Artist description So who exactly is Nandina, the Greensboro based quintet which includes singer/songwriter/guitarist Megg Isaac, guitarist/vocalist Jim O'Gara, percussionist Jason Smith, bassist Elizabeth Ramsey, and drummer Jaysen Buterin? Take the best elements of pop and the ever-elusive alt-rock genre, juxtapose them with the probity of Celtic, tribal and gypsy influences and you have Nandina. An eclectic band. An aesthetically pleasing band. A strong band, for they can lift so many heavy objects.

Music Style Celtic Tribal Gypsy Rock meets neo-eclectic-primal

Musical Influences Patti Smith, Sinead O'Connor, the Chieftains, Tori Amos, Ani Difranco, Floggin Molly, Concrete Blonde, Johnny Cash, Tenacious D, Timmy and the Lords of the Underworld, U2, PJ Harvey

Similar Artists Fleetwood Mac, the Chieftains, Led Zeppelin, Throwing Muses

Artist History After many moons of playing in other musical endeavours, Megg decided to start a band of her own. While writing songs and singing and playing guitar to what she had written, Megg decided she would sing and play guitar in her new band. She could sing many notes which included low E, A flat, and D. Many of these notes could also be played on the bass guitar of Elizabeth Ramsey who, coming from a strong punk background, realised that Megg's songs were quite the antithesis of punk, but was too tired to carry her amp back up the stairs and decided to join the band. Next they found Sal, who liked to beat on things, and joined the group after they told her that drums made better noises than people. Nandina was formed and Domestica, their first studio album was recorded and released.Domestica laid the foundation for what would elucidate the eventually ever-evolving sound of the band (much like this sentence laid the foundation for assonance). Shows were played and fans were made but the band realised they needed more than 10 songs because people were starting to catch on. So they headed into the studio to record Dwarf, their ambiently femme noir second record. Adding electronica into the musical melting pot gave Nandina a chance to expand their growing repertoire into a new direction. It also gave them the chance to make mud pies in January.Wanting to bring a richer and fuller sound to the band, Megg tried to get the others to drink Starbuck's mocha blend. Opting for a quicker route they decided to audition another guitarist, and agreed upon a young lad named Spider who put them at ease after assuring them that while he wasn't a girl, he could indeed make his guitar sound like a piano, and that he did have long hair which, in a dark club, could fool some of the people some of the time. More music was written and more shows were played. Spider brought an orchestral, fuller sound to the band that wasn't there before. He also brought facial hair to the band...that wasn't there before either.The band started working on material for their third album, Moyer's Red. Much coffee was consumed, much creative angst was spread around the studio, and it was at this point that the band paid homage to Spinal Tap by going thru three drummers in 12 months. Now while they didn't spontaneously combust, they did leave the band for whatever reason. It was shortly after the cd release party for Moyer's Red that a young gent who bears a slight resemblance to a certain Eurocentric deity posted an ad looking for a band. After consuming much Newcastle with Spider, he decided to audition.So Nandina welcomed their fourth drummer, Jaysen Buterin, and after assuring him that he wasn't in the band simply because he would be the token "long haired/tattooed guy", finally enjoyed an interstitial period of creativity. But hearts were saddened as Elizabeth decided to leave the group and look at naked people in the name of art. Finishing up their fourth studio album, the ethereally sonic roller coaster "Stribbling Little Princess", they said farewell to Elizabeth with a goodbye show where she got dollars stuffed down her shirt, wrestled around with Megg, and played like the musical diva that she is. Yet in true rock fashion, Elizabeth rejoined the band lured by Jaysen's lamentations of the joy of a "Nandina Reunion Tour" and their own upcoming VH1 special.Dynamic, insistent and frequently freaky, Nandina defies genre and engages audiences with their constant mood manipulations. A melting pot of rock and bohemian rhythms, a hint of punk, a dash of techno, all fused with acoustic-based sounds and soaring vocals, Nandina entwines cultural styles within every song to create a great collection of upbeat, danceable and gripping songs. Although their true goal as a band is to sell 10 bazillion records.

