Rosco Bandana

Rosco Bandana is back in the good ole USA after their performance at the 2011 Hard Rock Calling music festival in London, England.
They finished their set to thunderous applause and calls for an encore. They were treated like music royalty and enjoyed all the rock star backstage perks they could handle. They saw the sights, sang drinking songs with the locals in the pubs and made new friends and fans. They came home to a hero’s welcome from family and promptly ... took a nap.
“It felt so right,” drummer Barry Pribyl said. “(After the performance) the stage manager was telling me how London hasn’t heard anything like this. I was seeing people’s faces, and it was strange because they looked confused, but it was a happy confused. The response from the crowd was really awesome. We’d finish a song and they’d burst into an uproar. We were looking at each other trying not to chuckle or smile too much. But the show itself, we felt like we were at our prime.”

The Gulfport-based Americana band had worked for months to reach that show during the Hard Rock Cafe’s Ambassadors of Rock Battle of the Bands.
They maintained a heavy local show schedule and meticulously crafted their five-song set for the London gig, which clocked in at exactly 25 minutes; not an easy feat when most of their songs well exceed the five-minute mark.
Pribyl said the band’s energy was positive throughout the experience, and became electric as the clock ticked down to show time. They performed five of their favorite numbers, including “Under The Mountain,” “El Luna,” “Old Soul Song,” “Ain’t Got No Money” and their 9-minute-long opus “Tempest.”
“The trip was great, but we had been rehearsing the same five songs for weeks,” Pribyl said. “We hadn’t been able to put on a real ‘Rosco’ show. London was great but everybody in the band feels that Mississippi is home. It was good to get back and feel some humidity in the air. Just breathe that humidity in.
“We want to give a big thanks to the Hard Rock Cafe and Theresa Johnston for their support,” Pribyl said. “Everybody who voted and sent us there, too, and all the fans. Our families helped out a lot with the campaigning and the social networking. Thanks to everybody.”
Rosco Bandana hasn’t taken much time off since returning to the States. They’ve already played a handful of shows in the week they’ve been back and have nine more scheduled through July. You can catch them tomorrow night at The Government Street Grocery, Wednesday at Mezo’s Juke Joint, Thursday at Mosaic Tapas Bar and July 16 at Leo’s Extreme Pizzeria, all in Ocean Springs.
They’re at The Eastbank Pub in Pascagoula on July 17 and Big Mike’s Speakeasy in Gulfport on July 20, with more dates being added to their calendar. Pribyl says fans can expect an album out before the end of the month, too.
Jolly good show, mates.
- The Sun Herald

Gulfport-based Americana band Rosco Bandana departed South Mississippi for England on Tuesday, for their performance at the annual Hard Rock Calling music festival in London this weekend.
The band is scheduled to play at 1:45 p.m. Saturday, which will be 7:45 a.m. in Gulfport.
The festival line-up lists them as the first performers of the day on a second stage, immediately adjacent to the main stage. Black Cards, Ray Davies and Bon Jovi are scheduled to headline that night, with Adam Ant, Stevie Nicks and Rod Stewart headlining Sunday, the final day of the three-day festival.

Rosco Bandana’s performance begins the day that Teresa Johnston, sales and marketing manager for the Biloxi Hard Rock Cafe, said is completely sold out. More than 50,000 people are expected to attend the festival that day.
“I’m very proud for them,” Johnston said. “And (not) just about Biloxi being put on the map. We’re a little town, and I’m just so blown away by the whole idea. My hope is that somebody could pick them up on a label, and we could all say we were there with them. We helped them do that. Their talent got them there, and the world is going to find out just how fabulous they are.”


- The Sun Herald