WXPN Features Minus the Bear as the XPN Artist To Watch for August

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Created on Friday, 30 July 2010 13:25

Extending its musical roots deep within the indie genre while simultaneously garnishing their sound with groovy funk and rambunctious rock, the Seattle-based indie band Minus the Bear brings a whole new level of music to the listener’s ear. Founded in 2001, the group flashed into the national spotlight in 2007 with their third full-length studio album, Planet of Ice. Since then, the band, composed of guitarist and vocalist Jake Snider, guitarist Dave Knudson, keyboardist and backup vocalist Alex Rose, bassist Cory Murchy, and drummer Erin Tate, has brought its energy and intensity to performances worldwide, gracing stages throughout the United States, Europe, Australia, and Japan. The band's latest album, Omni, was released on May 4, 2010. This album finely captures the eclectic nature of Minus the Bear's musical genius, something that is so hard to define and hard to classify but nonetheless alluring.

Minus the Bear performed at the Non-COMMvention music conference at WXPN, the annual gathering of music industry folks. You can hear the concert here.

"Their latest album – which has a slightly more pop leaning sound to their prog/math rock beginnings – has really positioned them to be introduced to a broader audience and a fan base that has been growing significantly over the last few years," says Bruce Warren, Assistant General Manager of Programming for WXPN.

For more on the XPN Artists To Watch series and this month's featured artist, click here.

Since 2003, the XPN Artists To Watch series has been a reflection of WXPN's commitment to nurturing fresh, new talent and exposing listeners to the best new music. Each month, the XPN Artists To Watch series spotlights a different up-and-coming performer who has produced an album or body of work that demonstrates outstanding vision, creativity and songwriting ability. Month-long on-air promotion is combined with online features to help audiences discover each artist.

WXPN, the nationally recognized leader in Triple A radio and the premier guide for discovering new and significant artists in rock, blues, roots and folk, is the non-commercial, member-supported radio service of the University of Pennsylvania. WXPN produces World Cafe®, public radio’s most popular program of popular music hosted by David Dye and syndicated by NPR, and the Peabody Award winning Kids Corner hosted by Kathy O’Connell. WXPN also produces the alternative rock service, Y-Rock On XPN (yrockonxpn.org) as its secondary radio channel in HD. WXPN serves the greater Philadelphia area at 88.5 FM, the Lehigh Valley at 104.9, Worton/Baltimore at 90.5 FM, Lancaster/York at 88.7 FM, Harrisburg at 99.7 FM and the world via online streaming at XPN.org.