ACL FEST 2007

Rocketing out of Abilene, one vote at a time

Sound and the Jury contest winners Homer Hiccolm and the Rocketboys will play at 11:45 a.m. Friday on the Dell stage.

By Joel Weickgenant
SPECIAL TO THE AMERICAN-STATESMAN
Thursday, September 13, 2007

The way guitarist Mitch Holt tells it, Abilene-based ambient rockers Homer Hiccolm and the Rocketboys have been lying somewhat low — waiting for the members to complete coursework at Abilene Christian University before taking their music to the next level.

"We figure a college degree is important as a fallback," Holt said. "We're just establishing ourselves in the meantime. Our music has progressed and matured pretty rapidly since we started" two and a half years ago.

Music fans apparently approve of the progress. The Rocketboys shot through the final round of the Web-based "The Sound and the Jury" contest Wednesday night at Antone's, beating out four other bands for a slot on the Dell stage today at the Austin City Limits Music Festival.

The competition featured 600 bands and drew more than 200,000 online votes.

"This really is an example of the democratization of music," said David Clifton, director of marketing and communications for Dell Inc., which sponsored the contest. "The power of the people to vote for the bands they like."

That power was leveraged Wednesday by the "celebrity" judges, a panel of folks including Blue October bassist Matt Noveskey and Jason Killingsworth, deputy editor for Paste magazine, whose votes counted 70 percent in the final round and kept the deck from being stacked in favor of Austin bands Nelo, Quiet Company and Golden Bear. (The fifth finalist was Blue Flashing Light of Athens, Ga.) Every democracy needs a good judiciary.

The judges and fans got to choose from five bands built around strong melodies and stage presence. One noteworthy aspect of the final bands was the upbeat, optimistic tone of their music.

"I'm a married man, and I think life is pretty beautiful," said Quiet Company singer Taylor Muse. "I want people to feel enlightened by music."

The band from Abilene stood out in a strong lineup that featured flush-faced power chords, ribcage-shaking kick drums, fist-pumping anthems and much flinging of guitars. The Rocketboys showed a mastery of mood and subtlety. Amplifying a sound made familiar to Texas music fans by bands such as Cue and Explosions in the Sky, the six-member group adorns singer Brandon Kinder's soaring melodies with clear, ringing guitars and full-bodied keyboard arrangements, hard-driving drumlines and well-practiced transitions between calm and controlled chaos.

"We write music together, in a group," Rocketboy Holt said. "Then Brandon writes a melody. The song might change to fit the structure of his poetry."

"One thing about us that is really part of our band is that we are very drum-driven," he added, calling Philip Ellis a "humble and innovative drummer."

The members of the Rocketboys — the band's name comes from the movie "October Sky," a favorite of singer Kinder — say they mix the geographical influences of their native cities (Memphis, Tenn., Atlanta and Dallas) to craft their sound. Now they get to put Abilene on the map at the Dell stage.

The band will celebrate the official release of its new EP, "Sing, Bird, Sing," with a party in Abilene on Sept. 27.

"We're going to keep doing what we've been doing," Holt said. "This is a catapult into what we've been hoping to achieve. We were blessed to have the opportunity to play with all these amazing bands."