We enjoy listening to Tori Amos, Fiona Apple, A Tribe Called Quest, The Beastie Boys, Dan Bern, Bjork, Leonard Cohen, The Black Crowes, Mary J. Blige, Block Party, Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians, Cab Assassin, Cake, Brandi Carlile, Johnny Cash, Tracy Chapman, Common, Concrete Blonde, Counting Crowes, Cowboy Junkies, Cracker, Ani DiFranco, Melissa Etheridge, The Funk Brothers, Marvin Gaye, G. Love and Special Sauce, David Gray, Al Green, Emmylou Harris, Indigo Girls, Leadbelly, Annie Lennox, Manu Chao, Dave Matthews, Erin McKeown, Bob Mould, Willie Nelson, Orishas, Nine Inch Nails, Panic! at the Disco, Jaco Pastorius, Pearl Jam, Tom Petty, Primus, Radiohead, Bonnie Raitt, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Lou Reed, REM, Return to Forever, Damien Rice, Rolling Stones, The Roots, Nina Simone, Elliott Smith, Chris Smither, Bruce Springsteen, These United States, Justin Timberlake, U2, Vandaveer, Tom Waits, Butch Walker, We are Scientists, Stevie Wonder, The Veltz Family, and many others.
ALL THE NEWS THAT FITS:We're getting airtime on Women of Substance Radio! Our track Sweet Seventeen is hanging in rotation with the likes of Sara Bareilles, Pink and Tori Amos - How cool is that? You can check it all out over at live365.com/stations/breenoble and/or friend them at www.myspace.com/womenofsubstanceradio. Tell them we sent you!
Thanks so much to everyone who came out to Rock and Roll Hotel. If you had half as much fun as we did, then we're all agreed that it was a pretty damn good time. You rock!
"Whiz Bang Three is out to prove that unconventional is the new norm." That and other generous commentary is archived in our blog section, excerpted from an awesome review of Best Original Jumbo Slice by The Acoustic District. Have a gander and check out who got called "mesmerizing and eccentric." Hot dang!
ALL THE PROPAGANDA THAT FITS: Saline and sultry, Whiz Bang Three's two female singers and bluesy rhythm section float folk-pop jetsam over a heady undercurrent of rock and roll. These fluid, soulful sounds echo an unlikely emulsion of Amy Winehouse, The Indigo Girls and The Red Hot Chili Peppers, while always charting a course for their own territories. Characterized by smart lyrics, driving rhythms and haunting harmonies, this diverse and animated DC band throws down with style.
'Best Original Jumbo Slice' is here! Check it, check it out.
WB3 is now featured on the 'Modern Times Compilation' CD. 100% Local Music!
Illustrious venues/stations graced by WB3 include:
219, 14U, Artomatic, Comet, DC9, Galaxy Hut, Insomnia Radio Baltimore, Modern Times, Nat'l Cherry Blossom Festival, Quarry House, Smithsonian Staff Picnic (@ the Smithsonian Folklife Festival,) The Red & The Black, Solly's, WRUV University of Vermont.
"New local group… working up a kind of dirty blues-rock sound. Strong female vocals." – On Tap Magazine, Joel's Picks
"That song was playing and it hypnotized me. I was hypnotized." - Insomnia Radio Baltimore co-host Tim's on-air comment on 'Life List'
"Headlined by the personality of Maureen Nelson, and her wide eyed intensity, Whiz Bang Three delivers a mixture of blues and jazz, rock and soul, with a freshness that is, without a doubt, entirely their own." – Tom Goss, Acoustic District
"Local indie folk rockers… But don't be fooled. There are actually five of them." - Dcist.com
"More bassy than Tom Petty, less bassy than Dave Matthews." - Matt 'Ears for Years' Holsen, Producer/Arranger
Late one June night at the Palace of Wonders, Whiz Bang Three hopped on the stage for a lo-fi rendition of their song 'Give Take Stop Fake' during Live Humans in DC. Guitarist Troy was out for the night, but good friend of the band Adrian of the Diffrents was there to fill in.
Nostalgia, the aptly entitled debut CD from ukulele troubadour Maureen Andary will have you dreaming yourself en route to Europe to fight a great war, listening to USO women, evoking memories of the streetscapes and nightlife you left behind.
This impressive collection of songs showcases Maureen’s many talents -- ukulele & guitar, recorder and mouth trumpet. But above all it introduces us to a voice aged beyond its years, quirky and sweet, powerful and muted, able to mold itself to each distinct mood. She often uses her voice much like a backup instrument, a one woman “Andrew Sisters” or “The Roches”.
Standout tracks include “Nostalgia” a loosely knit ukulele number with enough open space to appropriately introduce her unique jazzy voice. “Our Hearts Bleed”, a sugary sweet song with more pop sensibility than you can shake a “pepperment” stick at. And “Duke”, a scatty, skirt swishing tribute to Duke Ellington and U. St. A must have song for anyone who has spent time in Washington DC.
At times ethereal and at times smoky, Maureen gives us a new take on old love, a perspective decades after the fact. With lyrics like “it’s sexier to love in quiet, in secret…” and “think you smell me days later?”, Maureen becomes the girl whose memory you settle down in your bunk with each night, the one who makes you miss home…so…so…much.
I have no idea what that means but it is obvious to me people are not paying attention. What is truer is that musicians are refusing to be categorized, pigeonholed into one genre, whatever that genre may be. Whiz Bang Three is certainly an example of this.
