Official Guide: 2008 Pitch Music Showcase and Awards

myspace.com/ogbeatbroker

Leonard Dstroy

Both online and about town, the influence of Kansas City’s Innate Sounds Crew and its producer Leonard Dstroy is apparent. Anyone who has attended many local hip-hop shows probably has heard a Dstroy beat. Rejecting mainstream hip-hop’s habit of ripping hooks from Top 40 choruses, Dstroy stays busy crafting original tracks for local MCs. Fortunately for Dstroy’s fans and collaborators, his work ethic is up to the demand.

myspace.com/leonarddstroy2

DJ Fresh

Local geologists claim that DJ Fresh’s beats were detectable in this region as far back as 8,000 years ago, when the land was underwater and primitive party cruisers floated around showing their tits to passing diplodoci. Not really, but Fresh’s influence in the development of the local scene runs almost that deep. In his 20-odd years of working pro, the 41-year-old Gary Edwin has owned clubs, played just about every big city in the country, thrown local parties huge enough to shift the Earth’s orbit and worked with — in his own words — “everybody who’s makin’ noise” around town. But he’s no fossil — this past year, he produced the breakout songs “Sucka Duckas” by Scatterman and Snug Brim and “Double Dutch” by the KC Gift, which even comes with its own sprightly dance (YouTube it). Someone give DJ Fresh a bone or two.

myspace.com/djfreshlive

DJ Sku

Corey Aguilar, aka DJ Sku, is best-known as the tight-bonding glue that holds sets together for area rappers such as Mac Lethal and Approach (who recently moved to San Francisco). Sku embraces that supporting role, despite his extensive battle-DJ credits and showy scratch and beat-juggling skills. His keen ear is perhaps best heard on mixtapes such as the local Heat From the Street and this summer’s collaboration with Mac Lethal, the Crown Prime Rib Mixtape. Peep his party-rocking skills at Karma and The Granada.

myspace.com/djsku

DJ Shad

DJ Shad — pronounced like shod, as in roughshod, as in I’m’a run roughshod all over your ass with this beat! — has made a huge impact on Kansas City’s hip-hop and DJ scene since moving here from Chicago. Though his fellow local deck champs have undying respect for him, Shad’s biggest fans are undeniably out on the dance floors wherever he spins, having their joints rocked to the man’s unbending blends of hip-hop, house, garage, dirty house, Baltimore house, kitchen sink house (OK, we made that one up) and hardcore rap. He and his friend and mentor DJ Fresh (see previous page) share the honorable distinction of being among Nelly’s Dirty DJs crew out of St. Louis, and he has opened for the likes of Devin the Dude, Lil’ Flip, Trina and Keak the Sneak. But fortunately, Shad’s not out of the average beatseeker’s reach; he spins at Zen on Fridays and Karma on Saturdays and can frequently be heard mixing it up on KKFI 90.1’s Show-Me Mix Show. To find out more, say “DJ Shad” five times in front of the bathroom mirror, and he will appear and kill you with records.

myspace.com/djshadmzamber

FOLK/AMERICANA

Sal Retta

Sal Retta uses her fluttering soprano to sing old-soul torch songs. The Kansas City songwriter also impresses with her nimble guitar fingerpicking and jazzy, melodic turns — assets that place her head and shoulders above the bar-stool competition. Her recent collection, Lost Songs, is as seductive as it is spellbinding, hinting at a more avant-garde approach to come.

myspace.com/salretta

Barclay Martin

If folk is music for the people and Americana points to a broad scope of immigrant influences, then the music of singer-songwriter Barclay Martin is beautifully drenched in both notions. A tireless traveler, Martin works with themes of personal discovery and introspection, weaving them throughout his repertoire — a country byway dotted with broken-down memories and sparkling new discoveries. He’s a KC native, but Martin’s musical and philanthropic aspirations reveal him to be a citizen of the world.

barclaymartin.com

Pendergast

Pendergast’s material crackles like old Midwestern punk, but singer Tony Ladesich strips it down to its country core for his solo shows. In either incarn­ation, maverick rural-rock or acoustic twang, Pendergast’s songs reveal an uncommon connection with downtrodden workers and jilted lovers. Ladesich’s weary delivery and frank, conversational lyrics speak not only to the currently distraught but also to any listener who has ever felt broken — in short, everyone.

myspace.com/pendergastkc

In The Pines

Acoustic rock is a cringe-inducing premise at times — unless the music is as beautiful and layered as that of In the Pines. Finding a tactful balance between delicate and powerful, the band relies almost entirely on acoustic instruments. It’s hard to believe that this music wasn’t found in some pressed-tin time capsule in Appalachia.

inthepinesmusic.com

Chad Rex

Singer-songwriter Chad Rex resumed his rock-band mode during the past year, reassembling the Victorstands with brother Scotty Rex on drums and Brent Kastler on bass. The group’s recent shows have been anything but alt-country, instead favoring loud, brash tunes that recall the early days of the Replacements. Rex also spent much of the year touring with Drag the River, making his infrequent hometown shows all the more essential.