Group Members Megg Isaac - Vocals, 12 string acoustic, percussion, saxophoneJim O'Gara - Guitar, vocalsJason Smith - Percussion, vocalsElizabeth Ramsey - BassJaysen Buterin - Drums

Instruments 12 string acoustic guitar, Electric guitar, Guitar Synth, Bass, Drums, Percussion, Saxophone

Albums Domestica, Dwarf, Moyer's Red, Stribbling Little Princess

Press Reviews Nandina takes over and you don't mind one iotaby Allison B. King Nandina Forget any pre-conceived notions about this band, and don't even try to categorize them -- they're a motley group of musicians who could care not a whit about filling some musical niche. And it's just as well, no niche would have them. Nandina's sound is an evolutionary one, and from album to album it shows; although the band's music encompasses more influences, the direction is increasingly more steady and true, and that vision is their secret to share.Nandina is a conundrum of all sorts of musical influences -- Celtic, electronica, punk, gypsy (think jingle-jangle percussion and pogo-ing), funk and everything and anything tribal.And if a band bio hadn't been provided, your guess would be as good as mine as to how many folks are really in this group, there is just so much stuff going on at once. There are actually just five members in this Greensboro-based quintet which includes singer/songwriter/guitarist Megg Isaac, guitarist/vocalist Jim O'Gara, percussionist Jason Smith, bassist Elizabeth Ramsey and drummer Jaysen Buterin. If one were absolutely forced to sum up this band's style, a phrase like "neo-eclectic-primal" might suffice. You can't hum Nandina's tunes exactly, but it's as if your body cells certainly know the song (it feels familiar) and dancing seems to be a requirement (whether you like it or not, so consider this a warning).The first single off the band's upcoming as yet untitled fourth full-length release (on the heels of last year's very well-received Moyer's Red) will likely be (at least according to drummer Buterin) "Vincent's Ear," a dark, yet melodic track that is one of the few that comes even close to what someone like producer David Foster (Celine Dion, etc...) might consider a formula song (verse-chorus, verse-chorus, bridge-chorus, repeat-chorus, big tag finish). This distracts not a whit from "...Ear's" high creative content, yet as sing-able as it is, it's not really indicative of the rest of this unique-sounding CD. Take track five, "Tonight You Sleep." The pot bubbles with a spice rack full of different musical avenues -- it starts out with a rather Cocteau Twins-ish vocal (read: an unintelligible but enjoyable mushy stream of words) mixed with lots of jangly, jangly percussion; the track eases into a Indian feel (percussively speaking), and a Peter Gabriel-esque approach to vocals and spiraling rhythms -- voices are woven in and out of each other as the beat propels them forward into a swirling whirlpool of sonic sway. And track three, "Drawing Graphs," is one that just might incite a rapt audience into performing some sort of twisted Riverdancing (and the Nandina version of that would be well worth seeing). At times, Nandina seems to have stepped out of a page of ancient history, seeming quite like a throwback to those long-gone dancing-before-a-roaring-blaze Druid circles, yet with a decidedly 21st century attitude (everything goes!).But who is to say what Nandina's songs mean? Music is such a subjective art form, and who cares if this writer thinks that some of the vocal parts on "I'll Be Waiting" (the last track on this preview) strangely reminds her of some quasi-Oompa-Loompa cautionary song (remember those oddly hued rhyming tots from the Willy Wonka movie?), with a lot more angst?That's what makes Nandina such a delicious musical soup. There are a lot of different flavors to choose from, and no one taste is ever really the same for every bud.Nandina has commanded a deep and loyal following since its inception about five years ago, and its fans have remained loyal even through the band's incarnations (from a four-piece to a three-piece and then a five-piece, not to mention an almost comic succession of drummers).People like this band. Why? Because it represents the antithesis of most radio bands -- creativity without a secret motive to sellout later on. The members of Nandina create music for themselves and their fans, and care not about skewing their sound toward any particular "hot and now" style.Nandina is earthy, emotionally combustible, prone to fits of musical dervish (just listen to "Peering Through Her Shaking Glass"), and is pretty near as unpretentious as they come. Actually, that sounds a lot like the band's audiences, too, so go, be a part of Nandina's world. You may never want to go home again.

Location Greensboro, North Carolina - USA

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