Agents Of Good Roots

The buzz surrounding Agents has critics mentioning this Richmond, Va.-based group in the same sentence as other bands from the Southeast that took the same approach — namely Hootie & The Blowfish and the Dave Matthews Band. As it happens, Agents do have one significant thing in common with the Dave Matthews Band — management.

Red Light Management’s Coran Capshaw told POLLSTAR he signed Agents simply because “they’re great musicians and they’ve got great music.” He said he’s not one to make predictions on whether Agents are headed toward Dave Matthews-type stardom, but they’re working on it. “They’re getting out there and they’re working hard and they’re playing to as many people as they can as often as they can,” he said.

With more than 200 annual touring dates under their belt since 1995, its probably safe to say Agents know how to put on a show. Between the energetic live performance and the record, many critics aren’t hesitating to tag them as a major headliner in the making.

In planting those good roots, Agents released two independent CDs. Selling about 10,000 of those records on their own was one way the group got the attention of RCA. Although, the label didn’t jump in with Agents right away.

RCA A&R senior VP Bruce Flohr got a hold of an Agents CD and was impressed enough to check out a show. But the band had just enlisted a new sax player and things were a little rusty, Agents drummer/vocalist Brian Jones told POLLSTAR. “Bruce and the people at RCA were like, ‘You guys have potential. Just keep working on it.'”

Over the course of the next couple of years, Flohr continued to attend Agents shows to watch their progress. “The live show got stronger and stronger and he just got more and more excited until eventually, a deal went down,” Jones said. “It’s hard to believe sometimes.” Jones said the band’s signing to Red Light Management also sparked the fire under RCA.

Still, even with top notch management and a major label deal, there was a feeling of cautious optimism behind Agents’ career. That was until the band finished One By One. The album apparently surprised even the label. Early acceptance by critics and radio sealed the sentiment. The album is an eclectic mix of styles from song to song making it totally unpredictable. The band covers everything from classic rock styles to alterna-rock to funky jazz and folk. “That’s just the way it came out. There wasn’t a lot of thought put into it,” Jones said. A wide array of styles is what this band was bound to get with two songwriters (writing independently of one another) and three singers. All the bandmates are formally trained musicians.

Of the qualities that make Agents’ sound distinctive, one came out of tragedy. Singer/guitarist/pianist Andrew Winn wasn’t born with the smokey voice that adds a kind of eerie flavor to most tracks on the record. At age 14, Winn was cruising down a ski slope and smashed into a lift stanchion in mid-air. He crushed his larynx with his own fist on impact. He couldn’t speak for months. The devastating blow made him focus his energies on playing guitar. It took a lot of confidence building before he would sing again. Ironically, it’s Winn’s unique vocal style that helps shape the Agents sound.

Another thing that keeps the undivided attention of Agents fans is the band’s live show. With all the improvisation going on, concert-goers are taken on a different journey than they get with the album. “It’s a lot more raw live,” Jones said. “And I think a lot of people get off on that — when they can hear the record and then come out and hear something that’s taking what’s on the record and expanding on it, rather than just going out and playing it note-for-note … and kind of sounding tired and stale.” He said though Agents play the same songs night after night, “we try to play them like we just heard them yesterday.”

Even with their major label deal, Agents are playing it safe, continuing to tour at their own expense. “We try to be as frugal as we can to keep the money straight and not do anything rash or stupid and try to not take tour support,” Jones said. With a 15-passenger van and a 15-foot trailer, the band and crew have gotten to know Motel 6 quite well.

But with radio catching on, the financial burden of touring may be easing up for the band. Radio play has made a world of difference, Jones said. “We went up to Ann Arbor, Michigan, and sold out a room. We’d never been there before and that was basically on the strength of the airplay we’ve gotten around the Detroit area.”

Agents Of Good Roots will grace the side stage on some H.O.R.D.E. dates this summer and then continue its never-ending headline tour of the States, including the band’s first trip to the West C