Tennessee

Tennessee:

Jeff the Brotherhood

CITY: Nashville
SONGS THAT GOT US: "The Tropics," "Bone Jam"
MYSPACE ADDRESS: myspace.com/jakeandjamin
RECORD LABEL: Infinity Cat

WHY THEM? Jake and Jamin Orrall are an actual brotherhood, and the music they make, from just a drum set, a guitar, and their voices, is both rough around the edges and surprisingly elegiac. Equally adept with squalling feedback and soaring melody, the Orralls infuse their bracingly energetic rock with handclaps and woo-hoos that manage to elevate their rock-and-roll noise to unexpected heights of immediacy. The result is, in essence, a new noise: terrific and catchy rock that is rough enough to raise a fist to, but wistful enough to spill a tear in your beer to.

BONUS BIT! Although they hail from Nashville, they don't sound country — but they are the spawn of Robert Ellis Orrall, a Nashville songwriter/producer, who has penned and/or twiddled knobs on hits by Reba McEntire and Taylor Swift.

Texas

South Dakota