Someday Providence

Great vibe
You won’t believe it until you hear it. The inaugural effort from Someday Providence, The Hidden Vibe, is so dazzling you’ll have a hard time figuring out how a local band made a record this huge, and this commercial. Here at Local A central we’re pretty accustomed to unwrapping and spinning demo-type product that and have come to respect and enjoy the homegrown charm of shoestring-budget recording projects. Not so with this new disc, which sounds like it’s shot out of some expensive studio cannon. Regardless of how it got done, The Hidden Vibe is impressive from the first throttling chords blaring from Tom Gardner’s guitar. The band is stellar, including energetic front guy Nick Reuter, whose vocals put this project over the top, and bassist Ed Maher and drummer Tom “Fuzzy” Moran. The songs, especially the soaring, hard rock of “Wasted Sundays” and the high-energy “Feel Like a Star,” are top-rate and among the most impressive I’ve heard from these parts all year. But I’m not totally sold on all 13 tracks. “Summertime In Rhode Island,” a reggae-lite number about getting in the pants of local beach girls, is a little silly, and the band’s lighter-waving closer, “Walk You Home,” while romantic and well-written, is still a little cheesy. But the gripes end there. Produced by Dave Pezza for the White Noise label, The Hidden Vibe is 45 minutes of big hooks and truly credible, groove-oriented jack straight outta the Sublime/Chili Peppers school of funky, passion-happy rock. - The Providence Phoenix

The Best Local Act award came at the perfect time for Someday Providence. They’re hard at work on the follow-up to their debut, The Hidden Vibe, and the validation that comes along with an award like this has given them a huge boost.

“We thought it was awesome just to be on the ballot with all those great bands,” says frontman Nic Reuter. “We were almost surprised when we won.”

“Our fans are great,” bassist Ed Maher. “We posted something on MySpace and told our immediate fan base to help us out, but people really turned out to support us.”

Most likely it’s the band’s irie vibes and bouncin’, positive messaging that has won so many fans over. Combine stellar musicianship with that groovy sunshine rock and you have a lethal fusion of style and substance. “Every song we write gets a little closer to what we’re aiming for,” says Maher. “We’ve all been writing for a long time and we feel like we’re narrowing in on what we’re after.”

As the band works on a sequel to Vibe, they’re also wrangling bigger and better shows and playing in front of larger and more appreciative audiences. “Right now it seems like new people are coming to see us all the time,” says guitarist Tom Gardner. “We’re not seeing just family and friends every night anymore.”

Not that seeing family and friends is a bad thing, of course. It’s just that it’s nice to see that hard work pay off with new fannies in the seats. A few huge gigs at Lupo’s opening for the immensely popular Badfish have helped the Someday Providence cause tremendously. “Their fans take to us really well,” says Gardner. “They’re even starting to sing our songs.”

Fans of all kinds are beginning to take to the band, which is why they’ve come a long way in a short time. It’s also why they’ve earned the Best Local Band award this year. “We want to make sure not to push it too hard,” says Reuter. “But we’re also really anxious to get our music out there.”

_Bob Gulla - The Providence Phoenix

It’s been a swift scramble up the local music pile for Someday Providence (formerly Premonition), local fans’ choice for Breakthrough Act. Part of the band’s quick rise is their focus on the dreaded business end of things. “We’re really buckling down with promoting,” says Tom Gardner. “We love our music and we want everyone to love it with us, but we’re focusing on the business right now as well as the songs.” Gardner’s serious — he’s even enrolled in the MBA program at URI to further his insight into what can often be a landscape dotted with snake pits. “Ninety percent of the music business right now is networking and knowing people and there are so many bands that don’t realize that,” he says. “Like a lot of bands, we expected our music to speak for itself and we couldn’t understand why anyone wasn’t coming to shows.” Of course, it’s one thing to have great music, and quite another to make sure people hear about it. “We’re not looking to be famous,” Gardner admits. “We just want to play music and get paid for it.” That ambition is getting closer to being fulfilled. “Every­one’s excited about it,” he says, referring to Someday Providence’s new material, which references bands such as 311, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Sublime. “The fans are into it. The chemistry within the band is really good right now too.” Gardner adds that the band just welcomed Paul Giamarco into the fold. Formerly frontman for successful, hyperkinetic pop-rockers Bad Larry, Giamarco will be the band’s ace in the hole in their rhythm guitar slot. “We’re looking forward to seeing what happens for the rest of the summer,” says Gardner. “It should be a good ride.”
_Bob Gulla - The Providence Phoenix