A band a day...Black Water Rising

Rob Traynor used to be the lead singer of Dust to Dust. Johnny Fattoruso used to be a guitarist for Stereomud. Mike Mesolsohn was the drummer for Boiler Room. And bassist Oddie McLaughlin is just happy to be here.

Together, they make up Black Water Rising, another band on the rise.

It's rare to find a band with their sound in New York City. You're used to finding a lot of bands with an indie sound. This band is about as rock and roll as it gets.

Their song "Brother Go On" has been gaining play on one of my favorite radio stations, Sirius' Octane. They're an unsigned band and it's one of the most played songs on that station all year.

They've been creating a bit of a buzz playing with bands like King's X.

No word on whether they've signed with a label yet, but they do intend to release their debut before the end of the year.

In the meantime, here's part of a live set from Clifton, New Jersey.

A band a day...Before the Rise

Before the Rise is probably the first band that I've ever known to come from the state of New Hampshire.

Before the Rise is:

Doug: Vocals

Washburn: Lead Guitar

Waterman: Rhythm Guitar

Rick: Drums

Before the Rise is influenced by Nonpoint, 40 Below Summer, Staind and Taproot.

They've only existed since November 2006, but they have been creating quite a buzz. They recorded their debut, Seed the Soil, with Matt LaPlant at Bieler Bros. Studios who's produced the last two Nonpoint records.

They've already played major shows with The Dreaming and Kittie and that resume will increase.

They may have recorded at Bieler Bros. Studios...but for whatever reason, they are still unsigned.

It apparently won't be long as they have big news coming soon.

I don't think it has to do with getting nominated for an award for an organization that supports "having a good time", as they've already announced that.

Before the Rise is a band on the rise and to give you an idea of how quick that rise is, here's a performance of Suffering.

A band a day...Breaking the Silence

Did you pick up Pillar's latest record For the Love of the Game? If not, please do and listen to I Fade Away. You might notice that there's a female on the vocals. Her name is Sarah Anthony and she fronts a band called Breaking the Silence.

Breaking the Silence is:

Sarah Anthony: Vocals

Mark Anthony: Vocals/Guitar

Matt Beal: Bass

Keith Anselmo: Drums

Breaking the Silence formed in 2006 in Uniontown, Pennsylvania. Not exactly a hot bed for bands, but this band is indeed hot.

In 2007, they worked on and released their debut album Stand, which was produced by Travis Wyrick who's produced 10 Years and, you guessed it, Pillar.

The album features the dual-vocals of Sarah and Mark Anthony. It's very hard to get two vocalists to play off of each other in the same band. Even some of Lacuna Coil's fans still can't get into both Cristina and Andrea's vocals. Somehow, Sarah and Mark make it work in a big way.

Breaking the Silence combines the dual-vocal interplay of Lacuna Coil with the accessibility of Evanescence and the message of Flyleaf and Fireflight.

Breaking the Silence is steadily gaining a reputation in their state and the rest of the region as a band to look out for. If you like Flyleaf's live show and you've seen their show many times, you may just be surprised by how good Breaking the Silence's stage presence is.

This band should not stay under the radar for very long if at all and they're already hard at work on their next album.

In the meantime, you can check the video to the title track off of their album Stand and another live montage.

Producer Profiles...Howard Benson

Most music producers' careers have started as part of a band.

Howard Benson's career almost started in space. Literally. He graduated from well-recognized Drexel University, one of the best engineering schools in the country in materials engineering. During that time, he took time away from his major to take classes in music theory.

After graduating from Drexel, he moved out to California where he got a job in his field. At around the same time, he'd gotten into a band that hadn't really been successful and it was in the mid 80s when he decided that he wanted to become a producer.

And in 1988, Howard Benson got his first big-time gig with T.S.O.L (True Sounds of Liberty), a popular punk band in the Los Angeles area.

He produced Hit and Run, which became their biggest selling record.

Bang Tango & Pretty Boy Floyd would be next...

After hair metal bands went out of style, he went quite for a while.

But he came back with a vengeance in 1993 with Motorhead's Bastards. The success of that album led Benson to produce 3 more Motorhead albums. Motorhead's Benson-produced albums would actually be the inspiration for an album produced 11 years later...we'll get to that in a bit...but back to the late 90s.

It was in 1999 where Howard Benson would start to hit hard rock radio. His first project was P.O.D.'s Fundamental Elements of Southtown.

The album had modest popularity, but the song and video for Rock the Party got so popular that it beat videos on TRL from Britney Spears to N*Sync.

