Music Nation is a Music Video Competition for Independent Artists

Hammering home an early '90s alternative/grunge vibe, 16 Penny is a testament to its roots. The Sarasota quintet grew up on (and never grew out of) emotional rock. With its strings-heavy Metallica/Alice in Chains style, the act, consisting of mid-twentysomethings, has existed for a mere six months, yet has already racked up a nine-song repertoire. Vocalist Ashley Hamilton, vocalist/bassist Rhiannon DeBault, guitarists Bill "Bluegill" Gill and Jeff Sykes, and drummer Alan Hudson are regularly testing the play list. "We practice a lot and work at it really hard," Gill said. "We've been playing all over the place, pretty much everywhere we can." DeBault and Gill are boyfriend/girlfriend, and Gill (who attended DeSoto High School and moved to Sarasota a year ago) was childhood pals with Sykes. Arcadia, their hometown, wasn't exactly a fertile crescent of inspiration. "We're from a little town where there are a lot of people who play music, but not a lot of people are in bands," Gill said. "It's all cows and orange trees out there." Not in Sarasota, Gill said. The crowds are warm, the venues plentiful, and gig offers keep snowballing. To prepare, Gill and Hamilton cook up the compositions and lyrics, then pitch them at rehearsals. They all hold day jobs, yet squeeze in practice sessions Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday nights at Gill's house. Ben Kunkel, vocalist/guitarist for the local group Dragonfly Ripple, lays down the band's melodies on his label, Hyperrhythm Records. A debut 10-track CD may be up for release by late December, Gill said. The band's collective alias is rather random. It's derived from the size of a hardware nail, which Gill heard and thought was "cool sounding," he said. More important, it's hooky, and has helped snag some online attention. "We do the Myspace thing, and that's how everybody gets a hold of us. People just find us," Gill said. "We do want to get bigger. We want to stay around here for a while, but we're trying to expand a little bit." Expansion equals influence, and that's Gill's impetus. Since he was a teenager, he revered great songwriters such as the late Kurt Cobain of Nirvana. Gill knows how Cobain's words shaped his adolescence, and he aspires to make his own impact. "(Cobain) was a really good songwriter," Gill said. "I liked the way he put things together and kept it simple. That's the best way." It was a common theme in that emotional rock movement more than a decade ago. As for a resurgence of the sound, Gill is optimistic. "I'd love that type of music to come back," Gill said. "It's my favorite kind." For now, it will be reincarnated in acts like 16 Penny. The band performs with Eventide and Dolt at 9 p.m. Aug. 4 at the Clubhouse Tavern, 3824 S. Tuttle Ave., Sarasota. Admission is $5. For more information on the show, call 924-5103. For more information on 16 Penny, e-mail music16penny@ya hoo.com or access www.myspace.com/16pennymusic.