The Nearly Normal
Gig Seeker Pro

The Nearly Normal

| SELF

| SELF
Band Rock Jam

Calendar

This band has not uploaded any videos
This band has not uploaded any videos

Music

Press


"THE NEARLY NORMAL"

Every once in a while a band or a musician will
come along and make his sound the genre or
the sound, …we got it…we’re that kind of
band…and I believe we’re gonna do great
things…” so declares Mike Stone, rhythm guitar/harp
player, adding “rock and roll needs rock & roll for the
sake of rock and roll.”
“I think we really have something different to offer
Austin, I really believe that,” adds drummer Jamie
Pageau. “I’ve walked down 6th street and I’ve listened
to the same old blues and I’ve listened to the progressive
rock, and it’s not….and I’m waiting for that one
goin’ that’s different…and I’m not hearin’ it.”
That ‘something different’ sound is what vocalist
Maggie Pageau, likes to call “electric funk rock.”
Who are these people who come into the venerated
music capital of the world with such audacity? Gunslingers
itching to cut heads? Could be. But they are in
reality The Nearly Normal and they came together in
December of 2007 with a purpose.
They go back much farther than that, though. When
Eben Sumner ran into fellow drummer Jamie Pageau in
the Dominican Republic airport, they literally hit it off,
banging on chairs, floors, themselves, each other, “ just
to make noise” according to Jamie.
Home again, they explored the local festivals and
found musicians “all playin’ the same scene, just in
different bands.” They were no exception, launching an
effort they called Rhythm Ship. Mike Stone saw them
and told his girlfriend “this, this is what I want, some
day”. She looked him in the eye and prophesized “you
never know, you might be playing with them some day.” Exactly!
Through Mike, the core trio met keyboard slacker
Kai Dennet, who never played seriously until hooking
up with TNN. Kai introduced them to bassist James
Taylor and guitarist Adam Grierson. A musical coalition
was born, bringing years of individual improvisation
together to interact, amuse, and maybe even make
money.
The delivery had complications. How to gather
together some from “way upstate Maine”, others from
New Hampshire, and one from Boston, without being
destroyed by six hour commutes and gas prices. Solution?
Wood-shedding at Jamie’s lakeside farm on week
ends.
So they jammed and started to get comfortable
playing together, – “but it got to the point where…it
was like…okay…we can’t do this anymore…” mused
Jamie. Stony nodded. The band figured “It’s either we
go somewhere and give our hearts and soul to this, or
we stop.” They had to make a change “and the music
kinda like made that decision for us”.
The music brought them to Austin, Texas, where
members established WE ARE CHANGE AUSTIN to
wage the infowar for the Republic. They are also currently
working with The Releasemotion Dance Project
to score the music for the upcoming “Circumstantial
Playground” at the Long Center next April. Hands full
already, they still have to practice and gig. And deal
with the day jobs.
“ The root of the band is just playing for fun” Jamie
explains. And when they have fun, they sound good.
They look relaxed and confidant on stage, connected,
and you can hear how much they love to be there. All
are driven by a passion for their musical holy grail, the
search for that one chord , that certain progression,
that one note from the voice that captivates. It is the
helix winding through all of them. And it is what makes
them play so well together.
Best of all, if you listen closely you can hear them
just stretching theirs legs. Wait and see.
— Ric Balker - NU MAGAZINE


Discography

We completed our first studio effort titled "Set Free The EP." This project is wholly self-contained within the band and consists of 4 original songs.

Photos

Bio

The Nearly Normal is genuine. We are real people. Born over the last two years, and three-thousand miles. From Maine, to Texas this path was wrought by the belief we share in the power of music. From the start we've been putting together an image. Not a glossy paper print up picture, but a three-dimensional representation of ourselves in our music. From the words we write, to the notes that are played.. we see that as an echo of our individual parts, forming together the sum of which, is The Nearly Normal. We've found that each instrument, and voice has something to say and when that is passed amongst seven friends who share the same intensity-- it moves us. Hopefully, you too. As the rays of the sun melt our notes to the gravel below, we walk what we know. Truly free within the realm of song, we are but sorcerers of sound and a servant by her hand. Take a listen. We hope you enjoy what you hear.