Dear Savannah

“When you look at it from a different angle, you see much more than just four-chord melodies, intros, and outros…you see a story unfolding. You could see so much of who we are by just allowing us to make that connection. You could see where we came from and how we got here, what we've done wrong and what we've done right. Hopefully you can understand it and relate to it. If you can, then a bond has made...one that can never be broken. It’s passion…it’s drive."

These are the words of Nathan Bach (Piano, Guitar, Vocals), ¼ of Atlanta-based rock quintet Dear Savannah. Feel free to say what you wish about his band’s music, for what you hear resonating the speakers is only a minute piece of what culminates this band. What accounts for the rest is the story each song tells. Unlike many bands streaming the radio waves today, Dear Savannah has completely torn down the artist-to-audience barrier, allowing each listener engaged enough in their music to hear exactly what songwriters Bach and Colin Rich have experienced as 20-year old growing musicians.

“We’re determined to make an impression on people.” Says Bach. “But in order to do that, the listener has to know where we’re coming from. They’ve got to know that we’re being sincere when we’re serenading them. If we don’t, the effect isn’t nearly as powerful. But if the formula to musically convey a message of similar emotions and ideas can be figured out, the rest will follow: fans, exposure, etc. Because then you’ve allowed the listener to recognize you’re flaws; the same ones they themselves have.”

And that bond has allowed thousands to recognize the pure talent Dear Savannah has in creating powerful music and conveying it in an incredibly raw, emotional way.

Starting as an acoustic two-piece in January 2006, Dear Savannah (then comprised of Bach, guitarist Colin Rich, and djembe player Daniel Vinson) played coffee shops and churches for over a year before deciding it was time for a fresh start.

“The early days, to me, gave us the advantage for the sound we hold today.” Bach says “For a year we relied on so little to accomplish so much, and somehow we made it work. We gained a small fan-base, mainly close friends and their friends. Then [after Vinson took a leave-of-absence to focus on college] when we started to gain more steam, we started thinking ‘more’. Just more of everything we were already doing. We made sure we didn’t completely lose our sound… we just did our best to give that sound a little to feed off of. Because coffee shops are great for small, intimate performances. But when we started packing those shops out, so much so that we were having to keep the doors open so those standing outside could hear, it was like, ‘Well, what now?’”

So, in a very bold move, right as they were starting to gain exposure as an acoustic duo, Dear Savannah took an indefinite hiatus to re-evaluate the message they were trying to convey.

“I think in our eyes, we were a rock band without the 'rock'…never an acoustic duo, because our songs never gave off the 'Two-guys-jamming-out' feel, they were truly poppy rock ballads. The only reason we didn’t start out with the line-up we have now is because we weren’t prepared for it right off the bat. We felt like we had to pay our dues. Plus, any coffee house would book us as an acoustic duo, but never as a 5-piece rock band. We saw that opportunity and built from it. When we exhausted [the acoustic-duo genre], gaining enough of a fan-base to play bigger venues, we knew it was time for a change.”

And change came. D.S. added Shane Cole and Jerid Beaty to provide bass and drums in April ’07, giving the band and entirely new line-up and sound. Since then, D.S. has seen many goals come to fruition. They have played over 50 shows at acclaimed Atlanta venues such as Eddie's Attic, The Masquerade, Apache Café, Swayze's, Insomnia Nights, The 7 Venue, Warehouse 31, and Apex in Statesboro, GA. They recorded from May to November at Sky Sound Studio with producer Daniel Faber (Stankonia Studios), and released their debut EP entitled “…What Meets the Eye” (fitting for a band barely out of their teenage years) on November 27th, 2007 to rave reviews. They have given radio interviews and received airplay across the state of Georgia at such stations as 91.9 The Buzz in Statesboro and WRAS Album88 in Atlanta. Magazines such as The Georgia Reflector and The Onion have written full-page articles featuring the growth of the band over the past year, Myspace.com has listed them in their Top 50 Unsigned Artists in the State of Georgia, and their Myspace page and accumulated plays of over 16,000 (as of November ’07). Recently, they're music has reached Japan and a modest fan base has begun to grow from it. Not to mention, they have played shows and become friends with such bands as Between the Trees (Universal Records) and Automatic Loveletter (Epic Records). They have planned a complete tour of the southeastern United States in the spr