Music of Nevada

For most people, the music in Nevada is probably most closely associated with the Rat Pack and lounge singers like Wayne Newton playing in Las Vegas, Reno, Carson City and other cities. However, Nevada has had several other notable and innovative musical communities.

Punk rock

Reno was a regional capital for punk rock, led by Kevin Seconds of 7 Seconds, a noted hardcore punk band. Called Skeeno (Reno, Lake Tahoe, Sparks), the Reno scene had a distinctive fashion statement, placing charcoal markings underneath the eyes. Outside of 7 Seconds, whose recordings have made them punk legends, Skeeno hardcore bands included Section 8, the Wrecks, Urban Assault and Thursting Squirters. Reno was home to Positive Force, a loose organization that was instrumental in helping to organizing the punk rock community on a larger scale. Positive Force spread to places in the country.

Las Vegas is also home to notable punk bands such as the Recess Records bands, Civic Minded Five and The Mapes.

Most notable in recent years is the broadcasting of local Las Vegas punk music (as well as many other genres including indie and hip-hop) over the internet on the still young Double Down Radio.^{[citation needed]}

Indie

As a result of the downtown Las Vegas restoration that began in 2006, mainly that of the Fremont East district, which spurred the opening of several new bars and clubs, a new music scene began sprouting up in Las Vegas. With the support of local press, indie bands such as Imagine Dragons, Black Camaro, The Big Friendly Corporation, and A Crowd of Small Adventures grew large fan bases quickly in Las Vegas. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

The Las Vegas indie music community would soon form its own music festival to parallel that of the SXSW festival in Austin, TX. Founded by Thirry Harlin and James Woodbridge, the music festival, known as Neon Reverb, which mainly consists of both national and local indie acts, has experimented with genres such as Hip-Hop and punk rock as well as other culture related segments such as film and art that compliment the music side. ^[4][5] The festival has grown to include a radio segment of the same name, founded by Donald Hickey and The Killers bassist, Mark Stoermer that broadcasts from 91.5 KUNV in Las Vegas. ^{[6] [7]}

Alt country

As an integral part of the indie music community in Las Vegas, the alt country music scene is responsible for several bands, including The Clydesdale and the The Yeller Bellies, both of whom have released multiple albums each. ^{[8] [9]}

Garage rock

Several garage acts have gained notoriety in Las Vegas. The Mad Caps mix blues and rockabilly with garage rock, while Rob Bell of The Yeller Bellies mixes country with garage rock in his project known as The Psyatics ^[10]

Country music

The city of Elko, Nevada is an important center for cowboy music and poetry. In 1985, Hal Cannon, director of the Western Folklife Center, founded the first Cowboy Poetry Gathering, which has since spread across the country; Elko is also home to the Cowboy Music Gathering. Las Vegas' music scene includes a number of country and cowboy-themed hotel shows, many of them featuring big stars like Reba McEntire, Willie Nelson and Dolly Parton.^[11]

External links

• Big Friendly Corporation Official Website
• Black Camaro
• Double Down Radio
• KUNV

Citations

References

• Blush, Steven (2001). American Hardcore: A Tribal History. Feral House. ISBN 0-922915-71-7. 
• Byron, Janet (1996). Country Music Lover's Guide to the U.S.A. (1st ed. ed.). New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-14300-1. 

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