TRAVIS ***

Travis are a post-Britpop band from Glasgow, Scotland, comprising Fran Healy (lead vocalist, guitar, piano, banjo), Dougie Payne (bass guitar, backing vocals), Andy Dunlop (lead guitar, banjo, keyboards, backing vocals) and Neil Primrose (drums, percussion). They named themselves after the Harry Dean StantonParis, Texas. character Travis Henderson from the film Paris, Texas.

The band's debut album Good Feeling, released on 8 September 1997 entered the UK Album Charts at #9, spending 9 weeks inside the UK Top 100. Singles released from the album were not too successful, with the album's lead single "All I Want to Do Is Rock" charting at #39 on the UK Singles Charts. However, it wasn't until the release of their second studio album The Man Who that Travis began to develop a name for themselves in the music industry, with continued success into the 2000s. The Man Who charted at #1 on the UK Album Charts, and spent 104 weeks inside the UK Top 100.

Their third studio album, The Invisible Band was released on 11 June 2001, and like The Man Who, The Invisible Band debuted at #1 on the UK Album Charts, where it remained for 4 weeks in total, and went onto spend a total of 54 weeks inside the UK Top 100 album charts. Although their fourth album, 12 Memories did not make the top spot in the United Kingdom, it debuted at #3, spending a further 11 weeks on the charts in the UK, and still got certified Platinum status by the BPI. Travis released a compilation album Singles in 2004, debuting at #4 on the UK Album Charts, released their fifth studio album The Boy With No Name in 2007, debuting at #4 on the UK Album Charts. and their sixth album was released in September 2008, entitled Ode To J. Smith, debuting at #20 on the UK Album Charts.

History

Formation and early years (1990–1994)

The band that would become Travis was formed by brothers Chris and Geoff Martyn. Andy Dunlop, a school friend at Lenzie Academy, was drafted in on guitar, followed soon after by Neil Primrose on drums. The line-up was completed by a female vocalist, Catherine Maxwell, and the band's name became "Glass Onion", after the Beatles song of the same name written by Lennon/McCartney). After parting company with their singer in the spring of 1991, they auditioned for a new vocalist. Having met each other through Primrose pouring him a pint, an untrained art student, Fran Healy, then joined after being invited to audition by Primrose. Healy joined the band on the day he enrolled at The Glasgow School of Art, in the autumn of 1991. Two years later, with the option of music holding more appeal, Healy dropped out of art school, and inspired by song writers such as Joni Mitchell, shortly after, assumed songwriting responsibilities. With brothers Chris and Geoff Martyn on bass and keyboards, in 1993, the fivesome released a privately made CD, The Glass Onion EP, featuring the tracks "Dream On", "The Day Before", "Free Soul" and "Whenever She Comes Round". 500 copies of the EP were made and were recently valued at £1000 each. Other songs they recorded but were left off are "She's So Strange" and "Not About to Change".

The band won a talent contest organised by the Music in Scotland Trust, who promised £2,000 so that Travis could deal-hunt at a new music seminar in New York. Two weeks before they were due to leave, however, the prize was instead given to the Music in Scotland Trust Directory. When sent a copy of the directory, the band noticed that it seemed to feature every single band in Scotland—except for them.

The band showed promise but had yet to evolve into a decent line-up capable of fulfilling it and spent several years treading water. According to their publisher Charlie Pinder: "They were a band that everyone in the A&R community knew about and would go and see every now and then. But they weren’t very good. They had quite good songs; Fran always did write good songs." While on a visit to Scotland, American engineer and producer Niko Bolas, a long-time Neil Young and Rolling Stones associate, tuned into a Travis session on Radio Scotland, and heard something in the band's music which instantly made him travel to Perth to see them. Healy: "He told us we were shit, took us in the studio for four days, and taught us how to play properly, like a band. He was bolsy, rude, and New York pushy. He didn't believe my lyrics and told me to write what I believed in and not tell lies. He was Mary Poppins, he sorted us out." The band recorded a five-song demo, which included the song "All I Want to Do Is Rock".

With the sudden death of his grandfather, a grief-stricken Healy shut himself away, refusing to talk to anyone. Emerging a week later, and with a clear vision of where he now wanted Travis and their music to go, Healy dispensed with the band's management and publicity agent. Having been repeatedly knocked back by the British record industry, the band couldn't afford to stay around the country for another few years and so decided to move to New York, feeling that the U.S. might be more suited to their style of music. However, before leaving Healey told the band that they should send the demo to Charlie Pinder of Sony Music Publishing, who they had know for a few years and regularly sent songs to, saying: "If he's not into it then we'll go." Pinder was immediately impressed by the song "All I Want to Do is Rock", which he felt was a dramatic change for the band: "It was harder, more exciting, sexy; all things that they never really were. They turned a corner." After performing a secret gig for Pinder and his boss at Sony, Blair McDonald, they were signed to Sony Music Publishing. The immediate impact of what was a very secret deal was that the line-up was changed - keyboard player Geoff Martyn was removed, and the bassist, Geoff's brother Chris, was replaced with Healy's best friend Dougie Payne - and the band was moved to London, where they were given a rehearsal room and a house.

Payne, a fellow art student who worked as a Levi's shop assistant, had not played bass guitar previously and initially proved reluctant to take up the new instrument. After having completed a crash course of a couple of weeks, Payne played with the new line-up for the first time in a free space above the Horse Shoe Bar in Glasgow.

Good Feeling and success (1995–1997)

Once set up in London the band spent between nine months and a year recording new songs.The band played their first London show at the famous Dublin Castle in Camden. With around twenty good songs ready they then approached managers Colin Lester and Ian McAndrew of Wildlife Entertainment who then introduced the band to Andy MacDonald, owner of Go! Discs Records and founder of Independiente Records. Sensing greatness, he negotiated with Wildlife Entertainment and signed Travis for a reputed £100,000 of his own money.The band is signed to MacDonald personally, not to the label—if MacDonald ever leaves the Sony-financed label Independiente Records, the band goes with him (commonly referred to in the industry as a "golden handcuffs" clause).

