It wasn’t that long ago that the only ways to learn about new bands were through listening to the radio or trading mix tapes with friends. Yeah, okay, so you pretty much have to be over the age of thirty at this point to remember those bygone days. But the upside is that people of all ages can now benefit from nearly unlimited access to music thanks to sites like Pandora that populate your playlists with music you’re sure to enjoy based on the stations you create and your history of likes and dislikes, not to mention sites like iTunes that provide you with digital access to both individual songs and whole albums, often for far less than you were paying for CDs a few years back (or today, for that matter). And then there is the new MySpace, which thanks to input from part-owner Justin Timberlake has become a virtual hangout for up-and-coming artists as well as big names ranging from Rihanna to Madonna. But that’s only the tip of the iceberg; there are also a slew of apps aimed at helping you to listen to the music wherever you go. And if you haven’t yet discovered Timbre, you’re in for a treat.

In truth, this app only launched a few short days ago, so if you have yet to download it, your oversight is forgivable. That said, now is as good a time as any to hop on the iTunes store and download this freebie for your iPhone (yup, it’s exclusively for the iPhone at this point). But what life-changing functionality can you expect from this app that will make the download worthwhile? When you first open the app, you might wonder about value based on the simple interface. All you will see is a date followed by a list of bands, which could leave you scratching your head. What the heck is going on with this app?

The simplicity, you will find, is part of the appeal of this application, which is designed to use your current location to connect you to live events in your immediate area (within a 10-mile radius, to be precise), starting with today’s date. In order to get more information, all you have to do is tap one of the band names listed, at which point the app will start playing 30-second music clips pulled from iTunes for your listening pleasure. If you find a band you like, you can easily click through to SeatGeek in order to purchase tickets for the show. Or if you don’t find a band that you want to see today, scroll down through tomorrow and the next day in search of entertainment. In keeping with the ease of use, you can only adjust the volume and the radius of your search at this point.

Of course, there’s more to come, according to CEO Mark Kasdorf. At the moment the app is merely concerned with helping people to connect to new musical genres and support bands playing locally. But Timbre‘s future plans include adding a maps feature that will allow users to search by location rather than artist, so whether you feel like hitting up a major venue like the Sprint center or you’d prefer the ambience of a smaller site like the House of Blues, you can pick your poison. They’re also considering functionality that would play music as you pass a location where a band is currently performing (in case you want to pop in), although this function is on the shelf for the moment. But considering that Timbre has teamed up with musical intelligence platform The Echo Nest, you might be surprised by the bands that show up on your list, which makes downloading the application now a must, even without the added features. Plus, it only looks to get better.

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