Big D and the Kids Table

Few ska punk bands from Boston have built a following as self-reliant as Big D and the Kids Table. Formed in October 1995 when musicians found one another at Berklee College of Music, the band has done much of its own work, engineering and producing its albums, releasing its own videos and promoting its own shows. That independence shapes a sound built on horn-heavy arrangements, catchy melodies and a fast, energetic streak that has kept its live shows lively.

The breakthrough came with Good Luck, issued in 1999 on Mike Park's Asian Man Records and featuring a ten-piece lineup with six horn players. That year the band won Outstanding Ska Band at the Boston Music Awards. The Gipsy Hill, from 2002, gathered thrash material alongside covers of Jonathan Richman's New England. Springman Records released How It Goes in 2004, followed by Strictly Rude in 2007 and Fluent in Stroll in July 2009. In 2005 saxophonist Chris Bush left for Denver, and Ryan O'Connor replaced him. Warped Tour dates and the Ska Is Dead tour kept the band on the road, with around 200 shows a year at one point.