After taking a sabbatical from the College Station music scene and recording a self-titled CD, Floodgate is ready for the local stage again.
On Friday night at Third Floor Cantina, Floodgate will host a CD release party featuring Adamo as the opening band. Floodgate will feature songs from its newly-released CD. There is a $5 cover.
Floodgate members Adam Ferguson, vocals, guitar, Jeff Quinn vocals, guitar, Jim Cottrill, keyboard, James Ryan, bass and Toby Kyte, drums, said they are excited to be playing for an audience again and try to bring a variety of different elements to the stage.
“We try to be careful not to saturate the music scene with the same stuff all the time,” Cottrill said.
While the band said it really enjoys playing for a hometown crowd, building a national following is not one of their top priorities.
“As long as we have a large local following, we’re happy,” Quinn said.
Formed in Fall 1998, Floodgate has sustained several transitions with bassists and drummers and has formed a style the members describe as a success.
Cottrill said people who have heard Floodgate before often say the band’s sound has elements of Blues Traveler, Phish, Train and a blues element reminiscent of the Black Crowes.
Floodgate said it is impossible to pick a single song to describe its signature sound.
“It’s so hard to label our sound with one title,” Cottrill said.
Floodgate’s sound, which alters between alternative, rock, modern rock or alternative country, contains hints of jazz and folk rock. Each band member has his own definition of the band’s style, but they all agree that the sound of their new CD combines a mix of many music genres.
To cite one example of the band’s stark flavor, critics reviewed Floodgate’s song “Witch,” that was featured on Blue Rodeo new music Network, as a “great rock tune … it has a ton of energy and a good hook … a happy melody and dark lyrics.”
Each band member contributes to the songwriting process, which they say is their main priority. Ferguson said when he begins writing, what ends up on paper is out of his control; he said the lyrics come with the music.
The CD, that took a year to complete, was an independent writing, producing and recording process by the band. Cottrill said the band’s second CD is in production and should be released in 2002.
“We’re already excited about the second CD,” Cottrill said. “The CD that we just finished is really good, but I think the second one will be even better because we all feel more experienced in each element that goes along with making a CD.”
Each band member said they always would be musically active but would refrain from pursuing a record deal because of the free reign it currently has in their personal musical decisions.
“I think the band already possesses the capabilities to make a good CD,” Ferguson said. “We don’t really have a need for a label.”
Cottrill said the band is not pretentious, and they are not trying to be rock stars.
“We just want to play good music,” Cottrill said.
Floodgate currently can be heard on KEOS 89.1 FM and will appear on the station’s Blue Biscuit radio show Thursday from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Floodgate also will be performing at Southwestern University for a homecoming festival.