So we’ve decided to remind you of the many talented music bods that we’ve championed over the last 12 months. Anyone remember Kingtide? Formerly known as Penfold, these boys were seriously slick with their crisp indie-rock tunes and we celebrated the Leamington lads last November.  | | Ben Ablewhite from Kingtide |
Ska fans were treated to the lowdown on Special Brew in December. 2004 marked the 25th anniversary of the 2-Tone record label and we could resist flagging up the Brew who had only actually been together since February of that year. We kicked off 2005 with a look at the hard-working Slybob. Formed towards the end of Y2K the band had been progressing well having once been labeled the University of Warwick’s Most Promising Act. The Boys had previously shared the bill with the likes of The Bluetones and Space - when we caught up with them their fanbase was growing across the country. The Sequins added some glitter to Frebruary with their 80’s sound. Influenced heavily by The Smiths and Joy Division the Coventry band are another act to have caught the attention of the national press - Xfm’s Claire Sturgess had previously showcased their efforts. The five-piece were one of many featured acts to play at the Colosseum’s Asian Tsunami appeal concert that same month.  | | Look out - it's The Sequins |
We rounded on The Circle in March to talk about their jangly guitar rock. If the previous month had an air about the 1980’s then these boys brought a more laid back swinging sixties vibe to the site. If you listen carefully to their music you can hear influences ranging from Bob Dylan through to The Coral. Nuneaton’s The Juliana Down featured back in April - the alt-rock four-piece formed at school and although still at college at the time of our article, they were growing in reputation and had even received an encouraging review from Kerrang! radio. We changed tact completely in May with a look at flamenco guitar. Coventry’s Si Hayden simply blew us away with his intricate finger skills at the aforementioned tsunami benefit concert at the Colly and we simply had to learn more about him.  | | The Juliana Down |
The nylon-plucker has even had some self-penned work aired in a Radio 4 play. Bridges helped us to seamlessly cross from spring to summer in June – from college students to rockers the three-piece have nailed the growling distortion and still manage to play together despite being based across the patch. A sickeningly talented bunch of teenagers – brilliant! In July we finally caught up with Mawda. Our paths had crossed one way or another in previous months – for one they featured on Rob Halligan’s asian tsunami disaster charity record Stand Together. Yes it seems that terrible disaster at the back end of 2004 truly pulled together the creative musical forces in Coventry and Warwickshire. August was the turn of Cirlcle 3. Paul Ryan, formerly of Kingtide, is Circle3 which is a one-man project to try and harness the musical talents of many across the world. A very interesting idea indeed. September saw Sika Redem come under the spotlight shortly before they headed off to Wales to record their debut album. Coventry’s noise mongers were hoping that by following in the footsteps of some of their favourite artists they could earn some K’s from rock bible Kerrang! for their efforts.  | | Mawda |
The Polaris were next to be featured in October – the city band had traded in their running spikes for guitars in order to create their indie-rocking sound. And they always seem to have a date or two lined up somewhere close by so there’s always a chance to catch them live. And so November has arrived with all the flash and flare attributed to Bonfire night … And our featured act is a lady called Justine. Having recently moved her acoustic nights from Scholars to The Golden Cross in Coventry, the one time Fat-Rhino star is making her name as a singer/songwriter. How to get featured BBC Coventry and Warwickshire's Band of the Month feature aims to showcase the best local musical talent. If you think you and/or your band are worthy enough of a feature then get in contact with us. …. Or use the postal address below. All we require is a short biography, a couple of decent quality colour images (in jpeg format) and a copy of your music. | 
