by Matt Saldaña
October 1, 2008
Holed up in their unfinished practice space beside a metal machine shop on Raleigh's Capital Boulevard, the six members of the band Annuals are deciding which songs to cram into a 30-minute set. In two days, they'll drive six hours north to Baltimore to play a showcase for industry executives, and they need to turn heads.
Kenny Florence, Annuals' lead guitarist, leans against his amplifier and pulls a notebook from his pocket, fielding setlist suggestions from the rest of his bandmates, huddled alternately behind a keyboard and a slide-guitar stand, two drum sets, a maze of quarter-inch cables and interlocked microphones. Adam Baker, Annuals' lead singer and songwriter, helps Anna Spence lift her keyboard stand, while Nick Radford and Zack Oden trade drum fills.
[View the entire article at the Independent Weekly.]