The Fondas, UK When you first see The Fondas live onstage, it just feels like something great is going on in the room. It's not only the beautiful blonde/raven - haired front woman Julie Benjamin, whose sultry voice lingers over the dusty sound of yesteryear's rock 'n' roll and R&B. It's not just the guitar attack of Mark Niemenski and Steve Shaw or the bouncing rythm section of Nick Sokolowski and Chip Sercombe. It's that The Fondas, united as one entity, can set up and bring a room to it's knees within the 30 minutes they are alloted on stage each night.

Formed in 2002, The Fondas have been blasting out the pop and R&B inspired rock 'n' roll for more than five years now. Between the members' shared interest in such music and the process of making records, the group decided to strike out and form a band. "We all like lot's of different stuff, but have enough common ground where it sounds like it is coming from the same place," guitarist Steve Shaw says. While some bands struggle with thier sound for years, Shaw relays that The Fondas did'nt have much trouble at all: "For what ever reason our sound evolved rather quickly when Julie started singing in the band."

In 2003, the group released their first single, "Wanna Be" and their first full-length long player, Coming now. When strapping on the head phones to listen to The Fondas, several things pop out in ones mind. The band has an extremly original sound that is a culmination of several classic genres hardly ever mixed. The band perfectly melds the doo-wop of a Del Shannon with the tenacity of the Ramones, the garage psych of The Jujus and the country ramblings of Buck Owens.

The Fondas continued to stay busy as they dropped the bomb on the local music scene in 2006 when they released three vinyl gems. A single for the instant-classic "Make You Mine", allong with their second full-length Runaway Bombshell and a split with The Ettes made for an unforgetable year. The split single was extremely fantastic as it featured the bands playing the allways-astounding songs of Reigning Sound and former Oblivians frontman, Greg Cartwright.

What's on tap this summer for the band after the gig at CityFest? "Recording is the top priority this summer," Shaw states. "We will be recording a Christmas song Mark wrote, hopping to get it out for the Holidays," Shaw says. Hopefully, Christmas comes early this year for Fondas fans.


Check out their music video HERE.