The best Tampa Bay instrumental bands to listen to right now

Soft Cuff keyboard player Christina Sanchez recently described why instrumental music appeals to her as a musician and listener.

“I think that it is like the time that I get to teleport,” she told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. In the St. Petersburg band, she gets to play around with melodies and textures built around the sound of vintage Farfisa organs.

In past bands, Sanchez’s bandmate, guitarist Shane Schuch, always used to write everything else before landing at lyrics. Now, he just goes into practice and worries about playing guitar alongside Soft Cuff’s founding members bassist Brian Schanck and drummer Michael Bostinto.

“You don't even know how many little seeds of shit we've come up with,” Schuch added. “Brian will be writing this little bass thing, and I'm like, ‘Oh, dude, that's nice.’ And then like, Mike, you'll jump in and we just all start jumping in. To me, that's like, the most fun I can think of.”

Soft Cuff brings that energy to an EP release show this summer, but it’s not the only great Tampa Bay instrumental act you can listen to right now.

Have a look at a list of some below, the click through the band names to learn more and listen, too.

Tickets to Soft Cuff’s EP release show St. Petersburg’s VFW Post 39 on Saturday, Aug. 17 are still available and start at $12.