5 popular* local-ish bands on Spotify
Spotify, the streaming music services, gives you access to local artists as well as big-name hitmakers. It will also tell you how frequently a track has been played, offering a unique way to measure the popularity of local songs on a worldwide platform.
1. S. Carey
Sean Carey may be drummer for Bon Iver, but he’s gained accolades of his own for his solo work. A track from his 2010 album All We Grow, “In the Stream,” has been streamed (hah!) nearly 2.2 million times. The next five songs on the local most-played list are also Carey’s: “In the Dirt,” “Mothers,” “Crown the Pines,” “Fire-scene,” and “Move.”
2. Megafaun
They call North Carolina home now, but Phil and Brad Cook and Joe Westerlund are Chippewa Valley natives. Like Carey, they are linked to Justin Vernon (as former bandmates in DeYarmond Edison), and like Carey, they’ve gained fans for their own talent, as demonstrated by the tune “Volunteers” from the 2010 EP Heretofore, which has been played 655,713 times on Spotify.
3. Field Report
UWEC grad Chris Porterfield, also an ex-member of DeYarmond Edison, is the creative force behind Milwaukee-based Field Report. The band released a critically acclaimed sophomore album, Marigolden, last fall, which included the “Home (Leave the Lights On),” which has garnered 577,283 spins on Spotify.
4. Peter Wolf Crier
This duo is composed of Eau Claire music scene vets Peter Pisano (Wars of 1812) and Brian Moen (Shouting Matches, Laarks, Amateur Love). The song “Beach” from 2011’s Garden of Arms has been played 287,905 times on Spotify.
5. The Daredevil Christopher Wright
An indie trio that has been on and off the scene for years, Daredevil earned its widest attention for the 2012 album The Nature of Things, yielding the track “I & Thou” (106,036 plays).
*Considering “Skinny Love” has gotten nearly 79 million Spotify plays, we leveled the playing field by excluding all of Justin Vernon’s bands from this list.