Produced by Steve Lillywhite of U2 fame, Travis' first studio album, 1997's Good Feeling, is a rockier, more upbeat record than the band's others to date. Recorded at the legendary Bearsville Studios in Woodstock, New York, the place where Travis favourite The Band recorded, the album contained singles such as "All I Want to Do Is Rock", "U16 Girls", the Beatle'esque "Tied to the 90s", "Happy" and "More Than Us". Guest musicians include Page McConnell of Phish playing keyboards on the title track "Good Feeling". The album reached No. 9 on the British charts, but with little radio play, it slipped from the charts relatively quickly. Although it heralded Travis' arrival on the British music scene, received extremely positive reviews, and substantially broadened Travis' fan base, it sold just 40,000 copies. Following the release, Travis toured extensively, their live performances further enhancing their reputation. This included support slots in the UK for Oasis, after Noel Gallagher became an outspoken fan.

The Man Who and worldwide success (1998–2000)

Shortly after release, Travis' second album, 1999's The Man Who, was produced by Nigel Godrich and recorded at producer Mike Hedges' chateau in France. The band continued recording at, among other studios, Abbey Road Studios in London. The Man Who initially looked as though it would mirror the release of Good Feeling. Although it entered the charts at No. 7, with little radio play of its singles, it quickly slipped down. Worse, many critics who had raved about the rocky Good Feeling rubbished the album for the band's move into more melodic, melancholic material (for example, "Travis will be best when they stop trying to make sad, classic records" - NME). However, when the album slipped as far as No. 19, it stopped. Word of mouth and increasing radio play of the single "Why Does It Always Rain on Me?" increased awareness of the band and the album began to rise back up the charts. Then, when Travis took the stage to perform this song at the 1999 Glastonbury Festival, after being dry for several hours, it began to rain as soon as the first line was sung. The following day the story was all over the papers and television, and with word of mouth and increased radio play of this and the album's other singles, The Man Who rose to No. 1 on the British charts. It also eventually took Best Album at the 2000 BRIT Awards, with Travis being named Best Band. Music industry magazine Music Week awarded them the same honours, while at the Ivor Novello Awards, Travis took the Best Songwriter(s) and Best Contemporary Song Awards. Travis followed the release of The Man Who with an extensive 237-gig world tour, including headlining the 2000 Glastonbury, T in the Park and V Festivals, and a US tour leg with Oasis. In Los Angeles, an appearance of the band at an in-store signing forced police to close Sunset Strip. The gentle, melodic approach of The Man Who became a hallmark of the latter-day Britpop sound, and inspired a new wave of UK-based rock bands, with acts such as Coldplay and Starsailor soon joining Travis in challenging the chart dominance of urban and dance acts. The title "The Man Who" comes from the book The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by neurologist Oliver Sacks. The majority of songs for this album were written before Good Feeling was even released. "Writing to Reach You", "The Fear" and "Luv" being penned around 1995/96, with "As You Are", "Turn" and "She's So Strange" dating back as far as 1993 and the early Glass Onion EP.

The Invisible Band and hiatus (2001–2002)

The title of Travis' following album, 2001's The Invisible Band, again produced by Nigel Godrich, reflects the band's genuine belief that their music is more important than the group behind it. Featuring such songs as "Sing" (the most played song on British radio that summer), "Side", the McCartneyesque "Flowers in the Window", "Indefinitely", "Pipe Dreams" and "The Cage", and recorded at Ocean Way Studios in Los Angeles, the album again made No. 1 on the British charts, generally received widespread critical acclaim, with the band again taking Best British Band at the annual BRIT Awards. It also received Top of the PopsComing Around", a non-album track with Byrdsesque harmonies and 12-string guitar, enhancing this. Travis again followed the release of The Invisible Band with an extensive world tour. Album of the Year. The album also had an impact across the Atlantic, the popularity in the US of the single "

In 2002, however, things came to a screeching halt for Travis, with the band almost calling it quits after drummer, Neil Primrose, jumped head-first into a shallow swimming pool while on tour in France. Breaking his neck, he almost died due to spinal damage. If not for his bandmates, he also would have drowned. Despite the severity of the accident, Primrose has since made a full recovery. Healy said later of this time, "Little cracks had started appearing in 2001, around the time of The Invisible Band. We hadn't anticipated The Man Who doing so well. It was an emotional rollercoaster for us. Being Scottish, we're very reticent about being famous pop stars; it's encoded into our DNA that we can't be brassy or show off. But suddenly, we weren't this little band in Glasgow any more. We desperately needed to take a step back and re-evaluate. After Neil's accident it came close to the end of Travis—this band would no longer exist without one of the four members—but we were given another chance."

12 Memories and Singles (2003–2006)

With Primrose having recovered, Travis regrouped and re-evaluated. Moving into a cottage in Crear, West Scotland, they set up a small studio, and over two weeks, came up with nine new songs that would form the basis of their fourth studio album, 2003's 12 Memories. Produced by Travis themselves, Tchad Blake, and Steve Orchard, the album marked a move into more organic, moody and political territory for the band. Although this seems to have alienated some fans, the album generally received very positive reviews (for example, "Then, of course, there's Travis and their album 12 Memories [Epic]. You just have to sit there and listen to it all the way through, and it will take you on a real journey. It's like an old album. It's like the Beatles' Revolver [1966]. Fran Healy's voice and lyrics are mesmerizing and beautiful" — Elton John), singles such as "Re-Offender" did very well on the British charts, and the album itself reached No. 3. Yet it also saw them lose ground in the U.S., where Coldplay had usurped Travis during their 2002 absence. Much later, Fran Healy spoke about the album as a whole being about him working through his own clinical depression, and the twelve memories being twelve reasons for him reaching his depressed state. At the time this wasn't mentioned, but the revelation that Healy was depressed ties in with the band's decision to take longer writing and releasing their next work.

