Beauty For Ashes

Q & A with Kelsey Hamilton-Evans

Q: When and how did you and Shane Evans meet?

​KHE: Shane reached out to me on Facebook in August 2013. I had been working all summer on music and things were going... haywire. I was working with people who didn’t necessarily have my best interests at heart. He wrote to me and said, “Yo girl, you’ve got the talent! Get your band together and don’t look back.” I am paraphrasing here but I did exactly what he said. I dropped the producers and left the studio. It decided it was time to rock, even if that meant starting all over again and going completely independent. Little did I know Shane and were about to form a major partnership.

Q: When was it decided that the two of you would actually start making music together?

​KHE: We decided we were going to start making music together the same time we started dating, which was November 17, 2013. He started calling me and told me about the studio he was building, asking me what type of mics I like, etc. He was getting all this fantastic gear together. I donated a computer to the cause, which was pretty much all I had left at the time. Then we did some pre-production and Shane decided that we needed to take it to Real 2 Reel in Stockbridge, Georgia. That was exciting for me. It worked for him and Collective Soul before so I was all in. We started our E.P “Death to the Beautiful” in early June.​ The real studio sessions started about a month or two after we got married in February 2014.


Q: The sound is so natural, as if you and Shane have been musical partners forever. How did you meld each other's musical styles to where you came up with a sound all on your own?
​
KHE: Well, I had been listening to Shane all my life, so it’s fair to say he has shaped me as an artist. The cool thing about making music together is that we dig a lot of the same music. We also introduce each other to a lot of new sounds and we really focus on sharing our influences with each other. We might be stuck on a certain element of a song so we just will be researching sounds from records or strange soundtracks we love. We usually have an ‘Aha!’​moment and start developing something original together based on research and inspiration. I love producing with my husband. We push each other a lot and I learn so much from him. There is something quite magical about that ‘team’ feeling in the studio.​

Q: Let's talk about the songs... were these written before you met Shane or during the actual recording sessions for "Death 2 the Beautiful?”
​
KHE: They were written before. I have written a ton of songs and crammed into multiple journals and stacks of acoustic demos. I came into the studio with a guitar and lyrics... the songs were VERY raw. I would sit down and play Shane’s Les Paul and strum out these progressions and sing the lyrics while Shane would just listen. I realize now that he wasn’t just listening... he was building the bass track in his mind and developing textures.

Q: Shane's role in the studio came as a surprise to you. Tell me his overall role and what specifically surprised you about him as a producer.
​
KHE: I had no idea Shane could play everything. I mean EVERYTHING. I was a bit nervous going in to record these songs because I had brought these lyrics and music together and fell fully in love with these little creations. However, I knew someone needed to bring them to a level beyond what I had done. That is exactly what Shane did. He added these guitar elements that just MAKE the song. We co-produced everything together. His bass lines re-shaped songs. And the drums just turned everything up! His drumming elevates and changes songs. Then when it got down to editing and mixing and producing it was this amazing team feeling. We never really disagreed on what elements should or should not be there. ​He has such a keen ear and sharp instincts... he is definitely a major force in the studio that knows what he wants and gets it done. It’s cool to feel on the level with someone when you are producing... its like we look at each other and know.

Q: How fast were these songs recorded?

​KHE: The very first day we came in with the whole band and recorded all the songs live. And we did it back to back. Then we came in and started building the track elements around the live sound. The only song we recorded separately was “Death 2 the Beautiful.” I just layered vocals with an acoustic guitar and then Shane and I built around that. Our guitarist, Andres Sosa, also brought these really great atmospheric textures and ideas to the songs, which gave it this fantastic whimsical and haunting feel. ​

Q: Let’s go through each song and tell me about the recording and what the song means starting with “Death 2 the Beautiful”?

