(July 5, 2007) — A decade passes, and everything changes. Michael Petrantoni is now Michael J., acoustic singer-songwriter in Gainesville, Fla. John Gaenzler now produces other musicians, helps them develop Web sites, sings on their records and plays guitar in a New York City band called Born and Raised.

Saturday at Johnny's Irish Pub, they'll wind the clock back 10 years. The show will be acoustic, and they'll even do a set together. But we'll know Gaenzler once again as the lead singer from Officer Friendly, Petrantoni as the guy at the front of Exploding Boy. Two of the bands from an era when the local scene thrived on the likes of those rock acts, as well as Nerve Circus and Hard Rain.

"I thought it was a good era for the city," Gaenzler says. "People went out and saw original bands. Every time I come home, I talk to people and ask, 'Who are the hot, original bands around town?' And people don't really know. There are no clubs that really support it the way the clubs in the '90s did."

"There's no way to get around the cover songs," Petrantoni says. "I miss the old days in Rochester. We could play our own songs. But it's that way everywhere. I have to play a 50-50 split of covers and originals."

They're still writing original music. Petrantoni, who plays 250 to 300 shows a year, even landed one on the ABC Family network show Falcon Beach, and another with the Showtime on Demand film Three Needles. That exposure, as well as buddy Elvio Fernandez of Uncle Plum getting Petrantoni onto his American Idol friend Ace Young's Web site, gets an indie musician's MySpace jumping.

"It was a scene. We supported all of the other bands, and they supported us," Gaenzler says. "People who liked music always got into that; it made them really proud of the city. And I think the bands were really good. Even radio stations supported you."

"The one thing that still impacts my life today is the friends I made," Petrantoni says. "That was what struck me about the scene; everybody was friends with everybody. It was a healthy competition.

"If we went to a Nerve Circus show, and they had written a new song, we had to get back into the basement and write a new song.

"Not a lot of people have that: A group of people who have your back, no matter what.

"Michael J is an extraordinary artist with an exceptional sound. Every song on "Spin" has refined and catchy instrumental sounds and polished vocals that immediately entice the listener to listen on. Michael J is most comparable to prominent bands such as U2 and Live. Rating: 4 out of 5".

"Michael J's songwriting skills, which were always aces, have just gotten better, and his vocals are still strong and memorable. "Spin" as a whole is a quality modern rock endeavor."

"Spin's familiar-feeling alterna-pop musings feature Michael J's earnest tenor vocals in a variety of modern rock settings. Jangly guitars and radio-friendly harmonies accent soul-searching lyrics and inoffensive melodies" 


   

"Michael J is an extremely successful singer/songwriter that has a mountain of success behind him and a bigger mountain of success in front of him"