Amerie, Rites of Spring lead singer Guy Picciotto, and those two dudes from Vertical Horizon: the number of notable music artists that have recently come out of Georgetown can be counted on one hand. A scholarship was offered to John Legend, but he spurned us for Penn. Unfortunately, our campus community widely regards music as a hobby rather than a career pursuit, so it’s always surprising to hear when artists have roots on the Hilltop.
Adrian Perry (LAW ‘08), bassist and lead singer of TAB The Band, has been simultaneously balancing his law and music careers since he graduated from the Law Center three years ago. With a MySpace profile that reads like a well-polished résumé and a tour pedigree that includes performances with the likes of Stone Temple Pilots, Modest Mouse, and Dinosaur Jr., TAB The Band seems to have everything going for it.
Adrian and fellow band members itemize their accomplishments online as if MySpace is the LinkedIn of the music industry. (To be fair, it is.) They proudly tout the fact that their music has been featured on Entourage, CSI: NY, ESPN, The Howard Stern Show, and—the holiest of holies—a Reese’s cup commercial. The profile also lists accolades from Rolling Stone down to VH1’s Best Week Ever. They may not be making waves in the music industry, but at least they’re making noise.
TAB The Band was originally branded “T & A” when Adrian and his brother Tony started jamming during his Christmas break in 2006.
“We came up with one idea, and we were like ‘This is pretty good,’” Adrian said in a phone interview.
Things moved quickly as they released their first EP in March 2007, added a drummer, Ben Tileston, who brought the “B” into the group’s name.
“We just thought ‘TAB The Band’ had a better ring to it. We wanted to distinguish ourselves from the soda,” Adrian said.
The group’s first songs were comedy, but they quickly changed to rock. Not a surprise, since Adrian and Tony are the sons of Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry, who often performs with the group.
With the Law Center so far away from Georgetown’s main campus, Adrian was unable to make a strong connection with the modest on-campus music scene.
However, Adrian says his family members “all love D.C.”
“[As a child] trips to D.C. were pretty regular,” he said. “I was definitely aware of the D.C. hardcore scene and Dischord Records, a lot of that music.”
Thankfully, TAB The Band’s repertoire does not include any Minor Threat covers. The group’s fifth and latest release, Zoo Noises, plays like a standard 70s radio rock/blues album, with plenty of modern, riffy rock songs and short folk stomps with charged mandolins and chorus-like vocals. Adrian’s Mick Jagger-esque singing complements well-played guitar sections, creating a sound reminiscent of The Raconteurs and Queens of the Stone Age. Unfortunately, Zoo Noises vacillates between the lion’s den and the petting zoo. With more “deep album tracks” than solid singles, the album fails to keep a consistent level of energy. As soon as the band unplugs, their strength falls out from beneath them.
While the University produced the songwriter behind “Afternoon Delight” and “(Take Me Home) Country Roads,” Georgetown hasn’t produced a rock superstar in four decades. But with TAB The Band’s chocolate-commercial notoriety and fan base that extends well beyond the front gates, they’re a step in the right direction.
