Brad Skistimas was just like many other singer-songwriters. For several years, under the moniker Five Times August he's been crafting catchy pop songs in relative obscurity. However after serendipitously catching the attention of a couple of big-wig producers at MTV he landed one of his songs on an episode of faux-reality juggernaut Laguna Beach. As a result of such success, he became the first unsigned act to be sold at Wal-Mart. The trajectory of Skistimas' career serves as a telling example of the new paradigm for achieving success in the music industry--that is to say a little exposure in a medium other then radio -whether its a TV show, movie or commercial can go a long way is gaining an audience. However while he's bypassed the traditional mean of radio airplay and record label promotion, there is really very little that is untraditional about his music.
Most of his songs are straightforward singer-songwriter fare. A couple of jaunty, polished melodies and mid-tempo ballads that rarely stray from the mainstream pop-rock template. It's just as innocuous and unchallenging as anything you'd hear on the radio.
