Fearless Music is a musical showcase filmed in New York City, NY featuring bands that are on the cusp of the mainstream

Mainstream

Mainstream is, generally, the common current thought of the majority. However, the mainstream is far from cohesive; rather the concept is often considered a cultural construct....

 and indie rock

Indie rock

Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...

 circuits. The word "fearless" refers to the show taking a chance on musicians that other mainstream media would be afraid to promote.

The show started and currently airs Saturday Nights at 12:30 on WNYW Fox, New York City. However, the show is syndicated in over 200 cities in the United States, 30 countries worldwide and 350 college TV Stations. The show is currently airing its 8th season.

History

In August 2003, Fearless Music began taping artists in New York City.

The first episode aired on New York's local Time Warner Cable channel 35 on January 18, 2004. The episode was created using low budget closed circuit cameras typically used in security.

The show moved forward on Fox and its affiliates, airing on more stations beginning April 1, 2006. Studio lights and HD cameras were also installed for an improved look.

There has been a steady buildup in viewership and broadcast stations. Fearless Music presently airs in 200 cities in the United States, 350 college closed-circuit stations, and 36 countries—including Norway, China and Botswana.

Format

The show consists of seven bands and one short interview segment. The first six bands perform for the television audience. Viewers can then go online and vote for their favorite artist at FearlessMusic.com during the following days. The seventh and final band that performs is the winner of last week's viewers' poll.

Bands on Fearless

Over the years, Fearless Music has featured many notable and unique artists. These artists include some that have won or been nominated for Grammy Awards. Though the show focuses mainly on indie-rock and up-and-coming artists, mainstream acts and acts of various genres (punk, hip-hop, etc.)are also featured.

Artists featured on Fearless Music include the following:

Aqualung

Aqualung (musician)

Matthew "Matt" Hales , better known as Aqualung, is an English singer and songwriter best known in the UK for his song "Strange and Beautiful", which was featured on a television advertisement for the new Volkswagen New Beetle during the summer of 2002 and went on to become a Top 10 hit in the UK...

, Ben Lee

Ben Lee

Benjamin Michael "Ben" Lee is an ARIA Award winning musician and actor. Lee began his career as a musician at the age of 14 with the Sydney band Noise Addict, but focused on his solo career when the band broke up in 1995. He appeared as the protagonist in the Australian film The Rage in Placid Lake...

, The Bouncing Souls

The Bouncing Souls

The Bouncing Souls are a punk rock band from New Brunswick, New Jersey, formed in 1987. By the time of their acknowledgment by the national punk rock scene, they had reignited a "pogo" element to New Jersey punk rock by playing fast light-hearted songs, a model followed by various other local...

, Brandi Carlile

Brandi Carlile

Brandi Carlile is an American singer and songwriter.-Early life:At age eight, Carlile performed a rendition of the country music song "Tennessee Flat Top Box" with her mother. She began to play the guitar and write songs at fifteen. At sixteen, she began to perform as a backup singer for an Elvis...

, Cartel (band)

Cartel (band)

Cartel is a American pop rock band from Conyers, Georgia that formed in 2003. The band is best known for their single "Honestly", featured on their 2005 debut album Chroma, and for their 2007 appearance on MTV's Band in a Bubble....

, Cut Copy

Cut Copy

Cut Copy are an Australian electronic band formed in 2001 by Dan Whitford on vocals, keyboard and guitar. Other members are Tim Hoey on guitar and sampler, Ben Browning on bass guitar and Mitchell Scott on drums. Their second album, In Ghost Colours peaked at number-one on the ARIA Albums Chart in...

, DeVotchKa

DeVotchKa

DeVotchKa is a four-piece multi-instrumental and vocal ensemble. They take their name from the Russian word devochka , meaning "girl"...

, The Fratellis

The Fratellis

The Fratellis were an indie rock band from Glasgow, Scotland. The band consisted of lead vocalist and guitarist Jon Fratelli , bass guitarist Barry Fratelli , and drummer and backing vocalist Mince Fratelli .The band released 2 albums during their career, Costello Music in 2006 and Here We Stand in...

, The Jonas Brothers, Gaslight Anthem, Gogol Bordello

Gogol Bordello

Gogol Bordello is a Gypsy punk band from the Lower East Side of Manhattan, formed in 1999 and known for theatrical stage shows and persistent touring.Much of the band's sound is inspired by Gypsy music...

, Gym Class Heroes

Gym Class Heroes

Gym Class Heroes is an American hip hop rock band from Geneva, New York. They have collaborated with Fall Out Boy's Patrick Stump on numerous occasions, notably for providing backing vocals on the song "Cupid's Chokehold." Stump also produced the majority of their album The Quilt.The group formed...

, Imogen Heap

Imogen Heap

Imogen Jennifer Jane Heap is a Grammy Award-winning English singer, composer and songwriter from Havering, Essex. She is known for her work as part of the musical duo Frou Frou and her solo albums, which she writes, produces, and mixes...

