Gimme Five

After I moved to Hampton Roads almost 14 years ago, I constantly compared the region's music to that of North Carolina's Triangle area (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill). I couldn't help it. I went to college in Chapel Hill and spent a lot of time in Raleigh with family and friends.
At first, I was wondering where all the creative musicians were hiding. All I heard were cover bands, blues acts, some fairly unoriginal metal groups.
Looking back, I now know that I was looking a the local music community through the wrong lens.
Hampton Roads isn't packed with major universities like the Triangle. The main industries here are the military, shipbuilding and the port. It's essentially a blue-collar town, and over time, I started to understand that arty music is a tough sell in these parts.
I learned that creative rock music does live here -- but it's of a different breed. Compared the the music of Chapel Hill or Athens, Georgia, for example, it's tougher, more raw and rootsy, less intellectual. Think the Candy Snatchers as opposed to R.E.M.
This struck me one night listening to God and Famous playing at Cogan's (now a gourmet pizza joint, not a music dive). God and Famous, which developed out of Antic Hay, was one of the more arty bands in the area, but the raw-knuckled, no-bullshit sound was still in effect.
Thankfully, there are exceptions, bands that choose to fight the current and swim upstream. Their struggle makes listening to original music here fun and sometimes frustrating.
Without further pre-ramble, here's a list of five Hampton Roads rock bands I love.
Tell me what you think.

1. The Candy Snatchers. Kamikaze garage punk legends.
2. Uglyography. Matt Thomas makes glorious, off-kilter pop in the tradition of Ween or They Might Be Giants.
3. The Great White Jenkins. (OK, technically, they're from Richmond, but I swear there's a Hampton Roads connection. If not, I'll make one up.) Our very own freak-folk ensemble with great tunes.
4. 1888. Experimental, tuneful, and rootsy all at the same time.
5. Volcano Roll. This Newport News-Hampton band is on hiatus right now. I hope the slumber ends soon. Songwriter Joe Atkinson crafts tunes that show he knows his Elliott Smith and his Zombies. (Full disclosure: As a side-project, Atkinson plays with me in an acoustic band called The Kneeling Drunkards.)