In 2004, Travis embarked on a highly successful tour of the US and Europe (supported by Keane in the UK), and on November 2004, the band released a successful compilation of their singles, Singles, as well as the new tracks, "Walking in the Sun" and "The Distance" (written by Dougie Payne). This was followed by a series of small, intimate gigs at UK venues such as Liverpool's Cavern Club, London's Mean Fiddler, and Glasgow's Barrowlands. While on tour, the band also made a series of impromptu acoustic "busks", raising money for the charity The Big Issue. In addition to other performances, they also headlined the 2005 Isle of Wight Festival and T in the Park.

On 2 July 2005, Travis performed at Live 8's London concert, and four days later, at the Edinburgh 50,000 - The Final Push concert. Travis also participated in Band Aid 20's re-recording of "Do They Know It's Christmas?"—Healy and friend Nigel Godrich playing leading roles in its organisation. Healy is a part of the Make Poverty History movement, having recently made two trips to Sudan with the Save the ChildrenDowning Street home of British Prime Minister, Tony Blair. It read: "Tony Blair — Some steps forward, much to do at the G8, make poverty history." organisation. On 13 July 2006, the members of Travis stuck a giant post-it sticker on the front door of the

The Boy with No Name (2007)

Travis released a fifth studio album, The Boy with No Name, on 7 May 2007. Nigel Godrich was the album's executive producer, while Mike Hedges and Brian Eno were also involved. The album is named after Healy's son, Clay, whom Healy and his partner Nora were unable to name until four weeks after his birth. Healy has described the process of making the album as "like coming out of the forest", and that the band is now "in a good place", contrasting with the dark mood surrounding 12 Memories. Travis played at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival on 28 April 2007. At the Virgin Megastore tent in the festival, The Boy With No Name was available to purchase over a week early. Reviews of the album were mixed but mostly positive. NME gave the album a mere 2 out of 10 and labelled it "impotent aural gruel" with "all the soul of a platform announcement".

The album's first single, "Closer", was released on 23 April 2007 and peaked at number 10 in the charts. The music video for the single features a cameo role from actor and friend of the band, Ben Stiller. Stiller plays the role of a supermarket manager. The follow-up singles to "Closer" were Selfish Jean and My Eyes. The first charting at 30 in the UK, and "My Eyes" just entering the Top 75 at position 60, the lowest entry of any Travis single in the band's career, although they were both, and especially Selfish Jean, generally well received by the public worldwide. The single "My Eyes" was given away for free in the Mail on Sunday.

For the promotional tour for the album (which started just before its release), Travis included a new touring pianist, Claes Björklund from Sweden. Björklund's first appearance with the band was when they played at the Oxford Brookes Union on 19 March 2007, prior to the album's release. The band dedicated their performance at the Vic Theater in Chicago to their producer Nigel Godrich. The album's tour lasted until December 2007 ending in a home-coming gig in Glasgow. The band visited for the first time places like Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Santiago de Chile (playing as part of a festival co-headlined with The KillersStarsailor) during this tour. and

This album was declared in memory of former World Rally Champion Richard Burns.

Label change and Ode To J. Smith (2008–2010)

Following a short UK tour, where the band tested some new material, Travis recorded their sixth album in two weeks in February/March 2008, having been inspired by the speed and simplicity of their recent recording session with Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick while participating in a BBC programme celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album. It was announced around this time that the band and long term record label Independiente had split amicably. They had "come to the end of our deal and decided to go as it was time to start afresh", according to Fran Healy.

In early June 2008, a vinyl EP of the song "J. Smith" was announced online as the first release from Ode to J. Smith for 30 June. It was an EP limited to 1000 copies and not an 'official' single, instead more of a taster of the album for fans.

Fran Healy said, "The album is called Ode to J. Smith partly giving a heads up to the key song and partly because all the songs are written about nameless characters or to nameless characters." He has also described the album as a novel with 12 chapters, with each chapter being a song. In live shows promoting the album in spring 2009, Healy said the song Friends was written from the perspective of the girlfriend of the book's protagonist (J.Smith), about friends who are only there to ask for favours. The album would be released through their own record label Red Telephone Box, with the lead single "Something Anything" being released on 15 September. Two weeks later on 29 September, Ode to J. Smith was released. The band also headlined a 12-gig UK tour to coincide with the releases between 22 September and 8 October. Early reviews were very positive, with some calling it Travis' best record ever.  The second single released from Ode To J. Smith was "Song To Self", on 5 January 2009.

In the December 2008 issue of Q Magazine, Ode To J Smith appeared at number 28 on a list of the Readers' Best Albums Of 2008.

A live acoustic album featuring Fran Healy and Andy Dunlop was released on 19 January 2010.

In 2010, Travis contributed a live version of their song "Before You Were Young" to the Enough Project and Downtown Records' Raise Hope for Congo compilation. Proceeds from the compilation fund efforts to make the protection and empowerment of Congo’s women a priority, as well as inspire individuals around the world to raise their voice for peace in Congo.

In 2011 will see Travis return to live performances. They play live in Isle of Man at the Villa Marina on 25th May, at Maxidrom Festival in Moscow, Russia 28th May, and at the Rock’n Coke Festival in Istanbul, Turkey 17th July.