​KHE: “Death 2 the Beautiful” was actually written at the end of a very intense creative dry spell I was going through. I was heavily involved in the Atlanta party life searching in vain for inspiration. So one night I was reading poetry, looking for a reason to write, trying to ignite something in my partied out little head. Then I came across this poetry from the London Twilight era. I liked the paradox of this industrial city with a very small population, living sexy fancy lives amongst this very large population of complete destitution and soot-covered poverty. Booming industry thriving off of the youth slaving away at factories... beautiful youth gone so fast and easy in the name of the ugly machine. It reminded me of the night scene in Atlanta... SINdustry or Service Industry in Atlanta, which all ran off of the party culture and late night/early morning clubs... all the places I frequented. There is a line that goes “Tell me, do you hear that sound? Rhythms of the underground.” The obvious is a reference to Atlanta underground and a club I loved called MJQ... It was underground and a really good time. Beyond the club references I am speaking about people waking up... all who were once dead or sleeping rising up and marching to a new revolution of sorts. A musical one.
Recording this song was a fantastic experience because we got to play with some child-like melodies with tones that felt a bit more haunting. Shane added some beautiful e-bow elements and developed this insane drum track, which is probably my favorite part. It’s ironic because it didn’t come right away. It was the very last thing we recorded and it turned out to be exactly what the song needed. ​

Q: “Like It (Like I Do)”, which I think could potentially be a single.

KHE: “Like it (Like I Do)” is a simple and fun song dealing with a lot of frustration. It started out with this simple three-chord riff and the words “I want a new one.” It was a metaphor for wanting to work on new music projects and being broke and also wanting a partner to work on those projects. I guess the song worked! The first line of the song is “I want a new one, but I ain’t got no funds. So, get your glue gun and purple, plastic, sequins” meaning I want a partner who is willing to build something crazy, something exciting and we will have to be inventive because we are starting from scratch.

Q: “Never Thought,” which is another strong rocker.

​KHE: “Never Thought” is a song that means a lot to me. I wrote it when I found The Lord and then my band at the time kind of fell a part so in the box of discarded songs it went. Then Shane and I started dating and I had these same feelings again. It’s a great love song when it can be about God and your significant other at the same time. I never thought that I would find that Agape love... ever. Turns out The Lord has it for me and I have it for my husband. It really rocks!

Q: “Aye”?

​KHE: “Aye” is probably the heaviest song on the record. It’s also my favorite to play live right now. I had been handed this track when I was working on a demo at the now famous RedZone Studio in Atlanta and I kept hearing this “ayiyiyiyiyi” in the chorus. Well, I decided I needed this rock sound in order to finish it and make it real. A track no matter how cool it was just wasn’t going to cut it when it came to these very angry and frustrated lyrics. The song is about miscommunication between a friend and her boyfriend. She was so annoyed over her long distance relationship with her boyfriend because she could never reach him. I just put myself in her shoes, living vicariously through her for inspiration. As the song progresses, there is a breakdown where the song goes into a prayer and the final verse is a moment of awareness. “I can hear you now! I can feel you, but I can’t see you and that’s okay because I faith!" The word Aye is Scottish slang for yes. “Yes… I feel you. Yes. You are here.”

Q: “The Man Who Wasn’t There”?

​​This song was inspired by a poem my grandmother used to say to me:

I saw a man who was not there
I saw him standing on the Stairs
He was not there again today
Gee, I wish he’d go away.

It’s a song about relationships that occur in the music industry, the dreams people sell you, the innocence that is lost when one discovers they have been lied to. Early on in music I noticed how much people use each other in the industry... not just music but most industries. The “man” being the machine. Not a real person selling a dream. The chorus goes:

You don’t do nothing for me,
I don’t want nothing from you,
You ain’t got nothing special,
But I think you have a clue
If we get together
I tell you what we gonna do
When we get together
I’m gonna teach you how to sing the blues

If you don’t have thick skin then you will find yourself singing the blues very quickly in music. ​The industry or the “machine” knows how to give the dream and then suck the life out their precious ingénues and then exploit their losses and sadness. So the song is about the dangers and about the disguises people wear to pull you in. Playing the game is a part of it, but you must know that is what it is. As an artist you are prone to rely on business men (or women) who have a very different motive, and that’s money to keep the machine going. If you know that going in – if you know the bottom line – then you know to stay true to yourself and your art and most importantly, God. - Marshal Terrill