Infusing rock, jazz, blues and a lot of soul into their debut EP Best Original Jumbo Slice, Whiz Bang is out to prove that unconventional is the new norm. Fronted by the mesmerizing and eccentric Maureen Nelson, the EP opens with a strong, thumping “Wound Up Tightly” pronouncing - “You’ve got to keep me begging, keep me down on my knees.” With exclamations like that, how can we refuse?
The 5-track EP forges ahead, barreling through sweet, volatile and bitter memories from past loves and tragic loss. Proving that although love is conflicted, it is never hopeless. Closing with the acoustic jazz/hip-hop track “Life List”, Whiz Bang Three asks not only “did you think?”, but more importantly, “did you sing?” When it comes to life’s little hurdles can there be a more important question?
You can pick up the CD on their Myspace page (www.myspace.com/whizbangthree)
Hi there! If you could take a minute, please vote for us in the Coldplay opening slot competition for DC at http://www.coldplayontour.com/wwdc/ . We're the 11th video down or 5th from the bottom. The still should be a girl singing in a tanktop. Please vote by the 17th of July Thanks!
Let’s get this out right off the bat; I am a Flo Anito fan. I have been anxiously awaiting this album for almost two years now. With that in mind, throughout that time I have had very high expectations for it. What I hoped this CD would capture is at the same time what I feared it never would, the wit and innocence of Flo’s voice, through her music.
I have not been disappointed.
No Dustbunnies comes barreling out of the gate with the radio ready “Man of the Year”. Caught off guard with the simplicity of the first verse, Brian Jones opens up his drums, taking the music to a new level all together. It is hard to make it through this song without exclaiming Flo Anito has arrived!
Flo has managed to create a variant of pop on this album that I am affectionately naming “Sugar Pop”. Chris Keup and Stewart Myers have done an exceptional job at taking Anito’s sweet sounding “Pop” and giving her a sharpened “Rock” edge, leaving the songs dynamic and versatile.
Stand out tracks include the aforementioned “Man of the Year”, a top 40 hit in any listener’s ears. “Change My Life”, borrowing notes from The Fray, creating a piano based ballad about growth, integration and moving in a new direction. “No Good”, a song about un-reciprocated love with a chorus that I still find myself singing and finally, “No Dustbunnies” a song that showcases Flo’s creative lyric writing, painting a world where Beaver Cleaver still roams the streets – a place where Flo longs to be, tongue firmly planted in cheek.
You can pick up the CD at – www.cdbaby.com/floanito – you will not be disappointed.
Our new album, Unbearable Bliss, is available via iTunes, (US, Aus/NZ, UK/EU, Japan and Canada), as well as Rhapsody, Napster, eMusic, GroupieTunes, Amazon MP3 and Lala.
Hey, thanks for the friend request! Man, I have so many questions. How did you find us? How are you doing? How is your week going?
Ours has been awesome, we just headlined the 930 club and over 150 stations picked up the new single! btw, have you checked it out yet? Its Still Love, the first one that plays on our profile. Anyhow hit is back and let us know how you did the tune and whats going on with you.
Ours has been awesome, we started our national college radio push a few weeks ago and found out that 141 stations picked up the new single! Have you checked it out yet? Its Still Love, the first one that plays on our profile.
Hi Maureen! Sorry for the delayed response--just saw your comment...I AM EXCITED FOR YOU!!!! I got your email too...you know I'm going to get a copy of the CD!!!!!! Love you much! Pam
hey, was wondering who picks up those discs, thanks for writing, ur music is really great. have a fantastic show at artomatic, that place is really sweet! be sure to check out the sesow art
Washington, DC has many claims to fame – monuments, cherry blossoms, politics – but there is one thing that will always fall short of the list, folk music. Dave Ihmels has set out to change that.
With his hotly anticipated debut album Expandable, Ihmels is turning heads and opening ears in a city yearning for a voice. With the delicate Burn Every Tree opening the CD listeners are welcomed into “starlight and secrecy” as they begin their journey through what will surely be the cornerstone of Ihmels’ blossoming career.
As many albums do, the first three tracks of Expandable move swiftly and begin to unravel the artist within. This is where the depth of many albums stop; however with the opening of Over The Big Pond (Track 4) listeners are greeted with a new sound entirely. Atmospheric and spatial, looping a multitude of voices and electronic keyboards, it becomes glaringly obvious that Ihmels is just warming up.
Following Over The Big Pond, Green Field bursts back into folk/pop easily wrapping you around its fingertips. The catchiest song on the album, Green Field will catch you (as it did me) singing the final chorus on your first listen.
Other stand out tracks include Down To The Afterlife a Who-esque rocker that will have you tapping your feet and rocking your hips, Jellyfish Blues, personifying oceanic life in a way you never thought possible and Stay In The Light, a song that could easily be sandwiched into a Nick Drake album, holding up the entire way.
Fellow DC folkster Linda Sublett lends her vocals (and flute) to the album, rounding out Ihmels’ voice and helping create a depth that many never achieve.
Expandable has something for everyone and Dave Ihmels is living proof that folk will never die in a city where politics are left to run at-will.
'Best Original Jumbo Slice' is here! Check it, check it out. 
WB3 is now featured on the 'Modern Times Compilation' CD. 100% Local Music!
Illustrious venues/stations graced by WB3 include:
219, 14U, Artomatic, Comet, DC9, Galaxy Hut, Insomnia Radio Baltimore, Modern Times, Nat'l Cherry Blossom Festival, Quarry House, Smithsonian Staff Picnic (@ the Smithsonian Folklife Festival,) The Red & The Black, Solly's, WRUV University of Vermont. 