Solo work

Lead singer, Francis Healy released his first solo album entitled Wreckorder in October 2010. Recorded in Berlin, New York and Vermont, and produced by Emery Dobyns (Patti Smith, Noah and the Whale) the album will also feature Paul McCartney, Neko Case and Noah and the Whale's Tom Hobden.

THEORY OF A DEADMAN ***

Theory of a Deadman is a Canadian rock band from Delta, British Columbia, formed in 2001. The band is currently signed to Roadrunner Records as well as Island Records. The band also includes traits of other music styles, such as country and acoustic, as well as their post-grunge and alternative rock base. So far, they have a total of 5 top 10 hits on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, including one #1 hit, "Bad Girlfriend".

History

Theory of a Deadman released their self-titled debut album Theory of a Deadman on September 17, 2002.

On March 29, 2005, Theory of a Deadman released their second album, Gasoline. After the release of the album, the band toured with Shinedown and No Address. Starting March 1 of that year, Theory began a promotional tour, headlined by Breaking Benjamin and The Exies. Songs from Gasoline appeared in the soundtrack of the 2005 video game Fahrenheit, which was released under the title "Indigo Prophecy" in the United States.

The band performed the theme song to World Wrestling Entertainment's No Way Out 2006 pay-per-view, a cover version of "Deadly Game" from the WWE Anthology album. The song was released on the WWE Wreckless Intent album. They also did a cover of "No Chance In Hell", the theme tune for Vince McMahon. The song was released on WWE The Music, Vol. 8 on March 25, 2008.

On April 1, 2008, Theory of a Deadman released their third album, Scars & Souvenirs, from which they released eight singles, "So Happy", "By the Way", "Little Smirk", "Bad Girlfriend", "All or Nothing", "Hate My Life", "Not Meant to Be" and "Wait for Me". The song "By the Way" features vocals from Chris Daughtry. On April 6, 2008, they appeared at the Juno Awards in Calgary, Alberta, after making various stops across Canada in a promotion known as Journey To The Junos.

Theory of a Deadman also performed in the 96th Grey Cup halftime show, along with Suzie McNeil and Andree Watters, on November 23, 2008.

Theory of a Deadman, along with Hinder, supported Mötley Crüe during the fall '08/winter '09 tour. They also played at Crüe Fest 2.

Total Nonstop Action uses Theory of a Deadman's song "Got it Made", from the album Scars & Souvenirs, for their special 2008 year review video. The song later went on to be used by Sun Sports for Miami Heat post-game video recaps during the 2010-11 season.

On April 9, 2009 Scars & Souvenirs was certified gold by the RIAA, with sales reaching 500,000 copies in the U.S. alone.

According to the band's Twitter page, the band will start recording their fourth studio album, which is projected to be released in 2011. According to Tyler Connolly, the band's fourth album will be released on July 12. The first single from the album, "Lowlife", was released on May 17, 2011. The title of the forecoming album is "The Truth Is..." 

On May 25, 2011 it was announced that Theory Of A Deadman will co-headline the Carnival Of Madness Tour with Alter Bridge. Other bands include Black Stone Cherry, Adelitas Way, and Emphatic.

THE WALLFLOWERS ***

The Wallflowers are a rock band from Los Angeles, California, fronted by Jakob Dylan. Formed in 1989 and originally known as The Apples, the ensemble has gone through numerous personnel changes with Dylan the only constant.

They have released five studio albums, one compilation album and have had various songs on television and movie soundtracks. They have won two Grammy awards for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal and Best Rock Song for their song "One Headlight" in 1998.

History

(1992–1994) The Wallflowers

The band started in 1989 in Los Angeles's clubs. Their self-titled debut album was released in 1992 on the Virgin Records label. It sold 40,000 copies initially, and has sold an estimated 1,000,000 to date.

The original members of the Wallflowers include Jakob Dylan (vocals and guitar), Barrie Maguire (bass guitar and vocals), Peter Yanowitz (drums and percussion), Rami Jaffee (keyboards and vocals), and Tobi Miller (guitar). Peter Yanowitz and Barrie Maguire left the band shortly after the album's release and went on to join Natalie Merchant's band.

(1996–1998) Bringing Down the Horse

The band seemed quiet for a few years but stormed back on the scene with their 4x platinum 1996 release, Bringing Down the Horse, which comprised such hits as "6th Avenue Heartache" (with Adam Duritz of Counting Crows), "One Headlight" , "The Difference," and "Three Marlenas." The band switched record labels, from Virgin to Interscope. 

For this album, Dylan was joined by Rami Jaffee and Tobi Miller from the original lineup. Michael Ward (guitar), Mario Calire (drums and percussion) and Greg Richling (bass guitar and vocals) were called in to form the new band. "One Headlight" peaked at #2 and "6th Avenue Heartache" peaked at #33 on the Billboard American Hot 100 Airplay charts. At the Grammy Awards of 1998, The Wallflowers walked away with two Grammys; one for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for "One Headlight," and Jakob Dylan was awarded Best Rock Song for writing "One Headlight." Bruce Springsteen joined the Wallflowers for a live performance of their song "One Headlight," at the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards. "One Headlight" was the #1 video of the year for 1997 on VH1 and #5 on MTV.

(2000–2001) (Breach)

After almost four years, the Wallflowers continued work on their next album, (Breach), released October 10, 2000; the first single was "Sleepwalker," the video of which poked fun at Dylan's "rock star" status following the success of Bringing Down the Horse. "Sleepwalker" was followed by "Letters From the Wasteland", which was featured with Dylan in a commercial for Coca-Cola. The record was featured on MTV's First Listen show. The band also played Saturday Night Live, featuring the songs "Sleepwalker" and "Hand Me Down".

