Music
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Orlando Nightlife
"I arrived on a recent Thursday night at Underground Bluz to a nice surprise. The owner warned me in an earlier phone call that it would be slow -- the students are still out on holiday break, she said. But there was a decent little crowd for a Thursday. Four or five folks were milling around in the little sidewalk section outside. One had a guitar. A couple of others had instruments too.
"Welcome to Underground Bluz," they said. They were warming up for a set.
"Uh, oh. Thanks," I said, choking off my urge to reply sarcastically to what I'd assumed would be a judgmental greeting by the locals. This was an open-mike night after all. Those can get a little cliquey. Indeed, a group of six or seven friends whooped it up and cheered way too much when one of their own finished each of the songs he performed. And when Emily Stine started her set next, the group's chatter poked holes in Stine's melodic dynamics. But almost everyone in the place eventually responded to Stine's intensity. She's like a raw Ani DiFranco -- she's still working out some kinks on the guitar. She sported the bandana of a biker babe, but she sang through the gullet of a goddess.And she had a slight advantage. She's a pro among amateurs. She hosts her own open-mike night at Central Station Bar downtown on Monday nights.
Then just when I thought I'd seen the one rare gem in a sincere, sensitive, original and talented player at an open-mike night, Ty Elwin took the stage -- literally. He is a big dread- locked guy who looks even more commanding on the tiny Underground Bluz stage. But when soft sounds begin to seep out through his throat and down through his fingers on his guitar, people do double takes. Even the bar regulars -- real regulars who appear to be in their 40s and tired from a day of hard labor -- peeled their attention away from the nature special on the bar TV to tap toes to Ty's tunes."I usually play covers, but I decided to do some originals tonight," said Ty -- he goes by just Ty. Good thing. His gospel-style voice might be wasted mimicking someone else's song. Instead, he showcased a few tunes whose themes were generally love. His guitar playing was outstanding. His voice was dead on. The guy had it together. Most of the artists did at Underground Bluz's open-mike night."
--Tyler Gray, Orlando Sentinel, January 10th, 2003 - Tyler Gray- Orlando Sentinel
Sat - Ty Elwin @ The Globe: He's the guy with the guitar and rasta hat who plays an early set at the Globe. Beautiful voice, will play just about anything you ask for. Starts my Saturday evening off right. No cover. - yelp.com
There is a reason that Flogging Molly will always have the edge over the Dropkick Murphys, and why the Pogues kick both their asses outright. One can feel it in the first warble of lyrics: authenticity, specifically authentic Irish vocals. Thus it is refreshing, when calling a downtown pub, to get a real Irish brogue at the other end of the line. This particular Erin accent belongs to Jimmy Mulvaney, and whatever you may think of his family’s dabblings in the political, the man (and his wife, Kathy, it must be said) puts together a fine drinking hole. A year ago, that spousal team united with another, Rick and Lisa Boyd, to fill the void left in downtown’s heart with the disappearance of the old Scruffy Murphy’s. We’ve heard worse excuses to down an Irish Car Bomb. Music provided by Ty Elwin’s sensitive acoustics, sans his Chocolate Broccoli Experiment. - Orlando Weekly
http://a1135.g.akamai.net/f/1135/18227/1h/cchannel.download.akamai.com/18227/podcast/ORLANDO-FL/WTKS-FM/Jingle%20Bitch.mp3 - The Shannon Burke Show 104.1 fm
http://a1135.g.akamai.net/f/1135/18227/1h/cchannel.download.akamai.com/18227/podcast/ORLANDO-FL/WTKS-FM/ty.mp3 - The Shannon Burke Show 104.1 fm
Discography
900 Miles And Falling (Full Length)
Drama Queen (single) Fire and Wine (single)
Singles can be heard on 98.9fm wmmo
Photos
Bio
Ty Elwin began playing guitar on the front steps of local Friday night parties while living in State College, Pa back in 1993. Not long after playing spring break in Panama City Beach, Ty decided to leave snowy scenery for the sun-drenched sands of Florida. After parking the bus in St. Pete Beach in 1996, Ty hooked up with Dutch and the Masters anchored by accomplished drummer Ted Yarusso. Known affectionately in blues circles as “B.D. McGee”, Ted was just off a European tour with renowned blues legends Rock Bottom Band. Featuring Ty on rhythm guitar, Dutch and the Masters played various venues around the gulf coast including legendary joint Janus Landing for Johnny Greene (Led Zeppelin promoter) and a brief session with Jimmy James (Tommy Tutone) at Green Iguana in Ybor City. The union was short lived but proved to be a great learning experience and in 1998 Ty moved on to cut his teeth in Clearwater with his newly formed four piece Black and Tan. Playing a variety of alternative covers mixed with classic rock and catchy originals Black and Tan slowly burned their way through the local scene picking up loyal followers as well as overseas attention from visiting tourists. After a brief personal hiatus in Y2K, Ty revamped his style going for a more college radio driven sound leaving behind some the alternative edge by picking up drummer Sven and bassist Ken Kuffel to form the retro-sheik Killer Green Batch better known as KGB. This three-piece gave Ty the opportunity to step outside the friendly confines of lead singer and tackle the juggling act of both lead guitarist and vocalist.
In August of 2002, Ty packed his bags once more, this time for the savvy streets of central Florida. Determined to find a new path as a solo artist, Ty found a warm welcome at local hang out Underground Bluz. After forming a bond with local percussionist Ryan Beaver, Ty branched off from the Underground Bluz stage and into Friendly Confines where, with the help of “Beav” the name Soapbox Groove was formed. In 2003, after sharing the stage with local artists such as John Frank, Emily Stine, and Big 10-4, Ty received a write up in the Orlando Sentinel stating, “…when soft sounds begin to seep out through his throat and down through his fingers on his guitar, people do double takes. His guitar playing was outstanding. His voice was dead on. The guy had it together.”(Tyler Gray Orlando Sentinel). Later that year Ty and Beav added guitar virtuoso Kris Talrico (formerly of Ariya) to the mix making Soapbox Groove complete. Lighting up the local scene Ty and Soapbox Groove made a name for themselves at favorite spots such as Adobe Gilas, Lulus, Devaney’s, Friendly Confines, before becoming the house band for 2 years at Kate O Brien’s and Shanagolden.
Ty, inspired by the success of his cousin, late great saxophonist Leroi Moore (Dave Matthews Band) hooked up with guitarist Chris Rohl, session bassist Rick Navarro, and drummer GNAT to form the Ty Elwin Band. In the Spring of 2008 they released 2 tracks, “Fire and Wine” and "Drama Queen",(from their CD “900 Miles and Falling”) which both debuted on May 17th on WMMO, 98.9 FM
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