Chris Shiflett joined as the band’s second guitarist after the completion of There is Nothing Left to Lose. The band released its fourth album One by One in 2002. The group followed that release with the two-disc In Your Honor (2005), which was split between acoustic songs and harder-rocking material. Foo Fighters released its sixth album Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace in 2007. Over the course of the band’s career, three of its albums have won Grammy Awards for Best Rock Album, and all six have been nominated for Grammys.
Lead singer Trevor McNevan and drummer Steve Augustine are also members of their side project band FM Static.
McNevan began the band in Peterborough, Ontario, a city northeast of Toronto, where he went to high school. Joel Bruyere, born in Brantford, Ontario, was McNevan’s childhood friend who had moved away but remained in contact with him. Drummer Steve Augustine is from Hamilton, Ontario.
McNevan is the founding member of TFK (along with original guitarist Dave Smith), formed in 1997 in Peterborough, Ontario. McNevan came up with TFK’s name “symbolizing the point in our lives that we realize we can’t make it on our own strength”. He has written and released 6 TFK albums to date. TFK has worked with producers Aaron Sprinkle (Mae/Anberlin/MxPx), Gavin Brown (Three Days Grace/Billy Talent), Arnold Lanni (Our Lady Peace/Finger Eleven/Simple Plan), and Ken Andrews (Beck/Chris Cornell/Pete Yorn/Tenacious D) on their last 3 Tooth and Nail-released records.
Candlebox is a band from Seattle, Washington. Formed in November 1990, they originally named the band Uncle Duke; they later changed the name as a tribute to a Midnight Oil song. Candlebox were sometimes looked down upon by grunge fans for their style, which was considered by some to be a more derivative version of true grunge, and their commercial success as a result of it. Despite this, the band played the Seattle club circuit during the early 1990s to many of the same fans who had supported many of the bands that had come immediately before them. The members did not consider Candlebox to be a grunge band however; they viewed themselves as a rock and roll band more than anything and their style reflected that. Nevertheless, Candlebox had sold more than 4 million copies of their self-titled debut which, after many months of gaining momentum peaked at number 7 on Billboard’s album charts. The follow up album, Lucy, was certified gold in 1996. Candlebox was the first successful act on Madonna’s Maverick Records, which went on to sign Alanis Morissette, Deftones, and The Prodigy.
The Goo Goo Dolls initially consisted of John Rzeznik (vocals, guitar), Robby Takac (vocals, bass guitar) and George Tutuska (drums, percussion). While Takac and Tutuska had been long-time friends in school, Rzeznik was playing in the band The Beaumonts, with Takac’s cousin. The three founded the band under the name “Sex Maggots”. However, when a club owner booked the band, he requested they change the name, as the local newspaper could not print their current name. The trio picked the current name out of a True Detective ad for a toy called a Goo Goo Doll. “We were young and we were a garage band not trying to get a deal. We had a gig that night and needed a name. It’s the best we came up with, and for some reason it stuck. If I had five more minutes, I definitely would have picked a better name”
Prior to forming Collective Soul, Ed Roland studied songwriting/composing and guitar at Berklee College of Music in Boston. Ed began working at “Real 2 Reel Studios” in Stockbridge during the 1980s and of early 1990s, which was owned by Will Turpin’s father. Ed did production and engineering work for local Atlanta artists. He also recorded his own demos and his independent solo album “Ed-E Roland” in 1991. Ed had been in garage bands and did some performing of his own. He had a pre-Collective Soul band in the late 80’s/early 90’s called “Marching Two-Step” which also included Shane Evans; they were a legitimate band for about 3 years.
Around 1992, Ed started to shift focus and began trying to secure contracts for his songwriting and publishing. However, these early attempts ended in rejection. That would change in 1993 when his song “Shine” from the Rising Storm label release of “Hints, Allegations, and Things Left Unsaid” became an underground hit on a College radio station in Orlando. It was around this time that Ed brought along Shane Evans, his brother Dean Roland, Will Turpin and Ross Childress. This would become the official line-up.
Ed Roland was reading Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead and come across the phrase “collective soul.” Although author Ayn Rand actually uses the phrase in a negative connotation, using the “collective soul” as a threat to the main character’s sense of individualism, Ed is quick to point out, “…we’re not preaching Ayn Rand, objectivism, egoism, or anything…we just dug the name…” and “it [the band's name] could’ve come out of a Motorcycle Magazine.
Atlantic Records took note of the popularity of “Shine” and subsequently signed the band.
Collective Soul’s notoriety grew from their hometown of Stockbridge, Georgia into international fame with 1994’s double-platinum Hints, Allegations, and Things Left Unsaid. The album, a collection of Ed Roland’s early demos, was highlighted by the #1 hit song “Shine“. The band was then invited to perform at the Woodstock 1994 festival.