(Breach) ends with a hidden track entitled "Babybird," often played in concert. Guests on the album included Elvis Costello, who lent vocals on "Murder 101." (Breach) peaked at #13 on the Billboard 200. The album was certified gold on September 21, 2001.

The band supported this album through tours with Tom Petty and John Mellencamp, as well as an extensive headlining tour. While on tour the Wallflowers covered Blur's "Song 2" and The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again" regularly. Guitarist Michael Ward left the band following the tour, citing creative differences. The band has officially been a 4-piece ever since.

(2002–2003) Red Letter Days

On November 5, 2002, The Wallflowers released their fourth studio album, Red Letter Days. Red Letter Days peaked at #32 on the Billboard 200. This was the first Wallflowers record that featured Jakob Dylan playing a majority of the lead guitar parts. The album had a much more aggressive sound than any of their previous releases, especially the song "Everybody Out of the Water," which they performed on The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn. The first single and only music video shot was for "When You're On Top." The single was a smash hit on AAA radio stations, but received little mainstream attention. Subsequent singles from the album include "Closer to You," and "How Good It Can Get" which received radio airplay across multiple formats. Some versions of the album featured an in-studio cover of "(What's So Funny About) Peace Love and Understanding."

The band was a part of many exclusive performances during promotion of the record, including a Live at the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame concert for MTV, and a special televised concert for VH1, Live at Alcatraz, being the first band to ever play a concert on the infamous island. They also played "When You're on Top" on Last Call with Carson Daly, and "How Good It Can Get" on The Late Show with David Letterman.

(2005–2006) Rebel, Sweetheart

The band's most recent release, Rebel, Sweetheart was released on May 24, 2005. This is the first Wallflowers record available as a DualDisc. The DVD, directed by American video director Jason B. Bergh, included interviews and exclusive performances and arrangements of many of the band's songs, including reworked versions of "One Headlight" and "6th Avenue Heartache" as well as an amusing band interview with comedian Jon Lovitz. Brendan O'Brien (Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam, Train) was called in to produce the record and played guitar as well. Fred Eltringham, the newest Wallflowers member, played drums. A video was filmed for their first single "The Beautiful Side of Somewhere" which hit #5 on AAA radio.

The second single released was "God Says Nothing Back."

In promoting the record, The Wallflowers performed special televised concerts for the Oxygen Custom Concert Series on the Oxygen channel and were also featured on the PBS series Soundstage. Singer/songwriter Carole King was the special guest performer for the Oxygen concert.

In conjunction with the release of Rebel, Sweetheart the band released an exclusive iTunes Originals album for the iTunes music store. The album featured exclusive performances and interviews with Jakob Dylan. The band also volunteered to perform for sailors on the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis as the troops were returning to California.

Much to the dismay of longtime fans, The Wallflowers did not tour in 2006, although keyboardist Rami Jaffee toured with the Foo Fighters for their acoustic tour, and drummer Fred Eltringham worked with the Dixie Chicks. Jakob Dylan toured with T-Bone Burnett during Burnett's first tour in 20 years. Dylan played 40 minute solo opening sets for the tour. The two share a long history that extends further than just Burnett's impactful production work on Bringing Down the Horse.

The Wallflowers parted ways with record company Interscope in 2006. Jakob Dylan recorded a couple of solo songs in 2006, including "Here Comes Now," which was featured prominently in the television show Six Degrees.

(2007–2010) Present

Jakob Dylan performed John Lennon's song "Gimme Some Truth" with Dhani Harrison for the Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur CD.

On August 31, 2007 The Wallflowers announced that they would be touring for the first time in two years. The band played shows at clubs in the Northeast and Midwest United States in October and November 2007. In a late 2007 post on the band's website it was revealed that keyboardist Rami Jaffee left the band. Singer-songwriter Stuart Mathis joined the band as the lead guitarist for those shows.

Jakob Dylan released his first solo album Seeing Things on June 10, 2008.

The Wallflowers recently announced the impending release of a Greatest Hits record on their MySpace page. They will embark on a nationwide tour to support the release, which will include two unreleased tracks. The band also announced that Rami Jaffee and Stuart Mathis will be returning for this tour. These will be Jaffee's first shows with the band since the Summer of 2005.The band's website has recently stated that producer Bill Appleberry will join them on tour to play keyboards making no mention of Rami Jaffee as it had previously reported.

THIRD EYE BLIND ****

Third Eye Blind is an American alternative rock band formed in the early 1990s in San Francisco. The band's current line-up is Stephan Jenkins (vocals, guitar), and Brad Hargreavesdrums, percussion). Guitarist Kryz Reid and bassist Abe Millett have replaced the departed Tony Fredianelli and Arion Salazar respectively.

 

After the success of their eponymous debut album in 1997, the band released one more album, 1999's Blue, before guitarist Kevin Cadogan was released under controversial circumstances.Out of the Vein. In 2008, the band released the digital EP Red Star. After a six-year hiatus from releasing a full-length album, Ursa Major was released on August 17, 2009. A fifth album currently set for a 2011 release is being worked on as well. In 2003, the band released

The band is best known for the singles "Semi-Charmed Life", "How's It Going to Be", "Graduate", "Jumper" and "Never Let You Go".

History

Beginnings (1993–1996)

Third Eye Blind recorded their first demo in 1993. The band gained major label attention after their second demo was released in 1995, including that of Clive Davis, who invited the band to perform a showcase for Arista Records in New York City. During Third Eye Blind concerts at the time, it was customary for the band to have a piñata release candy above their mosh pits, yet at the showcase for the record executives, lead singer Stephan Jenkins released live crickets from the piñata instead. 
With regard to the name of the band, Jenkins indicated during a radio interview that the name came from the metaphysical idea of a mind's eye, a topic of a book he had read. The other group members liked it and chose it as the official name. In April 1996, after Jenkins had challenged Epic Records executive Dave Massey in a meeting, the band landed an opening gig for Oasis at the San Francisco Civic Auditorium. In an unlikely scenario for an opening act, the band was invited back for an encore after playing their initial set and was paid double by the concert promoter. In addition, Stephan Jenkins' production of The Braids' cover of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" gained major-label attention. Afterwards, the band found themselves in a bidding war among record labels, and after a showcase in Los Angeles, signed with Sylvia Rhone of Elektra Records because they believed it offered the most artistic freedom.

