CLYNE TIME: After flirting with mainstream success in the alt-rock heyday of the mid-1990s, Roger Clyne has returned to Billboard's charts. The one-time leader of Arizona act the Refreshments scored a minor hit with the "Star Trek"-referencing single "Banditos," and is probably most well-known for penning the theme to Fox's "King of the Hill."
"Banditos" propelled the Refreshments' "Fizzy Fuzzy Big & Buzzy" (Mercury) into the top half of The Billboard 200. While the Refreshments had a sound that fit comfortably alongside the Gin Blossoms and Cracker, the act soon disappeared from sight after 1997's "The Bottle & Fresh Horses." After a brief musical hiatus, Clyne and Refreshments drummer P.H. Naffah eventually regrouped a duo and began toiling away on the Phoenix club circuit.
Guitarist Steve Larson and local bassist Danny White eventually signed on and Roger Clyne & the Peacemakers were born. Mixing roots rock with Southwestern influences, the band become a dependable live act. With the occasional Spanish lyric and blues influence, the Peacemakers sometimes come off as a Tex-Mex-leaning John Mellencamp or Tom Petty.
This time, however, Clyne avoided the major label route, and he and Naffah started their own imprint in Emma Java Records. The band therefore relies heavily on touring to make a living, and perhaps that's why the Peacemakers generally spend about 200 days on the road in support of a release. The group immediately achieved some moderate success as first album "Honky Tonk Union" reached No. 1 on Billboard's Top Internet Sales tally in 1999, with purchases largely coming direct from the group's Web site.
Their latest, "!Americano!," has once again landed the Peacemakers atop the Internet tally and its gun-slinging guitars and outlaw tales have inspired a fair amount of press throughout the West. Additionally, the album has become somewhat of a hit with the alt-country crowd, thanks to coverage in genre magazine No Depression.
While sales are expectedly heavy in the Southwest, the group's latest has become its first to land on Billboard's Heatseekers chart, entering at No. 19 last week. As a bonus, "!Americano!" comes packaged with a 50-minute DVD about the making of the album.
THE OTHER DEAN: About a year ago, Interscope began hyping 20-year-old singer Kiley Dean. The photogenic blond had an A-list producer in Timbaland, and a major label budget to get her on the radio.
So it was no surprise when first single "Make Me a Song" landed on Billboard's Hot 100. Granted, the tune only spent two weeks on the chart last year, but it signaled the arrival of a hip-hop savvy R&B singer.
The Arkansas native, who broke into the music biz as a back-up singer for Britney Spears, scored a feature in the Los Angeles Times, and fan sites began popping up on the Internet. Her debut, "Simple Girl," was pegged for release in September, but mysteriously disappeared from Interscope's list.
While Dean's first single failed to soar off shelves, at some point the album was leaked to the Internet, and Interscope, Dean and Timbaland went back to the drawing board. A rumored February release has since been scraped, and Dean's solo bow still lacks a solid release date.
In the meantime, her followers have remained dedicated to the artist, with fans currently engaged in a number of odd, Web-inspired debates on her official site. In one thread, fans justify why they downloaded the album, while in another, posters discuss which songs should be dropped from the refurbished set.
Regardless of which songs make the final cut, it's safe to assume new single "Who Will I Run To?" will be there. In a recent review of the single, Billboard's Chuck Taylor writes that Dean "demonstrates vocal prowess that should make Christina Aguilera shake in her strap-on stilettos. It's not often that the urban camp produces a delicious power ballad, but then again, it's unusual among today's crop of R&B bathing beauties to possess chops capable of tearing into such challenging material."
Dean's second single has already spent 12 weeks on Billboard's Hot 100 Singles Sales chart, finally showing some signs that Dean may yet be the breakthrough artist her major label cheerleaders hope. "Who Will I Run To?" peaked at No. 64. while first offering "Make Me a Song" fell from that chart after only four weeks.
A video for the current single is in the works and Interscope hopes Dean's full-length will be in stores this spring.
"Banditos" propelled the Refreshments' "Fizzy Fuzzy Big & Buzzy" (Mercury) into the top half of The Billboard 200. While the Refreshments had a sound that fit comfortably alongside the Gin Blossoms and Cracker, the act soon disappeared from sight after 1997's "The Bottle & Fresh Horses." After a brief musical hiatus, Clyne and Refreshments drummer P.H. Naffah eventually regrouped a duo and began toiling away on the Phoenix club circuit.
Guitarist Steve Larson and local bassist Danny White eventually signed on and Roger Clyne & the Peacemakers were born. Mixing roots rock with Southwestern influences, the band become a dependable live act. With the occasional Spanish lyric and blues influence, the Peacemakers sometimes come off as a Tex-Mex-leaning John Mellencamp or Tom Petty.
This time, however, Clyne avoided the major label route, and he and Naffah started their own imprint in Emma Java Records. The band therefore relies heavily on touring to make a living, and perhaps that's why the Peacemakers generally spend about 200 days on the road in support of a release. The group immediately achieved some moderate success as first album "Honky Tonk Union" reached No. 1 on Billboard's Top Internet Sales tally in 1999, with purchases largely coming direct from the group's Web site.
Their latest, "!Americano!," has once again landed the Peacemakers atop the Internet tally and its gun-slinging guitars and outlaw tales have inspired a fair amount of press throughout the West. Additionally, the album has become somewhat of a hit with the alt-country crowd, thanks to coverage in genre magazine No Depression.
While sales are expectedly heavy in the Southwest, the group's latest has become its first to land on Billboard's Heatseekers chart, entering at No. 19 last week. As a bonus, "!Americano!" comes packaged with a 50-minute DVD about the making of the album.
THE OTHER DEAN: About a year ago, Interscope began hyping 20-year-old singer Kiley Dean. The photogenic blond had an A-list producer in Timbaland, and a major label budget to get her on the radio.So it was no surprise when first single "Make Me a Song" landed on Billboard's Hot 100. Granted, the tune only spent two weeks on the chart last year, but it signaled the arrival of a hip-hop savvy R&B singer.
The Arkansas native, who broke into the music biz as a back-up singer for Britney Spears, scored a feature in the Los Angeles Times, and fan sites began popping up on the Internet. Her debut, "Simple Girl," was pegged for release in September, but mysteriously disappeared from Interscope's list.
While Dean's first single failed to soar off shelves, at some point the album was leaked to the Internet, and Interscope, Dean and Timbaland went back to the drawing board. A rumored February release has since been scraped, and Dean's solo bow still lacks a solid release date.
In the meantime, her followers have remained dedicated to the artist, with fans currently engaged in a number of odd, Web-inspired debates on her official site. In one thread, fans justify why they downloaded the album, while in another, posters discuss which songs should be dropped from the refurbished set.
Regardless of which songs make the final cut, it's safe to assume new single "Who Will I Run To?" will be there. In a recent review of the single, Billboard's Chuck Taylor writes that Dean "demonstrates vocal prowess that should make Christina Aguilera shake in her strap-on stilettos. It's not often that the urban camp produces a delicious power ballad, but then again, it's unusual among today's crop of R&B bathing beauties to possess chops capable of tearing into such challenging material."
Dean's second single has already spent 12 weeks on Billboard's Hot 100 Singles Sales chart, finally showing some signs that Dean may yet be the breakthrough artist her major label cheerleaders hope. "Who Will I Run To?" peaked at No. 64. while first offering "Make Me a Song" fell from that chart after only four weeks.
A video for the current single is in the works and Interscope hopes Dean's full-length will be in stores this spring.
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