Saving Abel

Category: Music Reviews



Saving Abel
http://www.savingabel.com/
http://www.myspace.com/savingabel

Saving Abel

Saving Abel is an American rock band formed by Jared Weeks and Jason Null in 2004. The band’s name references the biblical story of Cain and Abel. Null came up with the name saying “I googled the story of Cain and Abel and found a line about ‘there was no Saving Abel,’ which just jumped out at me.”

Jared Weeks and Jason Null formed the band in their small hometown of Corinth, Mississippi in 2004. Weeks was playing guitar at his best friend’s house, when Null, who was in a rival local group walked in to rehearse with his band. Within days of that meeting, Null and Weeks were writing and honing the intimate writing style that now defines Saving Abel. In early 2005, the pair’s songs caught the ear of noted producer Skidd Mills (ZZ Top, Saliva, and Robert Cray), who took the band into his 747 Studios in Memphis.

Jared Weeks

Saving Abel gradually came together with guitarist Scott Bartlett, bassist Eric Taylor, and drummer Blake Dixon. Weeks would toss Saving Abel demos onto the stage whenever bigger bands played in town. Weeks remembers: “ I used to work at a hospital. I’d have to be there at 4:30 in the morning drawing blood. I’d wake people up and stick a needle in their arm. I’d be walking around the hospital, singing ‘Addicted’ in my head, writing down the lyrics on patients’ clipboards and doctor script pads.

Scott Bartlett

After shopping their EP for almost a year, a copy of ‘Addicted’ found its way to former Virgin A&R Consultant, Scott Frazier partner, Rick Smith. They were so excited that they sent the song to company CEO, Jason Flom. Flom heard enough to send A&R vet Kim Stephens (Collective Soul, Matchbox 20, Edwin McCain) to see the band in Jackson, TN. [1]

Saving Abel released their self-titled, major label debut album on March 11, 2008. The album features the single “Addicted” which peaked at #2 on the US Mainstream Rock Chart. As of October 2008 Saving Abel’s self-titled album has sold over 195,555 copies and peaked at #53 on the Billboard 200.

The first time I heard this band, I was taken away. They were so good. I knew from that moment on I had to see one of their shows! They were on tour with Sick Puppies and were supposed to hit AZ, due to Sick Puppies getting sick, they canceled the show and moved on to San Diego. I decided to get in the car and drive 5 hours just to see this band. I was glad I did. Meeting these guys was so much fun. Actually because I drove to San Diego to see Saving Abel that is how my journey began in the music business. When I was there I met a band called Grins Edge. They are a small local band with tons of potential. I started helping with band promoting and helping them to set up shows in AZ. After that we parted ways and I began Rock Along Productions and started working with several local AZ bands and meeting tons of talented people. Saving Abel still remains a band that I have a special place for. I am proud to say that they have grown to be friends of mine. They are the nicest guys you will meet. Always willing to talk to fans and put themselves out there, even when they are tired and hot. They put so much into their music. They are gifted not only as a group but individually too. These guys like to have fun and truly believe in what they do.

Saving Abel in Denver
denver

Check this band out and their CD. You will be glad you did.

Band Members Jason Null - Guitars
Blake Dixon - Drums
Eric Taylor - Bass
Jared Weeks - Vocals
Scott Bartlett - Guitars

Saving Abel
Track Listing

1. New Tattoo 4:24
2. Addicted 3:44
3. She Got Over Me 4:04
4. 18 Days 3:52
5. Drowning (Face Down) 3:57
6. In God’s Eyes 4:19
7. Sailed Away 3:56
8. Beautiful Day 3:41
9. Out Of My Face 4:15
10. Running From You 3:30
11. Beautiful You 2:52

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Puddle of Mudd

Category: Music Reviews



Puddle of Mudd

P.O.M is an American rock band that hails from Kansas City, M.O. They achieved success and notoriety on rock radio. Their first major label album “Come Clean”, 2001 sold more than 5 million copies and to date the band has sold over 7 million albums and has had a string of #1 mainstream rock singles in the U.S. They released 5 albums total with the newest one being Famous is 2007. I have had the pleasure of meeting this group several times and can say with pride that I am a die hard fan. The music is well written and very catchy. I love the in your face approach that these guys take with their music. The four of them really make a great match. The guys are so sweet and really down to earth even know they have grown into the successful band that brings in fans show after show.

