Paul Thorn

Mainstage 10:05 - 11:35pm - A favorite WMNF live artist for a decade, Paul headlines the WMNF Birthday Bash for the second straight year. Paul Thorn's highly anticipated new release has come out to rave reviews and spent three weeks as #1 on the Americana radio chart.

Among those who value originality, inspiration, eccentricity, and character - as well as talent that hovers somewhere on the outskirts of genius, the story of Paul Thorn is already familiar - the boxing career, the years working in a chair factory, his discovery playing in a pizza parlor. On his new album "Pimps and Preachers" Thorn reveals another layer of his fascinating history, addressing that subject of his daddy the preacher and his uncle the pimp.

Thorn's amazing life story provides the material for his songs and artistry. If you follow it back through his songs, at some point near the beginning, the mysteries gather like a mist, obscuring the picture and leaving unanswered the question of how he acquired his ability to find brilliance buried in shadows, darkness in daylight, poetry in the mundane, and truth in the brutal beauties of life.

Suenalo

Mainstage 8:30-9:40 - "The energy Suénalo creates is so alluring, everyone wants to leap onstage and play with them -- and not just in the musical sense. The band's performances make listeners want to run up there and dodge the trombone's slide, trip over conch shells, fly over an amp, bonk off a conga and keep going full-tilt until someone slices his foot open on a guitar pedal and has to get stitches." - City Link

"...dancing, twisting, shouting -- press toward the 9-piece band and a barrage of music that's simultaneously Afro-Cuban, hip-hop, R&B, Latin, funk, and unmistakably Miami."

Johnny Cakes and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypso

Mainstage 7:05 - 8:05 One the best reviewed bands at Tropical Heatwave, they play “gutter calypso,” a combination of “calypso, punk rock, ska, reggae, rock steady, tropical, and more. The stage overflows with musicians that included a four horn section, guitars, bass, regular drums, and steel drum...and the Jellyfish Dancers. Yes — this band has dancers.

The Hip Abduction

Mainstage 12:00-1am The Hip Abduction is another band that was a big hit at Tropical Heatwave with a high energy live performance. The Hip Abduction mixes reggae/rock with Zimbabwean, Malian, and Caribbean influences while keeping compositions distinctly western at heart to create what some refer to as World Pop. A little Paul Simon, Afro-pop, 70's roots reggae, and Zimbabwe's Oliver Mtukudzi have all played a role in shaping their sound.

"Members of this tight and energetic Florida based band have laid stakes all over the world and bring to the party international traditions, rhythms and instruments"- St. Pete Times

Cadillac Bombers

Rose Room 8:05-9:05pm Rockabilly music in it's purest form whilst leaning backwards but looking forwards. Growling Gretsch guitar and a purring wildcat woman leading the charge. A slapping stand-up bass and a drummer that stirs the soul. Oh yeah! These cats deliver like a V-8 Ford on Hi-Test baby!

The Cadillac Bombers have exploded on the Tampa Bay music scene like an H-bomb and given these hot Floridian days and nights a refreshing blast of high energy, rock-a-billy and roots-infused entertainment that packs the dance floors! They are probably the only rockabilly band in the world with a washboard and a banjo (played expertly by WMNF "Energy Bar" programmer Scallywag).

All ages dig this early rock sound and energy; bring your dancing shoes!

Jim Morey Band

Rose Room 9:35-10:35pm Trumpeter/warm drawling vocalist Jim Morey leads a quartet featuring bassist Ann Van Atta, guitar player Eddie Rossicky, and drummer Billy Carr. The band offers a fresh take on old jazz using swing and muddy river Creole as their foundation, incorporating elements of gypsy, ragtime and stumbling roots rock, and then spicing things up with electronics, humorous textures (kazoo, washboard, bike horn, slide whistle).

Sleepy Vikings

Rose Room 11:00-12:00pm They are five girls and one boy who play indie rock that has been dubbed "southern shoegaze." Paste Magazine has claimed their shows are filled with "song after song of rich southern shoe-gazey goodness." Orlando Weekly says that their music is a "swooning squall…" and that they are "one of the most talented and distinctive groups in Florida." Sleepy Vikings has already played shows with bands Deer Tick, Mission of Burma, Dead Confederate, Vivian Girls, and Casiotone for the Painfully Alone. They were named as one of the four best artists (out of 650, including Iggy Pop?!?!)at NXNE by Paste Magazine. Future shows include dates with School of Seven Bells and a trip to CMJ Music Marathon in New York City, and they are currently booking shows across the southeast. They are currently mixing our first full-length record that is slated for release in early 2011. To end with an equation, Pavement + Sonic Youth + hick towns + beer + summer sadness = Sleepy Vikings.

Peace Mole and the Psychedelic Multi-Colored Litmus Test

Rose Room 7:00-7:45pmThis young band has emerged to make many new fans with a unique sound of psychedelic folk rock. All three members write songs and play a variety of instruments. Discover a talented, attractive new band on the Tampa Bay music scene.