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Next Fest Review
The Next Music Festival is no longer next. The three-day club event, a replacement for the defunct Extravaganza, closed it's inaugural year last night with a brighter array of music and, generally, bright spirits among registrants.
New York four-piece Nation found their muse in the cool, danceable grooves of the modern electric blues. Their set at Douglas Corner yesterday was upbeat and engaging, with a vocal presence as shiny as their lead singer's red iridescent shirt. They convincingly won over the crowd with there catchy harmonies & "star-like" stage presence.
--Tom Roland
Staff Writer
- The Nashville Tennessean
NATION
WRITTEN IN STONE
It takes about the length of a single song to sense whether a new artist “has it” or “don’t have it.” It is extremely rare that there are nuggets lurking later on a disc if the first track is flat and it’s also unusual that a great first cut leads to boredom around the corner. L.I.s NATION maintains this theory, they rock you out of the gate with “Let it Begin" and the buzz keeps building throughout the remaining 5 tracks. Though NATION is no secret to the New York area they’ve been a major live attraction and a promising unit for a few years, it’s clear that the rest of the country is about to be in for a wonderful surprise. The quartet of John "The Frog” Faughey, John Fletcher, Philip Tuzzolo & Paul Fedronas aren’t making the minimal depression fest sounds of the day, they’re creating music punctuated by crisp musicianship, philosophically deep lyrics and clever arrangements. Particularly good are the wisdom of the title track “Written In Stone,” the romantically warming “Smile” and the coming to terms sentiment of “Epilogue.” Melodic and commercial, but only in the most sincere sense, Nation's long awaited debut strokes a fire that will spread rapidly in the near future. Get in on the ground floor and hunt this one down now.
-John Blenn
- Goodtimes
***Nation has just been nominated for New AC/Hot AC Group/Duo of the Year by New Music Weekly
***Good To You is climbing the charts on the west coast, soon to be east coast thanks to Loggins Promotion
***One of Nation’s tracks “My Dinosaur” has been chosen to appear on the Noggin Network
***Two of Nation’s tracks have been chosen to appear on ESPN’s winter X-Games “No Good” & “Smile”
***Nation performed 2 songs live on 92.7 WLIR “Good To You” & “I Love You again”. The response was so overwhelming the following day; it fouled up their e-mail for hours.
***Nation, along with “Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes perform for over 3,000 people at the 67th annual Security Traders Association {STANY} dinner held in the grand ballroom of the Marriott Marquis
***Two of Nations tracks have just been chosen to be included on the hit TV series “Witchblade”….
***Nation has just been chosen to appear in “Star Struck Live“. In conjunction with MTV & VH1. Invited guest include representatives from Atlantic Records, EMI, 5.7 Mgmt, ect….
***The Rock & Wrap it Up food charity in conjunction with the WWF has chosen to use “My Dinosaur” a track from the “Moment Of Zen” CD in their public service commercials. The WWF commercials are airing during their Saturday morning shows, and ‘The Rock” has taped a special PSA featuring the track that will start airing Sunday January 6th 2005 on WOR channel 9 in New York, and nationally on MTV in April. The WWF event will be held at Madison Square Garden on January 7th.
***Nation was chosen to be included in a documentary film about the Beatles & there influence on musicians in the year 2005. The film will first air on the Discovery Channel UK, then thru-out Europe & finally in the US sometime in Sept. Their set was filmed at New York’s legendary Kenny’s Castaways “an old haunt of John Lennon’s” on December 9th.
***Four of Nation’s tracks our being considered for the next mp3.com Heineken promotion “Good to You” “This Situation” “Moment Of Zen” & “No Good”
- NATION
Discography
Nation
Written In Stone
Moment Of Zen
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
Everyone who’s seen or heard Nation agrees this group is unique. What’s more, it can’t be stereotyped: they don’t play oldies or grunge rock or metal. Nation does serve up a heady brew of something quickly becoming known as “heavy melody”--strong driving backbeats mixed with powerful melodic hooks. At one time, one reviewer praised the band’s “clean, tight sound... original image... and overall statement of no gimmicks” (The Angle).
The band has compiled a truly impressive track record. Their accomplishments range from charting singles from their debut CD, "Written In Stone" on radio stations as far away as Minnesota and Kansas to securing numerous opening slots for major recording artists, which included several shows on the eastern leg of Badfinger’s recent summer tour. Nation also seems to turn heads in just about every competition they have ever been involved in- logging a first place finish over 22 other bands in a tri-state area "shoot-out" and most recently having one of their latest tracks, “My Dinosaur” included on the compilation CD of Finalists from The Long Island Music Festival. In addition, Nation was invited to appear in an outdoor concert in New York City’s Union Square Park that commemorated the Tiannanmen Square massacre in China, as well as appearing in several other area benefit shows.
The boys have just recently returned from a short stint on the road, which included a performance to over 6,000 people at the NEXT FEST in Nashville Tennessee. The band is now getting ready to release "Moment Of Zen", a 4-song teaser to be followed by a full-length album in July. With their live show finely tuned and ever-evolving new material, Nation is now poised to take their "Heavy Melody" to the world beyond the local scene. Keep an ear out!
Good Times probably summed up Nation best when it said, “if you’re looking for a cool night out with an up-and-coming band, this is it.”
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