Artist description Blind Alley Occupation is a progressive rock band with a focus on songwriting. "Post modern intelli-pop" is what we coin our music. Mostly, intelligent pop applies and some has a World Traditions flavor.

Music Style alternative, pop, rock, progressive rock, indie, indie pop/lo-fi, world traditions

Musical Influences Radiohead, Portishead, R.E.M., Smiths, Tori Amos, Beatles, U2, The Cure, 10,000 Maniacs, The Jam

Similar Artists Radiohead, Portishead, R.E.M., Smiths, Tori Amos, Beatles, U2, Sneaker Pimps, Cure, Afghan Whigs, Elvis Costello, Squeeze, Bjork, Talking Heads, Wilco, Velvet Underground, James, Cranberries, Blur

Artist History Blind Alley was formed in 1989 after Bob Ackermanhad seen Scott & Todd Whitten play in another band "Battle of the Bands" competition held at the Brunswick, GA Kiawanis Club Fairgrounds. Scott was 18, I was 15, and Bob was a judge of the competition at the ripe old age of 25. Within the next few months, we did a couple of small projects in the local 12-track recording studio. It was mostly acoustic material, so Bob played percussion.When entered the 1990 "Battle of the Bands" as Blind Alley Occupation, we were playing with Noel and Ian Holloway. Noel played bass and Ian played electric guitar. The five of us had a running gig at a bar called Danny's near the pier on St. Simons. I remember we played every Wednesday night for the whole summer. Free beer was involved. We played immediately after the fireworks display at the July 4th festival at the Pier on St. Simons. I remember looking out at all the people in the silent audience just after the fireworks ended and then our punk asses starting playing as fast and as loud as we could. Because this was St. Simons, there were a lot of older people there. They immediately left. In 1991, Scott and I moved to Athens, GA and immediately began work on a project called 30 Afternoons. It was based around intricate aco ustic guitar and acoustic bass, with a little percussion. Listening to it now makes me tense because I remember how hard we worked on that tape, but were still unable to avoid the pitfall of worrying more about the recording process rather than focusing on the performance aspect of playing. Oh well, we were young and prone to make mistakes. You got to learn somehow.In early 1992, Bob made the trek from his permanent home on St. Simons Island to Athens, Ga. many, many times. All five of us (Bob, Ian, Noel, Scott, & I) recorded at Full Moon studios in a Watkinsville, GA - a small town 15 miles south of Athens. We recorded and mixed 7 songs in 2 days. In early 1993, Ian moved to San Diego and Bob, Noel, Scott, & I recorded again at Full Moon Studio. This version of "Days & Places" was recorded live during that session. Later in '93 we recorded again at Rocket Sound studio on Milledge Avenue in Athens. It was a 16-track ADAT setup with a beautiful live room and several booths. It sounded good, too. We recorded these versions of "Favorite Gun" , "From Pride to Danger" , and "Calliope" there. Soon after, Noel also moved to San Diego, and we were left to regroup as a 3-piece, with Scott playing bass. Nothing really happened with the band in 1994 as I remember. In 1995 Scott, Bob and I were all living back on St. Simons. We decided to set up a home recording studio in the loft of Scott's house. It was based around a Yamaha 4-track cassette. We did what we could with the equipment we had. We had Bob's drums pushed all the way back in the corner of the room and miked him with all manner of Radio Shack microphones and duct tape ( Todd's Embellishment). We recorded "Cut Your Teeth" and "Lily" to that 4-track cassette using every trick we knew (track bouncing, ping-pong recording, overdubbing, etc.) It came out OK, I guess. We played at the St. Simons Island 4th of July Festival again in 1995 on a newly constructed covered brick stage that overlooked the ocean. It was very hard to fill that windy open space with music, but we played as loudly as we could and just tried to have a good time. It was the first time we had played as a 3-piece with Scott playing bass. This is a version of "Paper Star" we recorded to a stereo cassette tape connected directly to the mixing board.In 1996, I moved to Atlanta to get a job. Since Scott and Bob still lived on St. Simons, the band became dormant again. In 1997, Scott moved to Atlanta too, but Bob was still living in his permanent home town of St. Simons. Scott and I made the 4-hour trip down to our parent's house in Waycross, GA and practiced with Bob. We wrote a few songs. One of those songs was "Who Am I This Time?" This version of the song was recorded acouple of months later at Ceramic Dog studio in Brunswick by our old friend Crawford Perkins.-Toddd

Group Members Todd Whitten, Scott Whitten, Bob Ackerman, Noel Holloway, Ian Holloway

Instruments Acoustic & Electric Guitar, Synth, Electric Bass, Acoustic Drums, Mandolin, Mallets, Viola, P ercussion

Albums Days & Places: A Collection

Press Reviews Savannah Morning News, Atlanta Journal & Contitution, Mp3.com ("Calliope" has been an mp3.com "Featured Song" in the World Traditions category; "Underground" - Featured Song in Indie & Indie Pop/Lo Fi categories; almost all Blind Alley songs have charted in the top of the "indie" & "Indie pop/ Lo Fi" charts), WVVSÿ

Additional Info Bob Ackerman is a music writer for Golden Isles Weekend, and has been a correspondent for The Brunswick News and www.tourdates.com.

Location Atlanta, GA - USA

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