The 9s are a funky group of guys that have recently taken the Omaha, Nebraska music scene by storm! Their music is made up of a timeless mix of funk and pop tunes with an amazing sense of sexual groove. I was lucky enough to happen upon them while at Summer Fest 2000 in Rock Island, Illinois, and I have loved them ever since. For a while, I was actually quite obsessed. I couldn’t go to a swim meet without their CD, and I had to listen to "Heart Pimp" before swimming the 500 yard freestyle, just to make sure I would have a good song in my head during the duration of the event. I haven’t seen them in concert since Summer Fest, but only because these boys rarely venture out of Nebraska. However, they have promised to come back over to Illinois again! Overall, one word seems to express them perfectly: Original. Make no assumptions about this band. If you haven’t heard from them yet, you will soon. They are much bigger than smalltime flops. They have opened for Maceo Parker and the Parliament Funkadelic!! There are now some small cult followings of 9s fans from around the US (mainly Nebraska, Illinois, Iowa, and New Jersey).

The band members are:

Craig Balderston – Bass, Vocals
Jason Birnstihl- Guitar, Lead Vocals (with a deliciously attractive quality reminiscent of Jarvis Cocker)
Dan Maca – Drums
Justin Palmer – Synthesizer, Vocals
Mitch Towne – Electric Piano, Organ, Vocals

To date, they have two albums: The 9s (Their hit debut album):
1. Me, You and Everybody
2. Spin
3. I Don’t Want My Girl Doing Things I Can Get The Other Girls To Do
4. Heart Pimp (my personal favorite)
5. Back To Blond
6. Dough She
7. Can’t Stop The Groove (another great diddy!)
8. Calumet
9. M.M.J.B.S. All Night Music: 1. Good
2. All Night Music
3. Last December
4. Your Woman
5. Little Hey Hey
6. Driving Home Naked
7. It’s Waiting For You I must also inform you that their CDs are fairly cheap, under ten bucks, even though they are of very high quality and worth the investment. For more info, go to: www.the9s.com.