From La Luz, New Mexico “The Pioneers Of Prime Time TV” are currently a four-piece band with a mystique and a sound that separates them from the norm.
The band’s founder (25 year old Thomas Thorp) writes about his life’s adventures and the song writing is brilliant. From the instrument choices to the very-arrangements, the songs just seem “meant to be.”
The band’s evolution also seems natural. After spending four years in Seattle, Thomas moved back home to New Mexico and began giving guitar lessons to Paul Bishop. Paul and Thomas clicked and in 2006 the lessons turned into creative jam/song-writing sessions. At that they decided to call themselves "The Pioneers Of Prime Time TV."
A year later Thomas and Paul incorporated the talent of bassist/guitarist/vocalist Josh Nichols and violinist/keyboardist/vocalist Jon Berry. They’ve been building a loyal following throughout the Southwest ever since.
Some bands just have something more. In this case it’s soul. If you can’t hear it something’s wrong with you. Whether you agree with the lyrics and whether or not it’s your type of music, you’ll never say they don’t mean it.
True talent comes shining through but the band doesn’t hit you over the head trying to prove themselves. Many guitar players can play 1000 notes per bar and many vocalists can take a one-syllable word and turn it into 20 syllables. Instead, “The Pioneers Of Prime Time TV” fill your speakers with a subtle mystique and an almost-spooky dive into truth.
It all boils down to the music and a captured atmosphere. The pioneers have managed to capture their own mood and make it yours. I’m always trying to define musical genius and this may be it. In Thomas’ own words… (“yeah, you know, ...only so much of this kind of thing can actually be planned ahead of the finished product. The rest really has to be left up to what you were feeling at the time when you wrote the song or found that one magical line that seemed to sum up what you were trying to say.”) It’s interesting how the music goes past the melody, the harmony, the instruments, the vocals, past the faces and the lyrics and hands the listener a little more.
When we first started the magazine we thought it would be easy to find great bands. It’s true that talent is everywhere, it’s not so true that musical-genius is everywhere. It’s quite rare and we have to do a lot of digging and a lot of listening to find bands like this. It’s not hard to tell when we do find it. The volume on this computer gets turned up to 10 and this crazy office is filled with the music that the world should be listening to. It’s never long before the questions start coming. "Who is that? Where are they from?" From there, each answer simply leads to more questions until the interview request is sent. If the band keeps our interest, a request for a feature article soon follows.
“The Pioneers of Prime Time TV” certainly kept our interest. In-fact every time I listen to one of their songs it gets stuck in my head and hours later I’ll catch myself humming the melody or repeating some line of their song. (Looking up your skirt again…. Dreaming of every single kind of original sin….)
I can’t say that I agree with all of Mr. Thorp’s philosophies on music. He thinks that music should be free to everyone and that they don’t stand to make much money off their CD. I think I know where he’s coming from and I respect his opinion but I think he and his band will, and should, make a lot of money from their music. I think they deserve it and I think the world will recognize their talent and reward them greatly. Hell, my entire staff and I are betting on it!
Interview With The Band
The Pioneers OF Prime Time TV Website |
