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More Friday at Atlantis Music Conference
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The miniscule stage that occupies the Atlanta Room at Smith’s Olde Bar is perfect for the singer-songwriters that surrounded Atlanta band Jondonson on Friday night, but it seemed a little tight for a quartet. It looked like a three-dimensional puzzle as the band set up. In fact, guitarist Mike Voulgaris wound up playing the entire set from the floor of the space, joking about plopping down on one of the couches that stood front and center.
As for the band’s set, it was just what you would have expected listening to the tracks on their MySpace page. It was Pavement with a twang. They had the ramshackle tunefulness, the repetitive low-fi groove, catchy melodies that led to unexpected places and, most praiseworthy, an unpretentiously arty charm.
Even better, the band had a disarming sense of humor about their situation. “We have J.C. Penney guitars,� announced drummer and vocalist Lee Wiggins, as guitarist Matt White tuned up. “We never mastered the art of banter, so you’ll just have to sit awkwardly while we do this.�
One of the band’s best traits is brevity. None of their songs stuck around long enough to wear out their welcome. That’s a rare talent they share with another acknowledged inspiration, Guided by Voices.
On either side of Jondonson, the room hosted a pair of promising singer-songwriters with impressive guitar chops. Early in the evening, Dahlonega’s Spencer Durham proved to be an ambitious and energetic 18-year-old who knows his way around a fretboard. He’s already placed in the finals at both the Eddie’s Attic and Smith’s Olde Bar open mic contests.
After Jondonson, Nashville resident Matt Jeske had to compete against a lot of audience chatter. He managed to impress anyway. The kid had remarkable reserves of confidence and power. Put him in front of the acoustic music savvy crowd at Eddie’s Attic, and he would have had the audience mesmerized with his six-string skills and authoritative voice.
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