The guys: Jay Gulley, vocals and guitar; JoJo Glidewell, piano, vocals and bass; Phillip Brantley, bass, vocals and guitar; and John Swint, drums.
Who'd like them: Folks with a soft spot for '70s pop, Beatles ballads, Ben Folds and the Beach Boys.
CD: Catalogue of Generous Men (2006)
Live: They perform with southern-gentlemen earnestness and spirited delivery. The front three members harmonize and switch off deftly on instruments while drummer Swint solidly holds his own.
Piano a major player: Their R.E.M.-holyland home, Athens, Ga., is a town as speckled with quirky upstarts as its highway glitter, so standing out can be impossible. Founding member Glidewell, who goes back with the band in one form or another since 1996, achieved distinction almost accidentally in fall 2003, when he bought a $75 upright piano at the Salvation Army. The old MirrApiano carved out in yellowed ivory a signature sound, inspiring and motivating the guys to forge ahead as a cohesive unit. The following year, the band won "Best Pop Act" and "Best Up & Coming Band" awards, voted by readers of Flagpole magazine. Plus, Drive-By Truckers cherry-picked the Skirts for an opening slot. (Tbt* asked Glidewell and Brantley some questions by e-mail.)
Where's that upright piano now? "The piano is slowly warping and ruining out in our practice space," Glidewell says. "We have talked about having a quasi-religious ceremony and burning the thing. We'll get around to it sometime."
Georgia boys: "Jay and I are from Elberton," Glidewell says, "a small town about 40 miles northeast of Athens on the South Carolina border. John and Phillip are from Sandersville, which is more toward Macon. Typical rural southern towns - Bible school, gossip, barbecue, bridge night, family reunions, etc."
Roles: "JoJo is the fan contact," Brantley says. "He sends out all of the messages from our mailing list. I think he is also our public ambassador. He is much nicer and more tolerant than the rest of us. I do some of the MySpace s---, which is necessary, but daunting at times. John and I end up handling what you might call routine work. It's not glamorous and it's not fun. We all pretend to play instruments."
Songs 'n' words: "We all have some input," Glidewell says. " A few times, like with My Bully and Pasadena, Jay and Phillip have brought the main ideas to the table after writing most of the song together, and John and I would put on the finishing touches. City Lights came from a song that Phillip and I wrote playing around acoustically. New York Song was a song of Jay's that we all worked out and wrote most of all together. ... We write in about every configuration possible."
Adjective for bored: "Our thing (while on tour) has been Mad Libs," Brantley says. "They all end up being so foul and absurd. It passes the time amazingly well, though. We just finished up a book of Shrek-themed Mad Libs today."
If they could go back in time and play with one band ... Glidewell: "I miss Blur. I would have to say Blur."
Brantley: "T. Rex. I've really got into it lately, and it just sounds like it would be fun to play."
Check 'em out: 9 p.m. Thursday (9/21) with New Roman Times, the Lake Audition and Greymarket at the Orpheum in Ybor City. $7. 18 and older admitted. (813) 248-9500.
