The beauty of Phox

Last month I was lucky attend the wonderful Mile of Music festival procured by hometown hero Cory Chisel. The 4-day fest featured almost a hundred bands all performing original material. No cover bands were allowed! It was a wonderful place to discover new bands, and by far the best discovery for me was the seven-piece Phox who all hale from little Baraboo, WI and now reside in Madison.

Led by enchanting vocalist Monica Martin, Phox is a wonderful blend of soul, folk, electronica, rock, and psychedelia. Monica's vocals are simply mesmerizing and their organic music is a wonderful slow burn; never in a hurry to get to one place. While they have yet to release a full length album, but you can listen to and purchase their two fantastic E.P.'s on the band's site. The week before I saw them, the band got a last minute invitation to play Chicago's huge Lollapolooza fest as a fill-in. The week after had them heading to Europe for the first time to play the Itunes Music Fest and other gigs. September will find them playing U.S. gigs opening for Blitzen Trapper.

Phox are my favorite musical discovery of the year and trust me that once more people are exposed to their wonderfully original blend, the world will be shouting about them. I suspect that day isn't too far off!