Lloyd Dobler Effect, a local Washington DC band which formed in 2000, takes its name from the 1989 teen film "Say Anything" staring John Cusack as Lloyd Dobler. Thus far, the quintet has performed mostly in Virginia, Maryland and Delaware, where it enjoys a strong following among college students. They have one CD "Live 2004".

Maktub, whose name means "it is written" in Arabic, formed in 1996 as a pet project of four Seattle club musicians. Reggie Watts (vocals/synthesizer), Davis Martin (drums), Alex Veley (keyboards), and Kevin Goldman (bass), came together from various parts of Seattle's burgeoning soul community to create a groove-oriented, brooding R&B sound. Led by Watts' polished baritone vocals, Maktub released a competent debut album, Subtle Ways, in 1999.

In 2001 Jimmy Eat World was a widely adored but criminally underappreciated band capable of drawing capacity crowds all over the world, but unable to find a record deal to their liking. Having just been unceremoniously spit out of the major label machinery, the band opted to record a new album entirely on its own dime and let labels come a-calling. The gambit more than paid off, with the resultant Bleed America (later re-titled Jimmy Eat World), yielding the hits "The Middle" and "Sweetness," and ultimately selling over 1.4 million copies in the U.S. But then came the problem once all your rock dreams come true, what do you do for an encore? The band's new album, Futures, is the answer to that question. It's a sprawling, gorgeous, heavy-yet-quiet epic with songs ranging from ambitious hard rock to epic ballads. With the hard driving first single "Pain" kicking off the campaign to the beautifully constructed follow up single "Work," Futures is perhaps the best sounding record in Jimmy Eat World's career.

Long before the digital era and the Internet age, BHTM were practicing the DIY ethic, and now, almost 20 years since forming as a trio, they're still walking their own path. The band launched its own independent label, Big Records, and released their first two albums, Another Mayberry (1987) and Midnight Radio (1990) to exploding local, regional and national acclaim, selling a then-unheard of 58,000 copies on their own. When Giant Records founder Irving Azoff saw them at an Aspen performance he signed them on the spot. The first Giant album Sister Sweetly was a platinum-selling smash featuring rousing rock radio hits such as "Broken Hearted Savior" and "Circle," the fan favorite "Bittersweet" and R&B-flavored "It's Alright."