This time last year, nothing felt out of the ordinary for frontman/guitarist Gabe Simon and the rest of the Nashville based Kopecky Family Band. They had released a spectacular tandem of EPs to end 2010, The Disaster and Of Epic Proportions, and were ready to take their act on the road in a big way.

They just didn’t know how big 2011 would end up being.

“This past year totally snuck up on us,” Simon said. “We weren’t sure it’d be the year it was. We set the bar high at the beginning, but it wasn’t moving that quickly.”

Fast forward to today and Kopecky is riding a wave of momentum and accolades that rivals, if not bests that of any band out there. They played CMJ in New York and caught the eyes and ears of NPR’s music staff, earning them their own Tiny Desk concert. Their second straight year at SXSW included a performance at the Paste Magazine showcase, a publication the band has become close friends with. They put in an energetic showing at Bonnaroo, the mother-of-all summer music festivals, in their home state of Tennessee.

And then there was the cherry on top: being named one of 2011′s top 25 live acts PERIOD, ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD by Paste Magazine, an achievement Simon is still in awe of today.

“I don’t even know…do I agree?” he asked himself of the high praise, followed by a laugh. “Should I be on this list?”

He laughed again, saying “Paul Simon is on this list” with a sense of disbelief at being mentioned in the same sentence with an artist of that caliber.

But there’s no doubt Kopecky’s work ethic has earned them the right to be catalogued with the world’s top performers. Consider this snapshot of their young 2012 as proof – on Jan. 16, they had finished up a nine-day run in the studio; by the end of January, they will have finished a five date mini-tour and will be gearing up for seven shows in less than two weeks to kick off February. Their penchant for touring and connecting with people through live music is astounding, as if they have an insatiable desire to be on the road.

Yet, with all of that touring experience built up over the last few years, Simon still can’t shake the butterflies. He recalled a show in Louisville, KY, where he was the most terrified he’d ever been performing and it took him four songs to get comfortable. He couldn’t really recall Bonnaroo, describing it only as a blur.

But the show must go on, and Simon wouldn’t change a thing.

“The day I’m not so nervous is the day that I want to be skeptical.”

The group is currently recording what will be their first full-length release, one that Simon says will feature 12 tracks and include the “buffer points,” songs that give better transition from track to track on the record, that their previous EPs did not.

“We kind of tried to maintain an air of making something for someone on every record,” Simon said of the wide diversity of cuts that will be on the new release.

As to how Kopecky plans to keep churning along at their current breakneck pace into 2012, Simon used two words repeatedly – excitement and passion – and offered some advice for bands looking to break through the crust.

“Get outside your comfort zone and work as hard as you possibly can,” he said. “It’s about your fans; it’s about hanging out with them, meeting them, talking to them, sleeping on their couches – developing a relationship with these people.

“What you’re doing is a business…but it has to be something you love. Passion is big.”

Kopecky Family Band will be playing at 5 Points Pub on Tuesday, February 7. kemp ridley opens. Tickets are $5 through Scene SC, $5 for USC students and $10 at the door for all others 18 and up. Doors will open at 8 p.m., show starts at 9 p.m. For more information, visit http://www.the5pointspub.com/ or call the venue at (803) 253-7888.

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Kopecky Family Band is Scene SC’s official Band of the Month. In honor of that, you should check out their show at the Pub AND download their track “God and Me (Remix)” from Of Epic Proportions FOR FREE on the right-hand sidebar of their website. Below is a video David shot of them playing in Greenville. Enjoy.

Balance and Composure Live by SceneSC

Tigers Jaw Live at New Brookland Tavern by SceneSC

Captain, Were Sinking by SceneSC

These will move from Soundcloud to a downloadable database in two weeks.

After hearing “When I Was Young” off Nada Surf’s new album The Stars Are Indifferent To Astronomy coming out January 24, it quickly became my most anticipated album of 2012.

Stars will be Nada Surf’s seventh studio album and first album of new material released in four years. The new album is focused on capturing Nada Surf’s live sound, which translates to an album that feels more real and has a little bit more energy.

Nada Surf will embark on a national tour this Spring accompanied by Australian indie rockers An Horse. NPR will be giving everyone a first listen to the full album January 16, followed by the release of the album January 24th and a performance on Jimmy Kimmel January 30. Stars will be Nada Surf’s fourth album on Barsuk Records.

