[So I'm hitting you with something we haven't done before. A list and a how to all in one, put in a box and wrapped in a bow. I'll be giving you a little incite on what I do everyday, because I know you are dying to find out what that is! Everyone knows what they like, certain artists, time periods, genres, but where do you find something that you've never heard of? The biggest question is, where do I start? Use these tips to begin your journey to listening to something new from your speakers.]

1. Local shows
Every city has a handful of small bars and music clubs. Most of them kick ass and bring in great acts. Keeping your eyes open for flyers, checking your local paper, or visiting bar or club websites will provide you with more “bands that you’ve never heard of” than you can handle. This is great way to find local and national acts. Because of venue websites, we’ve found some really awesome local bands…Big Hurry and Meeting of Important People.

2. The internet
The Genius feature that Apple has come up with is pretty damn good. As are services like Last.fm and Pandora. These give you alternatives to what you already listen to, pretty sweet. While you might not find any completely unknown bands, you certainly will find some stuff that you’re not aware of. Pandora is a source for me that has led to some of my posts…Isbells and School of Seven Bells.

3. Friends
We all have that friend who is always finding sweet new jams (cough cough…Jim). A lot of times you wonder how in the world is he/she finding all this stuff. Ask them, chances are they have other friends telling them about their finds too. Jim has enlightened me on so many great bands…Blitzen Trapper, Bon Iver, Dr. Dog, and the list goes on. Just yesterday I got the call, “Hey! Blake! You’ve gotta listen to this.”

4. Public radio
These stations are gems in the rough. For a slew of reasons(cost, appeal, fan demographic) these stations tend to focus on the smaller bands around the country. Another bonus is that the DJ’s on these radio stations tend to be crazy passionate about the music they play. When I heard “Electric Feel” by MGMT on WYEP for the first time, it blew my mind…literally. A huge mess.

5. Opening acts
Unless you’re the opening act for U2 or the like, many folks won’t know who you are, or at least won’t know your catalog inside and out. But if you like the headliner so much that you went to the show, odds are in your favor that you’ll like the opening act. The damn band picked them to open for Pete’s sake! Case in point, we went to the Blind Pilot show this past winter at Club Cafe. Laura Veirs was the opening act. She dropped from the heavens and the rest is history. Jim hasn’t been the same since.

6. MUSIC BLOGS
Oh come on, you should have seen this coming from a mile away. But seriously, music blogs do the work for you! By stopping in, you get all kinds of new music. There are blogs covering every spectrum of music. You have the big players like Stereogum and Pitchfork, but there are great smaller blogs out there. Pittsburgh has some great coverage of the local and national music scenes. Hugh runs a great photo blog, BNAC covers all kinds of local shows, and Pittsburgh Music Report always has something good up. Muzzle of Bees is a daily must read for me. A great piece of advice here folks, subscribe to RSS Feeds. They allow you to see every post as they happen of every blog you want to follow. 10 gold stars and a pat on the back to the dude who came up with the idea. Check out the blogroll for some of our favorites, and stop back. We’ll keep the new tunes rolling.

Filed under: Lists