Success (1997–2000)

Third Eye Blind's first album, Third Eye Blind was released in 1997. The album had 5 singles: "Semi-Charmed Life", "Graduate", "How's It Going to Be", "Losing a Whole Year", and "Jumper". "Semi-Charmed Life" peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was number 1 on the Modern Rock Tracks for 8 weeks. The band also performed "How's It Going to Be" on Saturday Night Live. To date their eponymous debut has been the group's most successful album, selling 7 million copies in the U.S. alone. Smash Mouth drummer Michael Urbano played drums on 4 songs on the album. During this period they also opened a number of shows on U2's PopMart Tour.

In 1999 the band released their second album, Blue. Although not received as well as Third Eye Blind, the album sold 75,000 copies the first week of release and by 2003 had sold 1.25 million in the U.S. Four singles were released from the album, "Anything", "Never Let You Go", "10 Days Late", and "Deep Inside of You". In early 2000, shortly after the release of the album, Kevin Cadogan was released from the band. Cadogan filed suit, alleging wrongful termination, adding that his production, recording, and songwriter royalties were withheld since being kicked out of the band. The lawsuit was settled out of court in June 2002, with the terms of the settlement undisclosed.

Out of the Vein (2001–2004)

After extensive international touring, the band took a break from performing, appearing only at charity events. They put on shows for the Tiger Woods Foundation and the Breathe Benefit Concert in Los Angeles after Jenkins' mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. During the four year gap between albums, the band also built a recording studio in anticipation of their next album.

In 2003 the band released Out of the Vein. Two singles were released from the album; "Blinded", and "Crystal Baller". Out of the Vein didn't sell as well as its predecessors, with numbers estimated around 500,000 copies as of March 2007. Elektra Records was being absorbed into Atlantic Records at the time, and the only music video created from the album was for the single "Blinded". Due to the merger, the band found themselves without label support, as Jenkins said, "Our record company ceased to exist the month the record was released, Elektra Records imploded."

In May 2004, Warner Music cut Third Eye Blind, along with over 80 other acts, from its roster.Craig Kallman said the cuts were made to get Atlantic's roster down to an appropriate size where "we can give each of our acts top priority." While no specific reason was given for Third Eye Blind being cut, Atlantic co-chairman

It would be over six years after the release of Out of the Vein until the band would release another full-length album.

Red Star and Ursa Major (2005–2009)

For the 10th anniversary of the release of Third Eye Blind's debut album, the band performed at the Fillmore on March 13 and 14, 2007. The shows were filmed for broadcast on HDNet on December 2, as well as normal broadcast and release on DVD and as a live album tentatively to be released in early 2008, as announced by Jenkins on November 9, 2007, on DC101's "Elliot In The Morning". However, as of early 2011, neither the DVD or live album have been released.

A single, "Non-Dairy Creamer", was released in November 2008 and was part of the internet exclusive digital EP Red Star.

Third Eye Blind's fourth studio album titled Ursa Major was released on August 17, 2009. The album had been anticipated since mid-2007 and was previously expected to be named The Hideous Strength. The album was released under their own label Mega Collider Records.

On June 5, 2009, Third Eye Blind released their first single off Ursa Major, "Don't Believe a Word". The band later released a second single, "Bonfire". Neither were able to chart on any radio formats.

Also announced was a possible fifth album titled Ursa Minor, that is planned to follow Ursa Major. Jenkins said that Ursa Minor will consist of songs that did not make the cut for Ursa Major. It was later revealed that the title of the fifth album will not be Ursa Minor, and it will consist of new songs rather than songs that didn't make the cut.

 

Fifth album (2010–present)

Long time guitarist Tony Fredianelli left the band in early 2010. According to an article which quotes a lengthy letter of his, Fredianelli "... is suing the band for apparently being denied songwriting credits and benefits that he allegedly was entitled to." Irish musician Kryz Reid played guitar on the 2010 tour.

Third Eye Blind co-headlined The Bamboozle Roadshow 2010 between May and June 2010. In an interview with Stephan Jenkins and Brad Hargreaves at The Rave in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Stephan stated that Ursa Minor is going to be recorded in July, and will be released in 2011. According to a November 2010 blog by Stephan Jenkins, the fifth album will no longer be titled "Ursa Minor". During 2010 Bamboozle Roadshow, Jenkins elaborated on the expected sound of Ursa Minor in an interview with WreckedRadio.net, "In the third album, we probably had use of too much technology, and then on the fourth album, we got rid of the technology and went back to just recording things on tape. And, that's what we're going to do on the fifth album that we are going to do this summer." 

On February 23, 2011, it was revealed that former guitarist Fredianelli had filed a federal lawsuit against Jenkins for over eight million dollars in damages for not giving him credit for past work in the band.

On March 16 2011, a song entitled "Ladies and Gentlemen" was released on Japanese singer and actress Chiaki Kuriyama's debut album. The track was written by Stephan Jenkins and Kryz Reid and is the first commercial release by Third Eye Blind's new line-up.

