Katie Todd Band: Talent Pays Off

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I'll just get straight to the point: Katie Todd Band is a great Rock band with a cool website. I don't often talk about bands' websites, but I thought that this one warranted a mention, so I'll get to that shortly. But first, the music.

It's always gratifying to see commercial radio latch onto talented Rock bands, and reward artists like Katie Todd Band with regular rotation and solid promotion.

-- What's that? They're still playing "I'm in Love with a Stripper" instead?

Oh...never mind, then.

OK, so Rock music may have reached a nadir in terms of terrestrial radio airplay, something that is almost unimaginable to people of a certain age. As Ford Fairlane once said to a boy-band singer, "You've got Keith Richards rolling in his grave -- the guy ain't even dead yet!" (Hey, be happy I didn't bust-out the Hudson Hawk reference!) Fortunately for aspiring Rock bands, there are plenty of other worthwhile media outlets these days.

Which is a good thing for Katie Todd Band, a rock-solid quartet from Chicago. Their latest CD, Make Some Time for Wasting, is an expertly-crafted collection of catchy songs, any of which is airplay worthy -- or at least would have been, in the golden age of FM. But the decline of FM hasn't stopped Katie Todd Band from getting their name out there. Quite the opposite, in fact: The band has landed a slot at Lollapalooza on August 6, in Chicago's Grant Park -- which is something that I have to assume is like reaching nirvana (small 'n') for a hardworking local band. Good on them, I say.

The music of Katie Todd Band is flat-out excellent, and more than that I will not say, except that I order you to go their website (linked above) and listen to the tracks on their jukebox. I've added three tracks to the FEMALE FRONT playlist ("Face Down", "Wonder Woman" and "You Hide it Well") and I wish I could've added all of them; but that might defeat the purpose of you buying their CD, and I wouldn't let THAT happen.

While you're visiting their nicely-designed website, be sure to check out the clever profiles of band members Katie, Travis, Mark and Evan. On the homepage, click on each person's photo for a piece of band member trivia, or go to the "Band" page for a series of random questions and answers from each member. In my opinion, all bios should be like this, including the ones on corporate websites.

Finally, I couldn't help noticing in Katie Todd's profile, under "Pets" she listed "my Beta fish named Dorothy". By a strange coincidence, not long before I read about Katie Todd's pet, my day-job colleague Erin brought in a Beta fish (a species also known by the trumped-up nickname "Siamese Fighting Fish") as a sort of cubicle mascot. Tragically, "Sashimi" passed away under suspicious circumstances before I could post this. I'm not saying that Murder Was The Case, but exactly how would a fish get cooked in its own bowl?!

Erin has informed me that the requisite fish mourning period (five business days or until the beginning of the next calendar month, whichever is shorter) has passed, and so we may see a Sashimi sequel soon...and try saying THAT clearly. Anyway, I was able to get a few pictures of our dearly departed in happier times, and so I present one here as a final tribute. (Way to bring us all down, Katie!)


Sashimi, weeks before his untimely demise.