Album Notes

Drinking from the same water and breathing the same Detroit Rock City air as the White Stripes, Eminem and Kid Rock -- not to mention predecessors such as Mitch Ryder, Bob Seger, George Clinton and the entirety of the Motown roster -- NATIVES OF THE NEW DAWN are in the business of making music fun again.
The sextet's songs groove with genuinely funky exuberance, bite with rock 'n roll crunch and soar with Stevie Wonder-like melodicism. It's a bona fide joyride that still maintains the craft and credibility of sterling musicianship.
NATIVES were formed in June 2003 in the Detroit suburb of Ferndale from the ashes of a rap trio that included MC Vince Mann and Gary “DJ Goo” Hoenicke. The bearded, genial Mann envisioned a live hip-hop project ala the Roots or Arrested Development, something that was positive, conscious and had a pop sound to it. It's evolved to where it is now; a dynamic package of sounds and influences driven by the tightly pocketed rhythm section of bassist Ryan Coomer and drummer Tom Wachter, the fierce guitar work of Joe Fikany, and the soulful singing of Tony Nouhan, who actually joined NATIVES as the second drummer and didn't start playing keyboards until three days before their first show.
Since the new dawn, things have stayed bright for NATIVES. In March of 2004 they were 1 of 10 groups to showcase for ex-Epic and Arista executive Peter Ganbarg's new Pure Tone Records label, after which Ganbarg called the group the “next biggest thing to come out of Detroit since Kid Rock.” The following month NATIVES were also named Best Pop Band at the New York International Music and Film Festival, and received three nominations at the 2004 Detroit Music Awards, including Outstanding Live Performance, Outstanding Rock Artist/Group, and Outstanding Rock/Pop Instrumentalist for guitarist Fikany.
The group is now working on a new album, their follow-up to 2004's The Sunshine Chronicles, and in addition to winning the Emergenza National Showcase finals in Boston, NATIVES have spent part of the summer on the road in the U.S. with the Vans Warped Tour for the second consecutive summer.

By Gary Graff