THE USED **

The Used is an American rock band from Orem, Utah. The band was founded in 2001 and signed to Reprise Records the same year. They rose to fame in June 2002 after releasing their self-titled debut album. They followed up with their second album, In Love and Death, in September 2004 and their third album, Lies for the Liars, in May 2007. An EP, Shallow Believer, was released in February 2008 that featured most of the band's B-sides to date. They spent the entire year of 2008 working on their fourth studio album, which was released on August 31, 2009, called Artwork. The band has achieved both Gold and Platinum statuses in more than six countries worldwide and has sold over 3 million records worldwide.

History

Formation and Demos from the Basement (2001)

The Used continued to write songs together and recorded a demo album in drummer Branden Steineckert's bedroom titled Demos from the Basement. Steineckert sent their songs to producer John Feldmann from the skagroup, Goldfinger. After he heard the song "A Box Full of Sharp Objects", he gained an interest into having the band signed to a label. Feldmann flew the band to Los Angeles taking them out of their home state for the first time in their lives and played the songs for various record executives to try to get them signed, however, the first few weren't interested and it left John discouraged. Eventually, many copies of the demo were received by many record label representatives who found an interest into signing them. With many labels at The Used's choice, they decided to sign to Reprise Records in late 2001.The Used was founded in January 2001 with the recruitment of members that were a part of several other bands throughout the 1990s. Founding members Branden Steineckert,Quinn Allman and Jeph Howard engaged into the plan of starting the band and had music already prepared, but did not have lyrics and required a vocalist. Auditions for singers were held at Jeph Howard's residence. Upon observations, the band was not satisfied with any of the results that the vocalists displayed and described the auditions as "terrible". Although, when Allman confronted Bert McCracken, he asked if he was interested in joining the band. Upon McCracken's meeting of the other band members, he was impressed with the material they created. After being given music that the band had written, McCracken wrote the lyrics to what would become "Maybe Memories" and returned the next day to record a demo version of the song. McCracken was then officially confirmed as being the band's vocalist. Throughout all of this, the band members suffered from poverty, homelessness, and substance abuse. They even panhandled for change in order to buy food to stay alive. The members decided on their band name as being "Used" when their friends claimed they felt "used" when contact was lost between them and band members due to them becoming more involved in the band.

Self-titled album and Maybe Memories (2002-2003)

In 2002, it was discovered that a Boston band had already trademarked the name "Used," so they decided to add "The" to their name, thus deciding "The Used". Their self-titled debut album was released on June 25, 2002, and was produced by John Feldmann. The album received mixed reviews and featured four singles: "A Box Full of Sharp Objects", "The Taste of Ink", "Buried Myself Alive", and "Blue and Yellow", with the latter three entering the charts. The album has been certified gold.The Used would go on to play Warped Tour, Ozzfest, and Projekt Revolution, as well as Box Car Racer's first and only tour. During these tours, they had a 5th member, a touring guitarist by the name of Greg Bester. He was forced to return to his home country when he couldn't get a working Visa. The band received much recognition when Bert McCracken dated Kelly Osbourne. These events brought the band much fanfare and popularity. In July 2003, The Used released a compilation CD/DVD combo package titled Maybe Memories. The CD features live, rare, previously unreleased tracks, and demo material while the DVD features the history of the band, member bios, and part of a live concert. Upon its high sales, Maybe Memories has been certified platinum.

In Love and Death (2004-2005)

Lies for the Liars (2006-2007)

In 2004, lead vocalist Bert McCracken's ex-girlfriend, who was pregnant with his child, died of a drug overdose.Their second studio album was thus named In Love and Death, released as a reference to the tragedy McCracken dealt with during the recording. The song "Hard to Say" was a reference to McCracken's ex-girlfriend; although the song was written years earlier, its dedication was only then declared. In Love and Death received generally favorable reviews and spawned three singles: "Take It Away", "All That I've Got" (which earned them their first MuchMusic Video Award nomination), and "I Caught Fire", before being re-released in 2005. "Under Pressure" (a Queen and David Bowie cover song performed with My Chemical Romance) was featured as a bonus track on the re-release. The album has been certified gold. After finishing up an international tour for the album, The Used took about 8 months off before starting to work on their next album.

Artwork (2008-2009) 

On September 12, 2006, The Used announced and confirmed that Branden was no longer a member of the band. They said they felt they needed to move forward without him, and that there was a personality conflict between Branden and another band member; however, they did say that they love Branden and wish him the best in whatever he does in the future. In late 2006, it was announced drummer Dan Whitesides of New Transit Direction would replace Steineckert. 

Branden has since joined Rancid to replace former drummer Brett Reed. On February 6, 2007, The Used released a live double-album, Berth, which includes a DVD that features the entire concert of their performance at the Taste of Chaos 2005 tour in Vancouver and a disc that features it on audio. The DVD also includes a biography of the band and four music videos. The biography depicts the band in the position of where they were after the release of Maybe Memories and what lead them into creating In Love and Death. The sellings of Berth lead it to be certified as gold. The Used spent most of the early part of 2007 on the Taste of Chaos tour, before their third album, Lies for the Liars was released May 22, 2007. They headlined the Give It a Name festival and in June, The Used played the MuchMusic Video Awards for the first time ever, and also received their second nomination for Best International Group Video, for "The Bird and the Worm". 

The Used were scheduled to play Warped Tour in June and July, in support of their album, but were forced to cancel due to McCracken's required surgery, of which required the removal of a node from his vocal cords. After McCracken recovered, the band played the Reading and Leeds festivals in August, and went on to tour the United States in September. Lies for the Liars charted in the top 5 in more than seven countries, and there were 4 singles released: "The Bird and the Worm", "Liar Liar (Burn in Hell)", "Pretty Handsome Awkward", and "Paralyzed". Although Dan Whitesides was chosen as the new drummer, Dean Butterworth of Good Charlotte recorded drums for the album. With a six-month recording process, it was the longest session The Used had ever done for an album. Lies for the Liars generally received mixed reviews. Originally, Lies for the Liars was expected to be a double-album 19 songs were recorded, but this plan was canceled after they decided to save the songs for a future release. Before the release of Lies for the Liars, The Used had planned on releasing an EP of the album's B-sides. On February 19, 2008 the EP was released, titled Shallow Believer; it was only released on digital music stores and it has charted #14 on iTunes' Top 100 albums.