In 2001, he would return to the boards for their second album called Satellite. The album's release date is a date that will live forever in our minds: September 11, 2001. The band's lead single "Alive" became something of an anthem at the time. The album is their most popular to date, selling over three million Grammies and earned the band their first Grammy nomination.

In 2002, P.O.D. introduced their friends Blindside stateside with Silence.

Benson also produced albums from Crazytown, Skindred, and Switched that year.

In 2003, Benson would produce Depswa, Adema, and Cold, but his biggest artist that year would get another Grammy nomination. Hoobastank's The Reason became Benson's first pure taste of pop success with a hard rock artist.

Benson would also work with P.O.D. again in 2003.

So, you were wondering who was inspired by Motorhead to work with Howard Benson? It was My Chemical Romance.

He took Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge to platinum glory in 2004.

2004 also marked the year that he was Getting Away With Murder.

His reputation grew, but 2005 is when Benson really hit his stride. His work from 2005 and 2006 would also net him his first Grammy nomination as a producer.

Aside from working with Vendetta Red, The Starting Line, and Theory of a Deadman, Benson produced The All-American Rejects' most popular album to date, Move Along. He also produced a young artist who's still has tour dates off of their debut album.

In 2006, he worked with Less Than Jake, Saosin, and Head Automatica. He also worked with Papa Roach and Hoobastank again. But this year belonged to Three Days Grace and Daughtry.

In 2007, he worked with Mae, Relient K, and The Starting Line's last album. But towards the last quarter of the year, Seether dominated the rock radio charts.

2008 has already been productive with releases from Hawthorne Heights, Third Day, Theory of a Deadman and Gavin DeGraw.

And with upcoming releases from Halestorm, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Meg and Dia, and Ryan Star, there's no telling what the future holds for this space man from Pennsylvania.

Music Industry Ideas...Part II

Part II is going to deal specifically with regular music retailers...for example, Circuit City or Best Buy.

I think that music retailers ought to make a digital push. Perhaps not ditch physical CD's out completely, but certainly push for digital sales...and here's how I would do it.

Let's just say you're at one of these stores buying something and you stumble upon the music section.

Imagine a computer system that allows you to register to a digital store and then be able to download and sync those songs almost immediately.

All you would need to do that are a hard drive, a flash drive or an MP3 player with its USB cable. You register for the service, you pick the songs/albums you want to download and within minutes, they're yours. For people who just purchased a music player for the first time and don't know how to use one can have the option of running through the instructions with how to upload those songs.

This is in the case that you're on the run and don't really have time to do it at your own house.

Music shelves have decreased in size anyway, so with that said, if you open this system, you'd have an "endless shelf".

A band a day...A Band Called Pain

CALIFORNIA LOVE!!!

This Bay Area band is BAD ASS!

A Band Called Pain is:

Allen Richardson (Vocals)

Shawn Bivens (Guitar)

Bryan L.B. Dean (otherwise known as "Dark Kent") (Bass)

Tony Providence (Drums)

Brought up on the influences of Kiss, Iron Maiden, Metallica, and Pantera, A Band Called Pain plays a brand of groove-oriented grunge with elements of rock and roll and funk and soul.

Listeners may hear Alice in Chains, Soundgarden and Living Colour in their sound as well.

Their debut record Broken Dreams spawned a soundtrack song. "Holy", my favorite song of theirs made the soundtrack for Saw II.

They're currently finishing up recording their second album called Beautiful Gun, which is likely to be as explosive as the title indicates.

As a familiar song states "I'd rather feel 'pain' than nothing at all".

Here's a video for their song Pieces and a live performance of their song Hellbound.

A band a day...The day after...

I didn't have to go very far to find my next band who...happens to come from Las Vegas!

The day after... is:

Jenine Cali (Vocals/guitar)

KC Wells (Bass)

Daniel Kloza (Drums)

It's rare to get into a band that has a local following, but it's very rare when that local following is on the other side of the country. I mean, I've never even BEEN to Las Vegas. But it's completely worth it.

This power trio can play many sub-genres of rock and make it their own. Their back catalog hearkens back between 80s alternative and 90s grunge with garage rock and emo sprinkles.

I may have never been to Vegas, but listening to the music actually makes me think that "This is Vegas." It's laid back and understated but has an intensity about it. I think of Vegas as a perfect escape from the world just as I think that listening to TDA is the perfect escape from the world. 

But unlike the old adage of "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas", this band is too good to "stay in Vegas". Their music is receiving airplay regularly on Vegas rock stations (probably one of the best markets for alternative or active rock in the country).

They're currently at work on their third album (fourth, if you count the double E.P.) and if their recent live material is any indication, they've already stepped their music up to another level.

Here are live performances of Black Heart Symphony, Hum, and a remix to Car Crash.