Byron Zanos Selected for 6 Points Music Festival

Singer/Songwriter Byron Zanos will be a featured performer in the 6 Points Music Festival on Saturday, April 8, 2006, 9:00 PM, at Ragtime, 1345 North Courthouse Road in Arlington, VA. Zanos was chosen from over 175 submissions to perform at the festival, which showcases bands at 13 Washington, DC area venues over 3 days.

This year's selection committee was chaired by Heather Huff and Adam Simkin (Entertainment DC), and included Jenni Chase (Capital Scene), Amber-Therese Foster (DC101 Local Lix), Amanda Mattos (Music: DCist.com), Joel Didriksen(Kingpin Photo/NPR's All Songs Considered), Eric Boucher (Bigyawn.net ) and Richard Brewer ( Independent Promotions Consultant &10 year Music Industry Veteran). Judges based their selection on Songwriting/Lyrical Content; Vocal, Instrumental and Overall Performance; Originality; and Visceral Reaction.

A featured performer at a recent BMI Showcase held at New York City’s acclaimed Rockwood Music Hall, demand for Zanos outside the New York/New Jersey area is increasing, thanks to his growing popularity on MySpace.com. His next show at the Rockwood is scheduled for March 15, 2006. After an enthusiastic response at NACA (National Association for Campus Activities), Zanos is now booking dates at colleges throughout the Mid-Atlantic region.

Zanos’ lifelong love of music began in his parents’ living room, listening to his father’s opera collection. As a kid, Zanos had a more classical bent, with his first instrument being the piano. That all changed though, when he bought his first album: Guns ‘N’ Roses Appetite for Destruction. “It was like a bowl of Lucky Charms after eating oatmeal my whole life,” Zanos says.

Zanos’ wit permeates his music. With lyrics like “You bought ’Happiness for Dummies’ and you/you think you’re gonna teach me something” (“Pandora’s Box”), “You want everything to come the easy way/…money without all the working/weight loss on pasta and chips” (“Better Days”), “Pack your bags/looks like we’re going on a guilt trip again” (“Sleeping Sally”) and “Everyday life version 4.0/tech support is no help at all/answers in the next hot reality show – or in the drug that keeps grandfather’s love tall” (21st Century Boy), it’s hard not to laugh (as well as sing) along. However, other songs on Somewhere In The Middle, such as “Blind Today”, show a softer, more vulnerable side, and when Zanos sings “I never knew a foot so good to fit your shoes” in the aptly-named “Sweet Melancholy,” listeners are bound to be touched.

For more information on Byron Zanos, please visit www.byronzanos.com.

For more information on the 6 Points Music Festival, please visit http://sixpoints.blogspot.com.