Evelyns Ashes
York, Pennsylvania, United States | SELF
Music
Press
Somewhere along the line, somebody in Evelyn’s Ashes must have accidentally hit the “Warp Speed” button.
Or maybe they discovered a wormhole in their practice space. However it happened, these five guys have accomplished in eight months what it takes most bands years to achieve. One minute, they’re noodling contently in their practice space, working out arrangements of everyone’s favorite nu-metal covers and modern rock originals. Next thing you know, they’re performing in the area’s biggest clubs in front of a capacity crowd – a crowd that singer Wes Myers says is willing to follow them wherever they go.
“We’re packing places after six months! We’ll walk into Fat Daddy’s, and you can’t fit hardly any other people in it,” says a bewildered Myers. “We’ve had over 15,000 hits on our MySpace and our Evelyn’s Ashes page, just to show you the buzz that’s being created around us. I can only wonder where we’re going to be a year from now after what has happened in the past six months.”
According to guitarist Freddie Hansen, Evelyn’s Ashes meteoric rise has less to do with the space/time continuum and more to do with good, old-fashioned elbow grease.
“I think it’s more or less our drive. We work very hard. That’s something I’m not used to, where all five members are really pushing towards the same goal,” he explains. “This band is absolutely blowing my mind with the amount of leaps and bounds that we’ve made in just a little time, and we just keep getting better.”
Hansen, a cello player of 17 years who’s performed with four major symphonies, also nods towards the band’s sound, a radio-rock mish-mash of down-tuned riffage and baritone melodies not unlike Staind and Breaking Benjamin. No matter how tough-guy the music gets, Myers holds it down with sing-along verses and choruses that would make for a fine video shoot on some cliff overlooking the ocean in the middle of a CGI tropical storm. Myers can get his growl on with the best of them, but Evelyn’s Ashes’ bread and butter is his ability to transition into a Creed-worthy croon when it’s time to really sell the drama.
“I know I’m kind of partial,” Hansen laughs, “but the music we’re doing is something that nobody else is really doing.”
“We’re going for aggressive but melodic. We don’t want to be a heavy band, but we don’t want to be a soft band either,” Myers says. “We want it to be based around the vocals, just because there’s a lot of bands out there that don’t do that. At the same time, we’re going to have songs that are gonna have even more of a Godsmack feel to them, so we’re going to have both sides.”
With former members of local bands like Instant Tranzmission and Ultra Sonic in its ranks, Evelyn’s Ashes is able to avoid some of the pitfalls that await rock and roll rookies (ie. the insurmountable cover-band stigma). These guys know exactly what they are and put their product out there with no pretense. Essentially, this is textbook modern rock – if that’s your bag, then you’ll like Evelyn’s Ashes. If not, shop elsewhere.
“We’ve been around the block, so we know what people are looking for. We’re trying to fill the void. There’s not very many modern rock bands in this area. You either have your extreme metal, or to the other extreme, you have your dance and party-pop bands,” Hansen figures. “I think that’s why we’re able to pack places, because we go in there with the mentality of, ‘We’re musicians. We’re entertainers.’ Not just, ‘Hey, we’re a local party band! Everybody drink and have fun!’ We’re there to give you your money’s worth.”
The band is currently writing additional originals in hopes of releasing an album by the summer. Once that’s out, it’s time to find that wormhole again.
“Ultimately, I want to quit my job and go on the road. Who doesn’t?” Hansen shrugs. “I definitely think we have the talent and the ability to go as far as we want.”
- The Fly Magazine
Discography
"Far Away"- 13 track Album (2008)
Re-mixed and Re-mastered 5 song EP by Beau Hill
"Letters From Home" - 10 track album (2012)
Photos
Bio
Hailing from York Pennsylvania, Evelyn’s Ashes has made extraordinary strides in their quest to become a household name in the music industry around the world. Formed in 2005, the band has had one common goal; to write unforgettable songs and music and combine a live performance that remains unsurpassed. Songs with big catchy hooks with lyrics that touch the heart, all coupled with the high energy performance only begins to describe this unique and opulent alternative rock act.
The band consists of five rock steady musicians, all working together in perfect harmony to create a climax of sound that fans and new listeners rarely forget. The red hot lead vocals of front man Wes Myers are complemented by the driving rhythms and searing lead riffs from guitarists and brothers Chris and Justin Cutshall, the bass and back vocals of Scott Salisbury, and Ted Hile on drums. Having shared the stage with such national acts as Sevendust, Papa Roach, Cold, Fuel, 10 Years, Rev Theory, Hurt, Taproot, Nonpoint, Dokken, Warrant, and Smile Empty Soul, when concert attendees leave an Evelyn’s Ashes high energy performance, they are always left spellbound and craving more.
The band boasts an already successful discography commencing with their 13-track debut album “Far Away” in 2008. The CD still doing very well, sold throughout the northeast receiving radio play on major commercial and internet radio stations. Evelyn’s Ashes continues to spread their unique sound regionally and globally across the internet with their latest release “Letters from Home” released in January of 2012. The new album also includes 2 songs from their first album called “The Innocent” and “Backdown”, which were remixed and mastered in LA by Beau Hill.
Produced by ®Grammy nominated engineer and producer David Ivory, (Halestorm, Silvertide, The Roots), the new release is without question the most comprehensive and well thought out compilation of the band’s work to date.
“We've been working on the new album for quite some time”, states vocalist Wes Myers, “traveling to Philadelphia to work with producer David Ivory took us more time to finish recording, but was so worth it in the end. His direction helped us realize our potential as song writers and a band.”
The standout tracks from “Letters from Home” include “To the Fallen”, “Breathe”, and “This Time”. Myers points out that “To the Fallen” was written about the disrespectful protests of the notorious Westboro Church on military funerals throughout the United States. It was written for the families and how they must have felt being subjected to that type of situation. “Breathe” deals with an old friend who was on drugs, but couldn’t admit or face it. The song, “This Time”, was one of the first songs written for the album and it set the tone of where the band was heading. “It's just about someone having such a bad day that they don't have an answer on how to fix it... but they do have a really good friend that's willing to help them get out of it. It’s just an uplifting song.”
Although the band considers its music uncommonly unique and cites no act specifically that they sound like, they admit to influences from national greats such as, Seether, Three Days Grace, Breaking Benjamin, Avenged Sevenfold, and Bullet for my Valentine, among others.
There is little doubt in anyone’s mind that has experienced the musical journey and performance of Evelyn’s Ashes that 2012 will be the year they blow up big and break nationally. With their stellar new release “Letters from Home”, Evelyn’s Ashes has plans for a regional tour and eventually a national tour to support the new record. The new album is currently available at cdbaby.com and for digital download on iTunes. For more information and to keep up to date on this emerging rock act, you can visit their website at www.EvelynsAshes.com.
www.cdbaby.com/cd/evelynsashes
www.itunes.com/evelynsashes
www.facebook.com/evelynsashesband
www.reverbnation.com/evelynsashes
Links
