event

The Expendables have proven anything but in their nearly 25-year career since starting out as aspirited party band in high school performing surf-rock covers for birthdays and familygatherings. A quarter-century later, elementary school buddies Raul Bianchi, Adam Peterson andGeoff Weers, along with bassist Ryan DeMars, who joined in 2000, have forged a unique soundborn in the laid-back beach life in their hometown of Santa Cruz, CA. The Expendables’infectious hybrid of ska, surf-rock, punk, reggae and metal can be heard in their latest streamingtrack, “Surfman Cometh,” a spaghetti-western meets “Pipeline” twang that could easily form thesoundtrack to the latest Quentin Tarantino film. The song is the first release from the group’s new and improved Band Room, their longtime rehearsal space in a 1,100 square foot warehouse andformer wine cellar on Coral Street, where Adam Patterson took charge of the final mix to greateffect. The band’s previous studio album of original material, 2015’s Sand in the Sky, wasfollowed by The Expendables’ second release featuring acoustic reworkings of past material,Gone Raw, 2019’s follow-up to 2012’s Gone Soft. The Expendables continue woodsheddinguntil they can get back out on the road. Their 2017 Moment EP, which debuted at #1 on theBillboard Reggae chart, showed the band starting to move into different musical directions, a setfeaturing collaborations with reggae crooner HIRIE, rapper Tech N9ne, Eric Rachmany, andMicah Peuschel.
 

Bumpin Uglies knows all about hustle. The Maryland reggae-rock band had spent more than a decade on the road, starting with local open mics and backyard parties and growing into road warriors, building an ever-expanding audience with sold-out shows in clubs and prime spots at festivals from coast to coast, on one national tour after another. Then the pandemic hit, and touring shut down.

After being in motion for so long, singer and lead guitarist Brandon Hardesty wasn’t about to sit still, even if he couldn’t be out on tour. In fact, Bumpin Uglies never really stopped working — they adapted. The group returned to playing backyard parties around Annapolis, where they’re based, and added socially distanced concerts and full-band livestreams. In the fall of 2020, they also started releasing a new song every month as part of a project called the Never Ending Drop.

“We felt like prospectors going out and trying to find gold — it was just uncharted territory,” Hardesty says. “We had to figure out a way to make a living. That’s kind of what being a musician during Covid has felt like to me. You can do it, but you have to be bold.”