PopCanon was an eclectic rock band that existed in Gainesville, Florida from 1995-2001. Although the band included a horn section and was contemporary with many third wave ska groups, they did not play ska music and always insisted that they should not be categorized as a ska band. Rather, they alluded to their influences by describing their sound as "noisepopavantpunkidiotrock."

During their 6-year span, they toured extensively in the Southeast and as far north as New York City. They released five albums and were included on several compilations. Their albums were released on their own label, Tritone.

According to their own website, they were described as: "sort of a cross between XTC, TMBG and X, but with more vowels... a 6-piece nonska band with horns, attitude and a Master's degree in English... yes, the band that can play in 5/4 time and sings about postmodern writers! "

The band consisted of:

M. David Hornbuckle, singer and second guitarist, began PopCanon in 1995 and was the primary songwriter for the band. Hornbuckle now lives in New York City, where he writes fiction and sometimes performs solo or with his band the M-Word.

Ned Davis, the eclectric guitarist, has played in many Gainesville bands including the Tonewelders, What anne Likes..., Planet Ten and the UF Jazz Band. With PopCanon, he wrote songs, sang a lot, bounced up and down a lot and occasionally yelled obscenities into his guitar pickups. Dr. Eugene Chadbourne once called his guitar playing 'crazy'... Davis is the only member of PopCanon who still resides in Gainesville. He has recently played several reunion shows with his old band What anne Likes.

Alyson Carrel sang and played trombone, trumpet and tuba in PopCanon. She has also been a member of the UF Orchestra, the UF Trombone Choir, Jacaré (the Brazilian Music Ensemble) and Rosa Rugosa, and has played and recorded with many other bands including Meringue, The Pawn Rook Four, Syrup and Honeygrind. She also ventured into the noise scene with her art/noise project S.S. Djylian. She now lives in Chicago, where she runs the label Cloth Monkey Records with her husband Whitey.

Michael Murphy played fretless and fretted basses and sang backing vocals. He has also been in numerous Gainesville bands, including the Young Pioneers, Blackacre, Visitor, The Root Doctors and even a stint with Pol Parsley, the Thai Elvis. Michael also maintains our stunning band website. He currently lives in San Francisco.

Don Undeen was the saxophone player. He was a founding member of experimental bands Chasing Poppy and Nambla. He also played in the garage rock band Grit Kisser. Don now lives in New York City where he is a member of the popular gypsy band Nervous Cabaret as well as the M-Word.

Robby Copeland played (and still plays) drums like you wouldn't believe. While studying jazz at Santa Fe Community College, he also played with our own Don Undeen in The Chairs, in addition to many other bands (too many to keep track of). Robby's unusual lefthanded playing style lent a distinct flavor to many PopCanon songs. He now lives in Orlando and performs with the hippie-hop band One Drop.

User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License and may also be available under the GNU FDL.