song, vocalist M. Burke sings, “If I was a toy surprise inside that Cracker Jack box/ Maybe you’d appreciate me more.” I like it just the way it is.”

As The Bradenton Herald explains, “The melodies are soothing like strong medicine. Burke’s vocals are subtle yet somehow manage to grab you by the throat at the same time.”

The Ditchflowers, whose inaugural cd “Carried Away” earned them a feature on NPR in 2007, write songs that “stitch a pattern of simple chords but end up in a mosaic that makes real musical art.” Not Lame

“Carried Away” was named Best New Local cd of 2007 by Tampa’s Creative Loafing, which praised Ed Woltil and Brian Merrill’s ability to combine “an array of pop and rock elements — different styles, ambitious arrangements, revealing lyrics and a general sense of possibility.”

Ed Woltil’s “Boys” (from “Carried Away”) garnered national attention when this song was chosen as a Finalist in the Folk category of the 2006 John Lennon Songwriting Contest, Session 1. They were also profiled in a cover story in Tampa’s Creative Loafing in celebration of the debut of “Carried Away.”

Lorna Bracewell, cited for penning the Best Contemporary Protest Song by Tampa’s Creative Loafing in 2007 “addresses hot-button issues in a feisty, thoughtful manner, without clobbering the listener over the head with ideology.” Featured in that publication’s “Chicks Rock”,” Lorna’s music is explained as “refreshingly difficult to define. She’s an acoustic-guitar-wielding singer/songwriter who appreciates Ani DiFranco and The Rolling Stones — and isn’t afraid to let both influences spice her music.”

Once described as sounding like “an angel who swallowed Bob Seger,” Lorna has recorded and released five self-produced albums of original music on her own label, Braced Well Records. She has toured extensively in the United States and Europe.The St. Petersburg Times, after catching Bracewell’s opening set for Chris Isaak, dubbed her “the outspoken heir to the Ani DiFranco throne.”

Lorna is also an educator and an activist who understands how the power of music can unite people for a cause. She is the founder, sponsor and host of On this Earth: Art to Inform, Enlighten and Empower, a series of concerts embracing themes of racial justice, sexual justice and religious tolerance. She also lectures at colleges and universities throughout the United States on topics such as gender inequality and violence against women. Her workshop “Love 101: Rethinking love, sex and power” was voted a Top Ten Session at the Florida Junior and Community Colleges SGA state conference two years running.

More insight into Lorna and her work can be found in a six-page features in the nationally acclaimed Campus Activities Magazine.

Developing a unique style she calls “Soulful Southern Pop Noir,” Rebekah Pulley remains the favorite of fans and critics alike. Her 2006 release, Songs of Southern Zen from Pen and Paper to the Electric Den was the 4th most-played cd on Tampa’s WMNF 88.5 FM for 2006. In a review of the album, the Tampa Tribune advised, “This is a must for fans of roots-rock, Americana and singer/songwriters in general…whoever in Nashville needs to head south and scout out Rebekah Pulley - she’s the real deal.”

In 2007, Rebekah was voted Best Local Singer-Songwriter by the readers of Creative Loafing and she was on the cover of that publication’s 2007 survey of the ten most prominent women in the Tampa Bay music scene, “Chicks Rock”.

She was named “Best Singer/Songwriter” in Tampa Bay by the editors of Creative Loafing in 2005 and was selected as “Best Acoustic Act” by that publication’s predecessor, The Weekly Planet, in 2002 which described her live singing as “both technically spot-on and emotionally devastating. It can drop your jaw and break your heart.”

For the first time ever, Rebekah will be performing with Ronny Elliott at the 6th Annual Florida Bandango.

“Ronny Elliott should be among the first inducted into an Americana Hall Of Fame…[he] stands alone as a brilliantly incisive commentator on the backwaters of popular culture” 3rd Coast Music

Named to Creative Loafing’s Hall of Fame in 2007 for his “compelling, sometimes obstinately personal music that really gets into your bones,” Ronny makes albums that most critics love and many, many fans from around the world happily buy.

“Half the songwriters in Nashville would sell their mother’s soul for even one of the songs that Elliott seems to toss around like peanut shells.” Billings Gazette

The Bay Area Arts & Music Organization (BAAMO) from the Tampa Bay area of Florida, is a group of ten volunteers who creatively raise money all year through benefit concerts, selling coffee, brownies, beer at yard sales, and getting donations from Tampa Bay music fans in order to host the Florida Bandango and give the performers making the trip some gas money. BAAMO also has released two cds of local bands. There is no corporate sponsor, no multilateral tie-ins. No one in the organization gets paid one cent (unfortunately).