Chris Rice is an American songwriter who works in the contemporary Christian music, contemporary folk, and adult contemporary genres with a style similar to David Wilcox and James Taylor. He became a recording artist as well in 1996 after signing a contract with Michael W. Smith’s record label and releasing his debut album, Deep Enough to Dream.
The song “Take a Picture” is about a dispute on an aircraft, when Richard Patrick drunkenly stripped down to his boxers, alarming the other passengers.Lyrics include: “I don’t believe in…your privacy”; “I feel like a new-born”; and “Awake on my airplane.” “Could you take my picture ’cause I won’t remember?” is a popular Southern phrase and in this case possibly refers to an alcoholic blackout. The lyrics “Hey, Dad, what do you think about your son now?” refers to the theory that Patrick’s father didn’t believe he could make it in the recording business and tried to persuade him to pursue another direction.
At the beginning of 2006 SOP teamed up with Producer/Engineer Brennan Willis (More Than Electric, The Undeserving, As They Fall). The resulting product was then mixed and mastered by Nashville Producer/Engineer, Allen Salmon, (More Than Electric, This Beautiful Republic, Sanctus Real, Mute Math). In September of 2006, Strike-Out Pro released a five track EP entitled, Here and Now. With lyrics inspired by their Christian faith, the songs bring a message of hope, forgiveness, and love. Reflecting that message on and off the stage, this three-piece outfit continued to win over crowds with an energetic live show and a genuine connection with the audience.
Towards the end of 2007 Strike-Out Pro decided to end. Not the end of playing music however as a new project is in the works. The bands’ direction and vision has changed and evolved over the years. It has come to this. An end but yet a beginning. Strike-Out Pro was not a failure but a success for what it accomplished. If only one person’s life was changed because of a concert or a lyric in a song then it was a success. Strike-Out Pro is only a link to something greater. The best is yet to come.
SOP’s list of accomplishments include being featured and interviewed on 106.5 the zone and 92.5 Kiss FM. The song “Find A Way” received regular airplay on 106.5, and the music video won the Kiss FM Pepsi Smash music video contest. “Find A Way” was also included on the Toledo Rocks Compilation disc sold in local Best Buys. The song “Don’t Turn Your Back” received airplay on Detroit’s biggest alternative station 89x. “Best of Me” was given airplay on 89.3 Yes FM. SOP was featured in the Toledo City Paper. SOP teamed up with Missionary David Ward and his Reclaim Kids project that supports and provides homes for orphans in Africa. Strike-Out Pro has been privileged to share the stage with some amazing bands including Family Force 5, Sanctus Real, This Beautiful Republic, Pillar, Everyday Sunday, House of Heroes, Needtobreathe, Landon Pigg, Edison Glass, Luna Halo, Rediscover, Ellison, Dash The Assassin, and The Undeserving. And last but not least, SOP has made a lot of friends and met some awesome people, which is priceless. Thank you for your love and support!
Soundgarden was one of the key bands in the creation of grunge, a style of alternative rock that developed in Seattle and was based around the band’s record label Sub Pop. Soundgarden was the first grunge band to sign to a major label, though the band did not achieve commercial success until Seattle contemporaries Nirvana and Pearl Jam popularized grunge in the early 1990s.
Soundgarden achieved its biggest success with the 1994 album Superunknown which debuted at number one on the Billboard charts and yielded the Grammy Award–winning singles “Black Hole Sun” and “Spoonman“. In 1997, the band broke up due to internal strife over its creative direction. Soundgarden has sold eight million records in the U.S., and an estimated twenty million albums worldwide.
The band took a slot on the 1996 Lollapalooza tour with Metallica, who had insisted on Soundgarden’s appearance on the tour. After Lollapalooza, the band embarked on a world-wide tour. Tensions continued to increase during the band’s ensuing tour in support of the album. When asked if the band hated touring, Cornell said, “We really enjoy it to a point and then it gets tedious, because it becomes repetitious. You feel like fans have paid their money and they expect you to come out and play them your songs like the first time you ever played them. That’s the point where we hate touring.” At the tour’s final stop in Honolulu, Hawaii on February 9, 1997, Shepherd threw his bass into the air in frustration after suffering equipment failure, and subsequently stormed off the stage. The band retreated, with Cornell returning to conclude the show with a solo encore. On April 9, 1997, the band announced its disbanding. Thayil said, “It was pretty obvious from everybody’s general attitude over the course of the previous half year that there was some dissatisfaction.” Soundgarden’s final release, a greatest-hits compilation titled A-Sides, was released the following fall.