Puddle of Mudd was formed in 1993 by Wes Scantlin (vocals/guitar), The name was inspired by the Missouri River flood, which inundated the band’s practice space, and left the floor a big “puddle of mud”. The group’s first album, Stuck, was released in 1994. The former members of this group are Former members Paul Phillips, Greg Upchurch, Jimmy Allen, Kenny Burkett, Sean Samon, and David Moreno. Now Puddle of Mudd has four solid members that have made this group a true success. The members are, Wesley Scantlin, Doug Ardito, Christian Stone, and Ryan Yerdon.

Puddle of Mudd released its major-label debut album Come Clean on August 28, 2001. The lead single from the album, “Control” was successful and grabbed the attention of rock music audiences worldwide. It was also the theme song for WWE’s Survivor Series 2001.

The second single off the album, “Blurry” turned out to be Puddle of Mudd’s most successful single, reaching #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #8 in the United Kingdom. Drift & Die was also released as a single and was very successful with rock audiences with the single spending 6 weeks at the #1 on the Mainstream Rock Chart. The fourth single, “She Hates Me”, was released in late 2002 and became a massive hit reaching the #1 spot on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, as well as #13 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The group then embarked on a European tour with Godsmack and were also part of the Family Values 2001 tour, alongside the Stone Temple Pilots, Linkin Park and Staind.

Copies of the album were selling well. It was certified Triple Platinum in the U.S. by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on January 31, 2003, and as of late 2006 total sales worldwide were in excess of 5 million copies.

Puddle of Mudd 2

Life On Display and Famous

Puddle of Mudd’s follow up, Life On Display spawned two hit singles “Away From Me” and “Heel Over Head”. The album sold 706,191 copies to date, a very considerable fall off from the previous album. Some suggested this was the primary cause of drummer Greg Upchurch’s jumping ship when 3 Doors Down came looking for a new drummer. Guitarist Paul Phillips left the band later on due to creative differences between him and Wes Scantlin. Marisa Miller appears in the music video for “Spin You Around”. “Away From Me” was featured in The O.C. in 2004. The song “Nothing Left to Lose” was the official theme song of WWE’s 2004 Royal Rumble.

On July 24, 2007 they released “Famous EP” featuring “Famous”, as well as an acoustic version of “Blurry”, and a new track “Merry Go Round”. The full length Famous album was released October 9, 2007. It included Puddle of Mudd’s new hit single “Psycho”.

Their song “Famous” was the WWE One Night Stand 2007 official theme song and was also featured in the video game WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2008.

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Review of Fair to Midland

Category: Music Reviews



Fair to Midland is an American Art Rock band that came together in 1998. The current band members are:

  • Darroh Sudderth – Vocals
  • Cliff Campbell – Guitar
  • Jon Dicken – Bass
  • Brett Stowers – Drums
  • Matt Langley – Keys

Their most recent album “Fables from a Mayfly: What I Tell You Three Times Is True” I found to be very good. In particular probably their most popular song from the album “Dance of the Manatee” is one I listen to frequently on my MP3 player. But other songs on the album I like are “Walls of Jericho” and “A Wolf Descends upon the Spanish Sahara”. Their rock style is hard to describe as it crosses many genre’s, some songs and parts of their music are real instrumental and light, and other parts have screaming vocals and heavy drums and electric riff’s.

It all congeals together to make one pleasant listening experience and you can hear some of their music playing on the Sirius Octane airwaves.

If your looking to try something new and different, pick up a few tracks from Fair to Midland on iTunes, give a sample you won’t be sorry you did.

-Rock Along Productions

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Metallica, An American Heavy Metal Rockers

Category: Music Reviews



There are some people who are die hard fans of Metallica and those who think their music is crap. This is my website so I am going to freely express my opinion. METALLICA DOES NOT SUCK! People who cannot appreciate this band for at least one reason or another have no business saying they love music! This band was formed in the lovely year of 1981, in Los Angeles. As several bands had come together Lars Ulrich placed an ad in a local newspaper looking to form a band. The founding members of Metallica were Lars Ulrich, rhythm guitarist and vocalist James Hetfield, lead guitarist Dave Mustaine, and bassist Ron McGovney. Mustaine and McGovney were later replaced by Kirk Hammett and Cliff Burton. In September 1986, Metallica’s tour bus skidded out of control and flipped, which killed Burton. He was crushed under the bus. Jason Newsted replaced him less than two months later. Newsted left the band in 2001 and was then replaced by Robert Trujillo in 2003.

