Burden Brothers

If Dallas rockers the Burden Brothers seem familiar, well, they are. A collection
of Nineties rockers -- singer Vaden Lewis of the Toadies, drummer Taz Bentley
of Reverend Horton Heat, bassist Casey Orr of GWAR, guitarist Casey Hess of
Doosu and Texas scenester guitarist Corey Rozzoni -- the Brothers are something
of a supergroup.
And in fact, the band retains everything good about such collaborations: experience,
tight playing, energy and swagger. But it does so without the bad:
namely, fleeting commitment and dysfunctional ego. Their debut, Buried in
Your Black Heart, is actually a grassroots affair, recorded in just a month with
tight budget constraints. Band members pore over their Web site, routinely
offering tour reports, chat-room updates and other treats. Not exactly supergroup behavior.
The record was released back in November, but because of label problems it's just now hitting airwaves, and
the band is about to head out on the road to support it. Crammed with floorboard-shaking rock, Buried booms
with thumping rhythms and vocal yowls -- the kind of heaviness, adrenaline and testosterone associated with
rock lords Queens of the Stone Age and Audioslave. A comparison not lost on Bentley.
"None of us is breaking ground," he says. "We all have that jam quality that we grew up to listening to.
Rockers that just bust out into a jam."
The Burden Brothers first twinkled back in 1994 when Lewis and Bentley met on tours with their former bands
and discussed the possibility of someday working together. A year later they crossed paths again and
"knocked around for a while, recording stuff that we thought no one would ever hear," Lewis says.
As it turns out, shortly thereafter, their bands broke up, leaving both jaded and angry with the industry and its
bottom-line demands -- Lewis, especially.
"I didn't want to have anything to do with anything musically," he remembers. "But Taz called me up and
asked me to play on some songs he had written. And I couldn't say no to that."
It so happens that Lewis and Bentley liked what came out and posted the results on the Web (one of which,
"Walk Away," appears on the album). And the fans agreed. So much so that the two decided to play live,
recruiting a rotating cast of friends to help out. Next came calls from labels and lineup finalizing. The band
then agreed to record a debut, with one key condition: No industry bullshit. And so began the Burden
Brothers.
"It all goes back to the fact that we've done this for so many years," Bentley says. "We threw away conventional
methods. It keeps the atmosphere completely light-hearted. There's no pressure from anyone looking
over the band's shoulder."
That lax approach produced kick-ass rock. Ranging from aggressive shredding to melodic, tuneful wailing, the
tunes are thick. The first single "Beautiful Night" starts off with a poppy guitar underneath Lewis' more gentle
singing (which isn't really all that gentle). Soon though the attack launches, as big guitars and piercing solos
overtake. And the rest of the album acts accordingly.
"With this band, the recording process was very freeing," Lewis says. "But we retain that original fuck-it attitude.
We wanted it to sound live and real. But at the same time we'll put in a harmony guitar solo . . . so long
as it kicks you in the balls." - Rolling Stone

"It was just a matter of realizing what you're
doing here on the planet. And my purpose is
just to waste my time and do rock and roll." —
the Burden Brothers' Vaden Todd Lewis
If the Burden Brothers are carrying a weight, it's that in their ongoing game of hideand-
seek with the music industry, they somehow keep getting found.
When former Toadies singer Vaden Todd Lewis and ex-Izzy Stradlin drummer Taz
Bentley joined forces, both were tired of the music-business rat race and initially
had small ambitions for their new band. Lewis had left his mark on the early 1990s
grunge scene with the Toadies, but the group broke up in 2001 after recording only
two studio albums. Bentley had made the rounds himself, playing with both the
Reverend Horton Heat and Tenderloin in addition to Stradlin.
"Taz and I started out on a whim 'cause we were both a little frustrated with the
biz," Lewis explained. "We wanted to do something totally out there, that we just
wanted to do for kicks. And that's the vibe we try to keep with it."
When the two first got together, the plan was simple: Record a few tracks, do some
shows and put the songs out on the Internet. They put together an EP and gigged
regularly throughout Texas and the Southwest. But despite their attempts at keeping
a low profile for the project, the Dallas-based band played the role of indie rockers
about as well as Britney Spears played a demure Southern belle, and soon
their song "Beautiful Night" was in heavy rotation on an Austin, Texas, radio station.
"At that time, we both started to feel that we had something that we just weren't
able to pursue the way we wanted to on the Internet," Lewis said. "That's why we
decided to dive back in. And, you know, I think both of us just got the itch."
They scratched that itch by signing with a label that allowed them to record music
on their own terms. Dallas-area producer/engineer John Kirtland (formerly drummer
with Deep Blue Something) was intrigued by the Burden Brothers and signed
them to his label, Kirtland Records.
Left primarily to its own devices, the group made Buried in Your Black Heart, an
album of no-frills rock that teeters between tough, driving metal and head-bobbing
arena rock, fueled by the anthemic "Beautiful Night."
The band's concerts live up to that description too. "We want every show to be a
freakin' arena-rock show," Lewis said. "I'm tired of f---ing around! I want to do a
rock show that I would want to see. And I want to see somebody who looks like
they didn't just wake up, and is going to go up there and play a nice guitar and kick
some a--!" - MTV.com

First, a little background about the Burden Brothers' lineage. The
band was formed by ex-Toadies lead singer Vaden Todd Lewis and
drummer Taz Bentley, who has played with Izzy Stradlin, the
Reverend Horton Heat and Tenderloin. Former Gwar and Ministry
bassist Casey Orr and guitarists Corey Rozzoni and Casey Hess
later joined them. During the past couple of years, the Texas-based
band has developed a regional following gigging around the
Southwest. The Brothers' debut album, "Buried in Your Black
Heart," arrived last year without much fanfare on ex-Deep Blue
Something drummer John Kirtland's label. These days, the album's
lead single, the blistering "Beautiful Night," can be heard on such
modern rock stations as KUPD Phoenix, KDGE Dallas and KROX
Austin. More stations will likely follow, as word spreads about this
catchy, rugged rock anthem. Fans of Foo Fighters and Queens of
the Stone Age should not overlook this band. Distributed by RED.—
MP - Billboard

Burden Brothers feature Todd
Lewis (ex Toadies) and Taz Bentley (ex Reverend Horton
Heat.) Personally, I never cared for either band and was
expecting some bad fuzzy-dice hanging, flaming print
Converse wearin', distorted pompadour rock. My bad, BB are
a kick ass hard rock combo who riff off Kyuss/Queens of the
Stone Age's neo metal blues and Weezer /Pixies power chord
sing alongs." - Village Voice