Rock and a Heart Place traces the rise, fall, and redemption of famous entertainers who were brought to their knees a great place to meet God. Join award-winning producer and music executive Ken Mansfield and biographer Marshall Terrill on a spiritual journey down the secluded halls of the music industry. Rock and a Heart Place is your backstage pass to never before-heard secrets, stories, and testimonies from some of rock music's greatest legends including members of Buffalo Springfield, The Byrds, Collective Soul, England Dan & John Ford Coley, Grand Funk Railroad, Kansas, Korn, Ozzy Osbourne, Pointer Sisters, Prince, The Ronettes, and The Turtles. KEN MANSFIELD’s legendary career in the music industry began as a member of the Town Criers, a successful southern California folk group in the early Rock and a Heart Place traces the rise, fall, and redemption of famous entertainers who were brought to their knees a great place to meet God. Join award-winning producer and music executive Ken Mansfield and biographer Marshall Terrill on a spiritual journey down the secluded halls of the music industry. Rock and a Heart Place is your backstage pass to never before-heard secrets, stories, and testimonies from some of rock music's greatest legends including members of Buffalo Springfield, The Byrds, Collective Soul, England Dan & John Ford Coley, Grand Funk Railroad, Kansas, Korn, Ozzy Osbourne, Pointer Sisters, Prince, The Ronettes, and The Turtles. KEN MANSFIELD’s legendary career in the music industry began as a member of the Town Criers, a successful southern California folk group in the early 1960s. From there he moved to executive tenures as US manager of The Beatles’ Apple Records and, director at Capitol Records, vice president at MGM Records, and president at Barnaby/CBS Records MARSHALL TERRILL is a veteran film, sports, and music writer and the author of nearly twenty books, including best-selling biographies of Steve McQueen, Elvis Presley, and Pete Maravich. Three of his books are in development to be made into movies.Shane Evans, the former drummer of Collective Soul and a member of the Georgia Music Hall of Fame Shane's New Project and Music, Beauty for Ashes is the husband and wife duo of Shane Evans and Kelsey Hamilton, who formed, fell in love, got married and started making beautiful music together. . From there he moved to executive tenures as US manager of The Beatles’ Apple Records and, director at Capitol Records, vice president at MGM Records, and president at Barnaby/CBS Records MARSHALL TERRILL is a veteran film, sports, and music writer and the author of nearly twenty books, including best-selling biographies of Steve McQueen, Elvis Presley, and Pete Maravich. Three of his books are in development to be made into movies.Shane Evans, the former drummer of Collective Soul and a member of the Georgia Music Hall of Fame Shane's New Project and Music, Beauty for Ashes is the husband and wife duo of Shane Evans and Kelsey Hamilton, who formed, fell in love, got married and started making beautiful music together. - Holly Stephey

Shane Evans and Kelsey Hamilton-Evans Announce Release of Debut Studio
EP Beauty for Ashes and Single “How 2 Build a Bomb”


October 30, 2015

DALLAS, TX – Dallas-based Beauty For Ashes proudly announce their first single “How 2 Build a Better Bomb,” which will be available on Oct. 30. Pre-orders will be available via the band’s official website, www.beautyforashesmusic.com.

With two decades of gold and platinum sales, Collective Soul co-founder and drummer Shave Evans adds a new chapter to his legacy with his new group, Beauty For Ashes, which he formed with singer-songwriter Kelsey Hamilton-Evans in 2014. Hamilton-Evans wrote all seven songs for the EP.


Musical beacons Collective Soul were a mainstay on rock and alternative radio throughout the 90’s and Evans provided the backbeat to seven #1 radio hits (“Shine,” “The World I Know,” “Gel,” “Heavy,” and “Run), 19 Top 40 hits and sold more than 10 million albums and CDs worldwide. More recently, Evans recently recorded an album with former Collective Soul band mate Ed Roland for his debut solo album and in 2013, Evans played on Jason Fowler’s Letters From the Inside.

With Beauty For Ashes, Evans remains on the drums but has stepped up front the band, which plays music the way it’s meant to be heard – hard and soulful.