Metallica’s early releases included fast tempos, instrumentals, and aggressive musicianship that placed them as one of the “Big Four” of the trash metal subgenre alongside Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax. The band earned a growing fan base in the underground music community and critical acclaim, with the 1986 release Master of Puppets described as one of the most influential and “heavy” thrash metal albums. The band achieved substantial commercial success with its self-titled 1991 album, which debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. With this release the band expanded its musical direction resulting in an album that appealed to a more mainstream audience.

Metallica has released nine studio albums, two live albums, two EPs, twenty-two music videos, and forty-three singles. The band has won seven Grammy Awards, and has had five albums peak at number one on the Billboard 200, making Metallica the only band to top the chart five times. The band’s 1991 album, Metallica, has sold over 15 million copies in the United States, which makes it the 25th highest selling album in the country. The band has sold over an estimated 100 million records worldwide as of the release of their latest album Death Magnetic. September 2, 2008, a French record store began selling copies of Death Magnetic nearly two weeks ahead of its scheduled worldwide release date, which resulted in the album being made available on peer-to-peer clients. This prompted the band’s United Kingdom distributor, Vertigo Records, to officially release the album two days ahead of schedule, on September 10, 2008. It is currently unconfirmed whether Metallica or Warner Bros. will be taking any action against the retailer, though drummer Lars Ulrich who has made such responses to the leak as, “…We’re ten days from release. I mean, from here, we’re golden. If this thing leaks all over the world today or tomorrow, happy days. Happy days. Trust me, and, “By 2008 standards, that’s a victory. If you’d told me six months ago that our record wouldn’t leak until 10 days out, I would have signed up for that. Death Magnetic debuted at number 1 in several countries to make it top the Australian, Canadian, and European album chart. Selling 490,000 units in the United States to debut at number 1, making Metallica the first band to have 5 consecutive studio albums debut at number one in the history of the Billboard 200.[66] After a week of its release, Death Magnetic remained at number 1 on the Billboard 200, the European album chart, and became the fastest selling album in Australia for 2008.

Its continued reign atop the Billboard Top 200 album chart makes Metallica the only artist, aside from Jack Johnson with the release of Sleep Through the Static, to enjoy a third consecutive week at #1 this year. Death Magnetic is also #1 on Billboard’s Hard Rock, Modern Rock/Alternative and Rock album charts. Internationally, the album racked up No. 1 chart positions in 32 countries including the U.K., Canada, and Australia.

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Vayden….Arizona Home Grown and Proof that Good Music Lives Here!

Category: Local Music News, Music Reviews



I would like to spread the word about some good friends on mine. There is a band emerging out of Arizona, called Vayden. This band is on the rise and has gained a significant following in just a year. The story of how the band came to be is a true success story and proof that people need each other. This story is filled with hope, love and friendship. Here is a history lesson for those of you who don’t know of the Vayden movement. Arizona based band Vayden sounds like “Everything you’ve ever imagined yet nothing you have ever heard” says lead singer Curtis Casey. Many of their songs influenced by good and evil, some of the songs come at the listener with an attitude of being confrontational and geared for destruction, while others build from a place you don’t expect.

This band started in the dark and dingy basement of of an old music store where Bruce Weitz taught drum lessons. Curtis being ambitious and believing in what they were trying to accomplish bought a 30 minute session with Bruce in hope to convince him to join their band. After the two met it took 5 minutes for Bruce and Curtis to forge a friendship. Next they started looking for the rest of the future members of the band. After some ups and downs they finally found the missing parts to the band, this is where they found Jason and Armin which totally completed the band. Next they found a producer well known for working with other bands such as Authority Zero, Ten Foot Pole and Dishwalla to name a few. Ryan Greene immediately “Got It” once he heard Vayden. “We chose Ryan because he understands the importance of melodies, and he’s got a great sense of song direction and arrangement. Infusing that knowledge with his ability to capture incredible drum sounds and raw tones makes him one of the best in the business” remarks Casey.

Their debut record is entitled “Children of Our Mistakes”

The name is a play on the fact that every mistake you make spawns a metaphorical child, and that “child” might just grow up to take the wrong path. So in a sense, it’s a reminder to be aware of your actions and whom they effect.

The Album is a combination of hard-hitting rock songs hell bent on destruction (”Karma is a Professional Wrestler”, “Elysium”, “Uniforms”), over the top anthems with gigantic choruses (”Anthem of the Used”, “The One You Left Behind”, “Painted Face”) and melodic introspective songs that will pierce strait to the heart (”Welcome”, “Zoé’s Song”).

Casey explains, “We wanted the whole album to take the listener on a melodic journey, while bringing them home with huge hooks, meaningful lyrics and amazing musicianship. Our goal was to create a very deep record with so many layers that after listening to it 1000 times, you still discover new things that will make you love it even more.”

