10 Bands Under the Radar at MidPoint

Ruetschle, an indie rock quartet out of Dayton, Ohio, creates their own unique brand of melodic pop influenced by everything from Buddy Holly and The Beatles, to Guided By Voices and the Pixies

Chapel Hill’s Western Civ declares they’ve been influenced by “60′s and 70′s garage bands the nobody knows” and their most recent album was recorded under the direction of Mitch Easter (R.E.M., Superchunk, Pavement) 

Inspired by everything from Yes and Meatloaf, to the Hold Steady and At the Drive-In, New York’s progressive, post-punk rockers, Aficionado, has at times featured as many as ten musicians, who create a trippy, psychedelic ride of theatrical vocals and lush arrangements

With a laidback vibe and a vintage feel, Michigan indie-folk rock band, Light In August, says that even your parents could dig them, with influences of Cat Stevens and Nick Drake, to My Bloody Valentine and Wilco

Cincinnati’s psychedelic, indie-rock band, Fists of Love, features former members of the Fairmount Girls and The High & Low and are currently working on their debut album

Another local rock band, Goose, is kind of like a supergroup featuring Jason and Jordan Arbenz, and Paul Cavins and Lance Stapleton, who say they’re “influenced as much by classic rock as by anything more recent”, which would include everything from the Stones, Beatles and James Brown, to Elliott Smith, the Flaming Lips and Black Crowes

Canada’s The Free Press describes their sound as “Guster and the Counting Crows in a fist fight with Crowded House and Springsteen with the E Street Band”

CityBeat’s Mike Breen describes The Atriums as “Band of Horses on cough syrup, The National going through some heavy shit, Built to Spill turning things down and going with the quiet flow”

Louisville’s The Trouble with Boys may be the youngest band to ever play MidPoint with the members being in the 12-14 year old range. They’ve played all over the country, and I’ll tell you that it’s nice to see kids playing and writing their own music, rather than most at their age who assume that by playing Guitar Hero and Rock Band you have what it takes to make it in music.

Coming from the music capital of the world, Austin, Texas, The Zest of Yore has a unique brand of psychedelic, indie-pop that has been influenced by nearly everyone from Guided By Voices, Prince, The Beatles, Ween and Peter Gabriel, to Steely Dan, Guns N Roses, Beethoven, Cream and Miles Davis