MUSIC

NOW HEAR THIS

THE UNIVERSAL TONE

Everything has fallen into place and expectations are running high for the band as it puts the finishing touches on its first EP.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY KELLY DONOHUE

left to right Garrett Craig - lead guitar Jasmin Poncelet - lead vocals, rhythm guitar Kenneth “Biz” McKenzie - drums

Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam once worked as a security guard; Beyonce swept floors at a hair salon; and Jasmin Poncelet—a name you might not have yet heard—served up Rooty Tooty Fresh & Fruity’s at the IHOP on Madonna Road in San Luis Obispo. Like Vedder, who was eventually fired for playing his guitar on the job, Poncelet, a product of the North County, had a hard time focusing on breakfast when new song ideas were constantly coming to mind. And, while she roamed the Central Coast in a quest to refine her music, she found herself on a parallel track with another like-minded soul, Garrett Craig. Craig, who grew up in Morro Bay and attended Cuesta College part-time with Poncelet, explains,“We ended up at a party together, really it was a jam session, and we had a similar style and just hit it off.” Poncelet, who played in various Central Coast bands after attending both Paso Robles and Templeton high schools, came to the realization that she needed a bigger stage if she was going to make a serious go of her career. With Los Angeles as her springboard, she began working with different bands, but none seemed to have the right sound. She continued to think about her friend Craig, who complemented her style so perfectly. With a plan in mind, a stream of phone calls and texts ensued. “Move to L.A. and take a shot at this with me,” she cajoled. Confirms Craig with a bit of a chuckle, “She basically pestered me and kind of twisted my arm a bit to make it happen.” It turns out that Poncelet’s hunch was correct. With Craig taking the lead guitar, and Kenneth “Biz” McKenzie of Southern California on the drums, and Poncelet handling the vocals, as well as rhythm guitar, the band she had envisioned, The Universal Tone (also known as “T.U.T.”), was formed. In a Jimi-Hendrixmeets-The-Black-Keys fusion, the trio relies heavily on a combination of electric guitars to pull off its soulful style. But, it is the charismatic Poncelet who carries the vocals with a fresh and unexpectedly powerful punch. Their first single called “Nebraska” shows off her range beautifully and the instrumentals come together in a way that suggest T.U.T. may just be the next evolution in sound—if The Black Keys broke a new barrier, it is not a stretch to suggest that T.U.T. is carrying it through to the next level.

The band, which has been drawing increasingly larger crowds around Los Angeles, plays regularly, including gigs at The Viper Room, The Whisky, El Portal Theatre, and Universal City Walk. They expect to reach beyond their current geographic bounds in 2014 as their Grammy Award winning producer Bob Horn of Hive Studios strategically releases singles throughout the year. Recently, Scott Page, saxophone player for Pink Floyd, gave T.U.T. the ultimate compliment after a show when he intimated, “They remind me so much of us when we were just getting started; I really think they’re on to something.” Indeed, for Poncelet, Craig, and McKenzie, you get the feeling that things are starting to really happen. And, for the rest of us, at least we can say that we enjoyed the waffles. SLO LIFE

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