Artist Profile

  • The Offspring

    The Offspring isn’t a bad moniker but it’s sure no Clowns Of Death. Now that’s a name! Guitarist Bryan “Dexter” Holland and bassist Greg Kriesel (Greg K.), both ex-Clowns of Death, started Manic Subsidal with singer Doug Thompson and drummer Jim Benton. Two things happened when Thompson and Benton bailed. First, Holland assumed singing duties…

  • The Wallflowers

    The world is littered with the failed offspring of the famous. Bob Dylan is a legend. Jakob (pictured) is his son. After the Wallflowers, with Jakob as the singer and principal songwriter, were dropped by their label following their debut album, it looked as though Jakob was going to forever live in his father’s expansive…

  • Fall Out Boy

    Three years after Chicago’s Fall Out Boy formed Island Records provided an advance for the group’s major label debut “Take This To Your Grave.” ’05 release “Under The Cork Tree” led to an extensive tour. F.O.B. even won a Road Woodie (Best Tour) at the student-selected mtvU Woodie Awards held in New York. “Infinity On…

  • Heart

    Sibling rivalry is well known but sometimes it can have positive results. When Ann Wilson started playing guitar her sister Nancy vowed to play it better. Eventually, Ann lost interest but Nancy kept practicing and it paid off, big time. The Seattle based Heart started out as the Army with Ann Wilson (vocals) Howard Lesse…

  • Guns N’ Roses

    At seventeen, former choirboy William Bailey decided to change his last name to Rose, his dad’s last name. ‘Bailey’ belonged to his step-father. Picking up the Axl handle, as a tribute to some former bands, Rose headed for L.A., to connect with his friend Izzy Stradlin. They hooked up with Tracii Guns becoming the L.A….

  • Drowning Pool

    Several groups have taken their name from a novel or a film. The trick is to pick a one that has some relevance or personal meaning. The film “Drowning Pool” was playing in the background when bassist Steve Benton lost his virginity. It worked out, ‘Drowning Pool’ is a pretty awesome name for a Alt….

  • Bad Company

    Frustrated with Free’s lack of sustained success (following “All Right Now”), largely due to band members drug problems, singer Paul Rodgers and drummer Simon Kike partnered with former Mott The Hopple guitarist Mick Ralphs and ex-King Crimson bassist Boz Burrell to create Bad Company. No glam, no glitter, these guys were straight-ahead guitar Rock. Signed…

  • Halestorm

    It’s always impressive when a band’s debut full-length album lands in the Top 40 of the Billboard 200. That happened to the Pennsylvania band Halestorm, fronted by Lzzy Hale. But before the album dropped, Halestorm logged a lot of road time. There was the ’06 Winterfresh Sno-Core Tour with Seether, Shinedown and Flyleaf. That was…

  • The Knack

    The Knack The word on The Knack was they recorded their debut album “Get The Knack” in eleven days for eighteen-thousand dollars. It went platinum in ’79. Not a bad return on investment for Capitol Records. Of course, the song that made it all possible was “My Sharona.” Within weeks of its release, the herky-jerky…

  • Bad English

    John Waite – Vocals, Neal Schon – Guitars, Jonathan Cain – Keyboards, Ricky Phillips – Bass & Deen Castronovo – Drums    Bad English can be seen as ‘The Return of The Baby’s” or “Journey II.” The Babys were best remembered for the pop hits “Isn’t It Time,” and “Every Time I Think Of You.” The…