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Treasures in My Backyard

My Exposure to the Indie Music Scene

By LadyBs BandShellPublished 6 years ago 3 min read
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Lady B from NYC(Photo Taken by Cindy Colon)

I grew up loving all types of music...but I'm a rock-n-roller from the roots of my hair right down to my core. I mean, I consider the band Staind to be THE BEST therapist I could ever ask for. To this day, if I were to ever meet Aaron Lewis or ANYONE from the band in person...I would hand them a check for all those years I listened to them and felt relief through singing their songs...along with punching my pillows during "Suffocate" and "Mudshovel" (laughing).

For the last 10+ years, I have been a part of the indie music scene—mostly the indie rock music scene, of course. I even dated a musician back in high school, and he made the initial introduction to the indie (underground) rock scene. Unfortunately, I lost him and a mutual friend of ours on 9/11. For a long time after that, I felt it was too painful to stay in tune with that scene because I missed my boyfriend too much. It wasn't until partaking in LaGuardia Community Colleges' web radio station that I decided to get back into it. After that re-introduction...I never looked back.

I grew to know that there was A LOT of great music out there that was unfortunately getting overlooked by radio stations. I got to know bands such as Baptized X Fire, where the front man was none other than Jesse Blaze Snider, son of rock legend Dee Snider of Twisted Sister. More bands that would come to enter my iTunes library: Dirty Mother Nation (not active), Smackfactor (not active), AnAkA, and The Challenged.

As time went on, I just became more and more interested in the rock music of the independent circuit. Mind you, I wanted to know about all the rock genres; punk, emo, alternative, heavy metal, grunge, etc. I even loved movies that were music-based. Flicks such as CBGB (R.I.P. Alan Rickman), Prey for Rock & Roll,Crossroads (NOT that Britney Spears bullsh*t), The Doors, Ricki and the Flash, Rudderless (R.I.P. Anton Yelchin) and Perfect Age of Rock and Roll...all with amazing soundtracks. I love the fact that, in Rudderless, Anton Yelchin and Billy Crudup actually sing and play the songs themselves. Same thing with Prey for Rock and Roll and Gina Gershon and Ricki and The Flash with Meryl Streep. It all just captivated me.

In hosting my own web radio show, I came to know bands from not just the USA, but from The UK, New Zealand, Canada and even Estonia. With all that I would find on YouTube as well as going to shows throughout the city...hearing about NBCs The Voice truly did it for me. I would watch that show and pay close attention to each artist who would audition. If I got a tingling in my stomach, it was because I sensed that that individual had something extra to offer. To this day, I still am friends with a bunch of artists from that show (no revealing names yet...sorry y'all).

So strap yourselves in, my darlings...because this blog will open your eyes to who else is out there.

(Photo taken by Cindy Colon)

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About the Creator

LadyBs BandShell

Want to know about Independent bands that you should add to your library? Then you have come to the right place. Lady B; web radio host/digital artist, has the scoop on bands not just within the U.S., but The U.K., Australia & more!

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