They embarked on tour in support of "Artwork" in late 2009 with The Almost and Drive A, and on another supporting tour in early 2010 with Atreyu and Drive A.The Used worked on their fourth studio album throughout all of 2008. They took several breaks while working on the album to be the headlining band on the inaugural "Get a Life Tour" and to play shows Jakarta,Indonesia; Seoul, South Korea; and the 'Spare the Air Festival' in California. The album was produced by Panic at the Disco's producer Matt Squire, making this their first studio album not produced by John Feldmann. 

They decided to go with a different producer because they want the album to be different from everything else that they've done in the past. It is also the first studio album by The Used to feature Dan Whitesides as the drummer since he joined the band in 2006. In Alternative Press, McCracken stated "In the past, we've always kind of brought pop sensibility into heavy rock, but this is going to be all that much more tantalizing and brutal. Our songs are 10 times messier and noisier than they've ever been.", it also revealed information about the concept of the album: "This record is about coming to grips with how much you really hate yourself and knowing you can never hate yourself to the full extent, so you're free to hate yourself as much as you want to". McCracken went on to say "we [had not] been this excited about an album since our self titled back in 2002." 

The album was named "Artwork" and was released along with a DVD for the pre-order and first run of the album in stores. after. The cover of "Burning down the House" by the Talking Heads was released on the Warner Bros. cover compilation album Covered, A Revolution in Sound, and will also be featured on Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen – The Album. 

They played at the Bamboozle Festival (New Jersey) May 2009. The single "Blood on My Hands" was released on iTunes June 31, and was accessible to be streamed for one day only on the band's website. On July 21, the pre-order was available. Artwork became available world wide on August 31, 2009. The band played a major US tour in October and November 2009, and is now engaged in an arena tour supporting Three Days Grace in Canada. The band premiered the music video for the song "Empty with You" on December 9, 2009 via TwitVid.

On March 2, 2010, The Used released 2 EPs exclusive to iTunes.

On March 11, 2010, The Used announced that they are heading out on a US tour along with Chiodos and New Medicine. This tour begins on April 13.

Fifth studio album (2010-present)

On April 29, 2010, The Used stated on their website that they intend on releasing their fifth studio album before the end of the year. Regarding their canceled inclusions in Europe, Russia and the UK due to parting ways with their management team, The Used announced:

"We will reschedule these shows as soon as possible. In the meantime, we have begun writing and recording for our upcoming album. We look forward to returning with a new album and tour dates soon."

However, since this blog post was released, apparent conflicts with their management and record label have meant that the new album is now likely to be released in Summer/Autumn 2011.

Drummer Dan Whitesides revealed that the band had parted ways with Reprise Records (joking about "firing" them) and were currently searching for another record label; though he claims also to look into possibility of remaining unsigned for their upcoming fifth album. He also announced that The Used are now under new management (referring to them as 'Keith and John').

Following tweets and the SmartPunk interview, the 4-member band is understood to have started recording tracks for their currently un-named album at John Feldman's (producer of the first three albums) residence.

Musical style

The Used's music has been classified under many sub-genres of rock. Their musical style has been labeled as emo, screamo, post-hardcore, alternative rock, pop-punk, punk rock and even as hard rock, heavy metal, alternative metal and metalcore. On their official pages their musical style has been described as alternative rock, punk, rock, post-hardcore, "gross pop", "light jazz" and funk rock.

Gross pop

Gross pop is musical genre what The Used hoped to make with Artwork. In Alternative Press magazine, McCracken described the new genre as: "In the past, we've always kind of brought pop sensibility into heavy rock, but this is going to be all that much more tantalizing and brutal. Our songs are 10 times messier and noisier than they've ever been. Quinn Allman has said about "Gross pop" as: "It's gonna be pretty raw. I think a lot of the stuff is very much more poetic and lyrical, and the sound is more retro and raw with less production".

Controversies

Emo and screamo

Even thought their musical style has been classified as under many sub-genres of rock, their musical style has been mostly labeled as emo or screamo. Frontman Bert McCracken has denied the band being as "emo" or "screamo", he also described "screamo" as being a "very silly word". Jeph Howard has also said in a interview that the band is not "emo" or "screamo" and he claimed the band never was a "emo" or "screamo" band, just a rock band. McCracken has also made claims that [The Used] "No longer wanted to be a part of the scene that was eating them alive – screamo" along with other bands such as Glassjaw, Poison the Well, Finch, Thrice and Thursday.

Feud with My Chemical Romance

The Used and My Chemical Romance were friends with each other. They both recored a song together called "Under Pressure" for tsunami relief, cover from Queen featuring David Bowie, and they have been performed that song together. Bert McCracken appeared in My Chemical Romance's album Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge at track "You Know What They Do to Guys Like Us in Prison" as additional vocals. In 2005, McCracken has stated that he and Gerard Way doesn't speak anymore and it has nothing to do with their success, but the rest of the band members are still friends with My Chemical Romance.In 2007, when The Used released a single called Pretty Handsome Awkward, there has been rumours that the song is about Gerard Way, but McCracken has stated that is not true and he also said "I Couldn't give less of a shit about MCR". There has been some rumours that The Used wrote songs about Gerard Way. Rumoured tracks are "The Bird and the Worm", "Hospital", "Slit Your Own Throat" and "The Best of Me", but they haven't answered about the tracks and it's not known that are they about Gerard Way.