What does Vayden mean?

The word vayden by definition means knowledgeable or scholarly. To Bruce it means so much more and also to the whole band.

This is a blog post from their website that in depth explains the true meaning of Vayden.

“I’m often asked, where does the name Vayden come from? What does it mean? On the surface these seem like very simple questions, but the truth is that I’ve spent the last three years side stepping them, not because I didn’t want to answer them, but because I didn’t think people wanted to hear the real answer. I now feel the time has come to tell the story of why we chose the name Vayden and what it truly means, not only to me, but to us as a band.

The word vayden by definition means knowledgeable or scholarly. To me the name Vayden represents so much more. Vayden Zoe Weitz was my son. In July of 2004 Vayden and his mother Marcy were killed in a car accident. On the morning of the accident it became very clear to me that how I handled this would determine the outcome of my life. It was as if I had to choose right then and there between life or death. After walking around all morning I found myself in the restroom of a local coffee shop staring into the mirror and vowing to my son that I would make him proud. At that moment I chose life. I chose to believe that Vayden and Marcy fulfilled their purpose in their own lives as well as in mine. I chose to be grateful for the time I had with them and to search for anything and everything positive I could find relating to my experience with them.

The decision was made, but the struggle had just begun. When faced with so much pain, some of the thoughts that flashed through my mind were quite shocking. They ranged anywhere from seeking a temporary escape through drugs or alcohol (nothing new for me at the time) to a more permanent solution such as pondering which vehicles on the road could effectively put me out of my misery by granting me the same fate as my loved ones. Fortunately, as intense as the pain was, it did seem to come in waves, suffocating sorrow followed by brief moments of relief in which I could take a deep breath and feel a definite connection to my son just before the next wave consumed me. During those brief moments of relief there was a sense of inspiration, as if Vayden were encouraging me to seek out my own happiness. I believe that when you lose someone that you love so much, allowing yourself to be happy again is a difficult task simply because of the guilt that’s attached. It seems that when dealing with such an intense sadness, any feeling of joy or relief is immediately followed by feelings of guilt. I would think things like “how can I possibly feel good right now when I just lost my son?” The truth is, my son wants one thing for me and that’s for me to be happy. When I realized this, it became evident that my feelings of guilt were self imposed and as I began to focus on my joy, more things for me to be happy about began to surface in my life.

Through all of this I realized how kind and generous people really are. So many people came out of the wood work to show their love and support, going out of their way to help in any way they could. For that I’ll be eternally grateful. Among these people were the guys I was fortunate enough to be in a band with. I knew they were good guys but I had no idea what truly great friends they were until I needed them most. I could spend the next several pages listing all of the incredible things these guys did for me, but when you read the next few sentences I think you’ll have a good understanding of what kind of people they are. I believe one of the most beautiful songs ever written was written by my good friend Curtis Casey and dedicated to my son Vayden on the day of his and Marcy’s funeral. The chapel overflowed with hundreds of people, friends, family and many people whom I had no idea of their connection to Marcy and Vayden. The place was so full that even with the extra chairs set up outside there still wasn’t enough to accommodate the crowd. As Curtis began playing the song he had written for Vayden, accompanied by Rob Robbins and Bill Delrieu, there wasn’t a dry eye in the building, which didn’t surprise me. What I didn’t expect however, was the calming feeling of peace and inspiration that swept the chapel as the guys played. This song was truly inspired. It’s very rare that a song has the power to cut so deep while at the same time offer such an undeniable feeling of comfort and inspiration. The song is called Zoe’s song and is the last track on our record, Children Of Our Mistakes. The love and support in the room that day is something that I believe will continue to live in my heart always. Since then Rob and Bill have gone on to do their own thing but still remain great friends and we now have the pleasure of playing with Jason Salomone on bass and Armin Peterson on guitar.

I had Vayden and his mom physically in my life for only a few short years but I feel that the things I’m learning about myself and about life because of my experience with them will continue forever. As hard as the last few years have been, I’d do it all again without hesitation because I now understand the value of focusing on the joy of what is given rather than the pain of what is taken away. We named the band Vayden because to us his name represents purpose, inspiration, courage, and most importantly, life.

Vayden, this monument we’re building is for you. I love you son.

Bruce(dad)”

This Band has risen from the darkness and tragedy and grown into fitting success. This is not just a band, but a band of brothers.

Please take a listen to this band:

Vayden MySpace
Vayden Wiki
Vayden Web Site

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