10 – Washington, DC – 9:30 Club

Four years ago there was a group of musically talented friends that loved old Weezer and Pavement. These guys were the heart of Hello Tomorrow and while they made their mark by writing a handful of really good songs, they fell apart after high school. Now rising from those ashes come Latenights. The new self titled album features guitar solos that cut through the mix and are  reminiscent of Smashing Pumpkins and the first two Weezer albums.

Latenights will be playing New Brookland Tavern Thursday January 12.

Heyrocco by HEYROCCO

Heyrocco has a couple of new songs out and dates across the Carolina’s and Georgia on the horizon. Go see them in a town near you.

Heyrocco is based out of Charleston, SC and is currently in the process of writing and recording their first record.

Dec 30 Snug Harbor Charlotte, NC
Jan 07 The Soapbox Wilmington, NC
Jan 12 New Brookland Tavern West Columbia, SC
Feb 04 The Drunken Unicorn Atlanta, GA
Feb 17 Sky City Augusta, GA
Feb 18 NO CONTROL Savannah, GA

The Apple Tree has been floating around the minds of The Sea Wolf Mutiny for a long time now. They released “The Last Season” in August and had some extra songs lying around that just needed a little more work and didn’t exactly fit on that record. After their CD release for The Last Season they had toyed around with the idea for another short EP. While rehearsing songs for Christmas and finishing a new song of their own, it was time for that release.

Cue The Apple Tree. “Iceburg Tip” is the opening track and is the lone original that made it on the EP that is being coined as a Christmas EP. The opening track is one of The Sea Wolf Mutiny’s oldest songs and is one that they played at their first show in 2009. This is one of the tracks that needed extra work and with a couple of changes in time signatures, has turned into one of their finest songs to date.

“Jesus Christ the Apple Tree” is the second track on the EP and is a Christmas song that most people will be less familiar with. It is an old New England poem, set to music and has been basically rewritten by The Sea Wolf Mutiny. They broke both “Jesus Christ The Apple Tree” and “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence” down to their most basic acoustic guitar parts and rebuilt them to sound more like Sea Wolf Mutiny songs. “Jesus Christ the Apple Tree” was debuted this year at Christmas at Redbank and “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence” was debuted last year at Christmas at The Watershed.

The three tracks on The Apple Tree were recorded with Kenny McWillians at Archer Avenue Studios, where The Sea Wolf Mutiny recorded “The Last Season” earlier this year. This EP and these adaptations are all songs that meant a lot to the band and recordings that they have been looking forward to releasing to the public. Fans and listeners have responded well. All recording costs are already recouped.

“Exist” is the first single off Those Lavender Whales upcoming album Tomahawk of Praise that will be released January 17, 2012. The album will be released on both CD and LP and is available for preorder now at the Fork and Spoon website.

I haven’t been able to stop listening to this song since I heard it last night. Those Lavender Whales have a real life simplicity to their songs and it especially shows on “Exist.” Their music walks a line and always stays on the smart side of the pop spectrum.

There is a lot of electronic music coming out these days, but not much has an emotional human touch like Jason Sposa’s Falling For A Square has to offer.  He’s released a lot of music this year, but The Perfect Team has more to offer as far as lyrics, guitar and drums go. Even comparing it to the past releases this year, there is a sense of melody in everything that makes you feel something whether the lyrics are there or not.

SC Connection: Jason Sposa is the former singer of Love Apple and currently resides with his wife and daughter in New Jersey.

While Nick Bays was in town this summer he played as many shows as he could before he headed back North to school.  This Patriarchs EP had been recorded since early summer, but it’s not until now that we are hearing the fruits of that labor.

“Keep The Ghost Awake” is the first single off the upcoming EP, and has more of a glossed over pop feel than any of his previous recordings.  It features instrumentation, guitar, and drum tones that the band is proud of.  This is a sound that Maple Studios and Taylor Bray in Nashville are becoming known for.  He has shown a similar sound with Haley Shaw and Erich Skelton recently.

Free Download

We reviewed the new Rejectioneers 25 EP last week and since then they have released it for free download.  I know a lot of you have a couple of these songs already downloaded from the 2010 or 2011 sampler, but now you can finish the collection.