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Rachelr

summer intern

i was born in chicago, and i'm a city girl at heart. i was trapped in the suburbs of atlanta, GA for the majority of my young life, but now i'm 20 and living and learning in charleston, SC. i'm an english and women's and gender studies major at the college of charleston, with a minor in african amer...

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the anatomy of a band name

Some friends of mine, arguably the most musically-inclined couple I know, have decided to form a little band. They are in the middle of that ever-important, defining process of looking for a name for that band. So, naturally, they came to me.

Monday night at my friends’ cocktail party in honor of Bastille Day (complete with French cheese platter, baby quiches, and even crepes!) we tossed around some ideas. They are a little folksy, a little indie, and totally cute. I was a little distracted from this little brainstorming session--I was pretty busy playing with the 4-week-old kitten that my second most musically-inclined couple friends found across the street--but we came up with some good ones, my favorite being The Butterbeans.

As a strict arts appreciator (I’ve never managed to produce anything visually or audibly artistic myself) I can understand the pressure of having a good band name. I mean, some of my first favorite bands were “Better than Ezra” and “Jump, Little Children”...both have good stories behind him, they roll off the tongue (in my opinion), and I think they might just make you look twice at a CD rack--or, perhaps more applicably today, an iTunes search.

What a fun little journey to embark upon. Using words (bonus points for puns) to title, and in some cases define, something as amorphous as music--your own music at that. It’s kind of like judging a book by its cover...or a really good conversation starter. A band name is often the cherry on top of a good band. How else are you going to brag about that quirky indie band you just found?

Anyway, any good band name ideas for a cute little indie duo that covers Grizzly Bear? They’re playing on Sunday, so I guess I better start thinking.