“It’s no secret what Beauty For Ashes is all about,” says Evans. “We play straight ahead rock and roll – the kind of music I grew up listening to. I think people who listen to this will not only be surprised but like it.”

Listeners will also be surprised by Hamilton's vocal talents and poignant lyrics, which infuse hip-hop, pop, rock and international music to create a sound that is purely her own. Like millions of others, Hamilton-Evans, also grew up on Collective Soul.

“I had been listening to Shane all my life, so it’s fair to say he has shaped me as an artist,” said Hamilton-Evans. “The cool thing about making music together is that we dig a lot of the same music. We also introduce each other to a lot of new sounds and we really focus on sharing our influences with each other.”

The stunning result is the seven-song EP, Death to the Beautiful, which was produced by Shane Evans and written by Kelsey Hamilton-Evans. Dallas based guitarist Mike Dennis and Bassist Patrick Smith joined forces in 2015 and round out the hard-hitting, straight ahead rock that is Beauty For Ashes.

Their debut single, “How to Build a Bomb,” was initially inspired by Stanley Kubrik’s classic 1964 political satire, Dr. Strangelove and was written by Kelsey Hamilton-Evans.
The bomb drops on Oct. 30.

BEAUTY FOR ASHES
1. Aye
2. Wishing Well
3. Like It (Like I Do)
4. Death 2 the Beautiful
5. The Man Who Was Not There
6. Never Thought
7. How 2 Build a Bomb - Marshall Terrill

Shane Evans and Kelsey Hamilton Evans Announce Release of Debut Studio EP Beauty for Ashes

Beauty For Ashes proudly announce their first single “How 2 Build a Bomb,” which will be available on Oct. 30.

Beauty for Ashes
Beauty for Ashes
SONOMA, Calif. - Oct. 25, 2015 - PRLog -- DALLAS, TX – Dallas-based Beauty For Ashes proudly announce their first single “How 2 Build a Bomb,” which will be available on Oct. 30. Pre-orders will be available via the band’s official website, http://www.beautyforashesmusic.com (http://www.beautyforashesmusic.com).

With two decades of gold and platinum sales, Collective Soul co-founder and drummer Shane Evans adds a new chapter to his legacy with his new group, Beauty For Ashes, which he formed with singer-songwriter Kelsey Hamilton-Evans in 2014. Hamilton-Evans wrote all seven songs for the EP.

Musical beacons Collective Soul were a mainstay on rock and alternative radio throughout the 90’s and Evans provided the backbeat to seven #1 radio hits (“Shine,” “The World I Know,” “Gel,” “Heavy,” and “Run), 19 Top 40 hits and sold more than 10 million albums and CDs worldwide. More recently, Evans recently recorded an album with former Collective Soul band mate Ed Roland for his debut solo album and in 2013, Evans played on Jason Fowler’s Letters From the Inside.

With Beauty For Ashes, Evans remains on the drums but has stepped up front the band, which plays music the way it’s meant to be heard – hard and soulful.

“It’s no secret what Beauty For Ashes is all about,” says Evans. “We play straight ahead rock and roll – the kind of music I grew up listening to. I think people who listen to this will not only be surprised but like it.”

Listeners will also be surprised by Hamilton's vocal talents and poignant lyrics, which infuse hip-hop, pop, rock and international music to create a sound that is purely her own. Like millions of others, Hamilton-Evans, also grew up on Collective Soul.

“I had been listening to Shane all my life, so it’s fair to say he has shaped me as an artist,” said Hamilton-Evans. “The cool thing about making music together is that we dig a lot of the same music. We also introduce each other to a lot of new sounds and we really focus on sharing our influences with each other.”

The stunning result is the seven-song EP, Beauty For Ashes, which was produced by Shane Evans and Jonathan Beckner. The EP also features guitarist Mike Dennis and bassist Patrick Smith.

The bomb drops on Oct. 30.

BEAUTY FOR ASHES
1. Aye
2. Wishing Well
3. Like It (Like I Do)
4. Death 2 the Beautiful
5. The Man Who Was Not There
6. Never Thought
7. How 2 Build a Bomb - Red Velvet Media