BEST LOCAL BAND
10 Minutes Down
"We have seven guys in the band, and only two of us voted," reveals Ted Teske, trombonist and vocalist for Spokane's rocking, horn-driven ska combo 10 Minutes Down, conceding that if the band members themselves had been a little more participatory, they would have represented a sizable block of votes. As it was, they narrowly edged out former champion Too Slim & the Taildraggers (by just a handful of votes) to take the checkered flag in the Best Local Band category.
10 Minutes Down — Teske, Juan Cinco, Sean McKenzie, Bill Weeks, Kyle Bradshaw, Robbie Daytona and Mike Renes — has been more active over the past nine months or so than at any other time in their five-year history, hitting with equal force the all-ages and the over-21 crowds. But the band has been conspicuously absent from local stages since the beginning of 2002.
"We decided to take the month of January off — and then it kind of extended into February — to do some writing for a new album," Teske says. "So when [The Inlander's reader's poll] came up, we were a little nervous about what kind of response we would get because we hadn't been out playing any shows. In our experience, if people don't hear from you in a couple months, they tend to forget about you. So we're pretty stoked about this."
The band is itching to get back into live gigging but has been fairly strict about adhering to their writing schedule which should lead them back into the studio sometime in May. If all goes as planned, Teske says fans should look for a new 10 Minutes Down album sometime in August.
"I really feel validated," he says about the poll results. "Enough people for us to win actually took the time to fill out 60 questions and paid postage and everything. Now we've got to think of some way to thank everybody."
Would a free show do the trick? It just so happens that the group's next scheduled performance will be an April 13 outdoor freebie on the Gonzaga University campus.
"Barring any unforeseen weather complications," interjects Teske. "I don't want to have people come out and freeze their butts off."
2nd Too Slim & The Taildraggers; 3rd Civilized Animal