, Klaxons

Klaxons

Klaxons are a British indie rock band, based in London. Following the release of numerous 7-inch singles on different independent record labels, as well as the success of previous singles "Magick" and "Golden Skans", the band released their debut album, Myths of the Near Future on 29 January 2007....

, KT Tunstall

KT Tunstall

Kate Victoria "KT" Tunstall is a Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist from St Andrews, Scotland. She broke into the public eye with a 2004 live solo performance of her song "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" on Later... with Jools Holland...

, Metric

Metric (band)

Metric is a Canadian indie rock and New Wave band founded in 1998 in Toronto. The band has also at various times been based in Montreal, London, New York City and Los Angeles...

, Motion City Soundtrack

Motion City Soundtrack

Motion City Soundtrack is an American rock band from Minneapolis, Minnesota, formed in 1997. The band consists of founding members Justin Pierre and Joshua Cain , along with keyboardist and moog synthesist Jesse Johnson, bassist and backing vocalist Matthew Taylor, and drummer, percussionist and...

, Never Shout Never, Paramore

Paramore

Paramore is an American rock band from Franklin, Tennessee, formed in 2004. The band consists of lead vocalist Hayley Williams, bassist Jeremy Davis, and guitarist Taylor York...

, Reel Big Fish

Reel Big Fish

Reel Big Fish is an American ska punk band from Huntington Beach, California, best known for the 1997 hit "Sell Out". The band gained mainstream recognition in the mid-to-late 1990s, during the third wave of ska with the release of the gold certified album Turn the Radio Off. Soon after, the band...

, Shiny Toy Guns

Shiny Toy Guns

Shiny Toy Guns is an American indie rock band that formed in 2002 in Los Angeles, California. They released their first studio album We Are Pilots in 2006, after recording it two previous times. It featured three singles that peaked inside the top 30 in the Alternative Songs Chart. We Are Pilots...

, Shwayze

Shwayze

Aaron Smith , better known by his stage name Shwayze, is an American rapper.Born and raised in Malibu, California, Shwayze worked at a local Starbucks coffee shop until he met Whitestarr frontman Cisco Adler at a nightclub. One night Shwayze jumped on stage during Whitestarr's performance and...

, Sugarcult

Sugarcult

Sugarcult is an American rock band from Santa Barbara, California formed in 1998. The band currently consists of Tim Pagnotta , Airin Older , Marko DeSantis , and Kenny Livingston .-Formation :Tim Pagnotta met ex-drummer Ben Davis during a cigarette break at school...

, Supergrass

Supergrass

Supergrass was an English alternative rock band from Oxford. The band consisted of brothers Gaz and Rob Coombes , Mick Quinn and Danny Goffey ....

, Streetlight Manifesto

Streetlight Manifesto

Streetlight Manifesto is an American punk band with many influences from different genres including ska, from New Brunswick, New Jersey fronted by Tomas Kalnoky....

, and Yellowcard

Yellowcard

Yellowcard is an American pop punk/alternative rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida in 1997, and based in Los Angeles, California since 2000. Their music features the use of a violin, unusual for the genre...

Some buzzworthy bands that have recently appeared include:

Apache Beat

Apache Beat

Apache Beat are a five-piece New York band formed in 2007.Their debut album Last Chants was recorded, mixed and produced by Martin Bisi and John Agnello in New York and was released on October 5, 2010 on Babylon Records...

, The Asteroids Galaxy Tour

The Asteroids Galaxy Tour

The Asteroids Galaxy Tour is a Danish pop band consisting of vocalist Mette Lindberg and producer Lars Iversen.When performing live the band extends to a six-piece with horn section, featuring Miloud Carl Sabri , Sven Meinild , Mads Brinch Nielsen , and Rasmus Valldorf . Lars Iversen is the primary...

, The Little Death, Midnight Juggernauts

Midnight Juggernauts

Midnight Juggernauts are a band from Melbourne, Australia composed of Andrew Szekeres, Vincent Vendetta, and Daniel Stricker. The band has been described as anything from 'prog dance meets cosmic film scores', to 'slasher-flick disco' to 'deadpan landscape',...

, and Dragonette

Dragonette

Dragonette is a Canadian electropop group active since 2005. Dragonette consists of singer-songwriter Martina Sorbara, bassist and producer Dan Kurtz and drummer Joel Stouffer....

See also

• Indie rock
  Indie rock
  Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
  
  
• Indie (music)
  Indie (music)
  In music, independent music, often shortened to indie music or "indie" is a term used to describe independence from major commercial record labels or their subsidiaries, and an autonomous, Do-It-Yourself approach to recording and publishing....
  
  
• Alternative rock
  Alternative rock
  Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
  
  
• College rock
  College rock
  College rock is a term that was used in the United States to describe 1980s alternative rock before the term "alternative" came into common usage. The term's use of the word "college" refers to campus radio stations located at institutions of higher education in Canada and the United States, where...
  
  
• Subterranean
  Subterranean (TV series)
  Subterranean was a weekly music show on MTV2 dedicated to alternative, indie, and underground music and artists. The show was made as the modern-day continuation of MTV's 120 Minutes...
  
  

External links

• FearlessMusic.com - Official Site
• MySpace Profile