Make Me Shiver

From time to time, a band comes along that brings you to your feet, gets you to put your fist in the air, makes you call your friends and tell them at length about a band they've never heard of. It's music that makes you glad to be alive. This is Make Me Shiver. But make no mistake: behind these catchy as hell tunes are thoughtful, introspective lyrics. But to call Make Me Shiver just a "rock band" would be to miss the point entirely.

Make Me Shiver's beginnings are either a reality show or a soap opera. It depends on whom you ask. In the spring of 2003, Charity Mason, the band's rhythm guitarist, lead singer, and principle songwriter, began the search for musicians to create a band to make the songs she had written more than just a hobby. For the lead guitarist position, she didn't have to look far: her husband, Ken, had played guitar for almost 15 years. For bass, she didn't have to look much farther: she had gone to college with Ed Johnson, a guitar player who idolizes Jimi Hendrix, and who could also play bass. All that left was a drummer. Rather than bore you with the details of who was in the band when and why they left, suffice to say that Make Me Shiver currently holds the record for most drummers in a year; they've also had two drummers just completely disappear, never to be heard from again.

But who is Make Me Shiver? Charity grew up around music. Her grandfather was a guitar maestro, who influenced every member of the family toward music. Charity's father plays trumpet and trombone; one aunt plays saxophone; another, flute and drums. One summer, Charity's father brought home an ancient player piano, and Charity took to the instrument immediately. At age 16, she had already won numerous piano competitions, and written several classical pieces. That same year, she started teaching herself guitar. By the time she founded Make Me Shiver in 2002, she had a catalogue of over 400 songs. Ken, stationed with the U.S. Army in Ft. Leonardwood, Missouri, was unsure what he wanted to do with his life. One smoky evening in a bar off base at around 4 AM, everything changed. He heard the scorching guitar solo from Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead or Alive," and knew that, for better or for worse, he wanted to make music his career. He traveled across the country twice from Washington to Florida; from Chicago to Oregon playing music to make his way. Its a cliché, but Ed Johnson began playing guitar almost before he could walk. He carried that love of music and the desire to create new music with him to Europe and the Mediterranean, performing with bands in arenas in Spain, Turkey, and Germany, and back to the U.S., where he toured extensively throughout the Midwest and West Coast with rock bands and country bands alike.

Make Me Shiver is currently booking shows in preparation for a small tour this fall in support of their debut CD, "Too Much To Dream," an album loosely based on the theme of change and taking that "next step" in life, in love... in whatever "it" happens to be. Make Me Shiver has nearly sold out the first run of the CD, and has garnered praise from fans and critics alike. The album is dedicated to the man that, really, started it all, Charity's grandfather, Don Brock, who died in February 2006, just months before "Too Much To Dream" was completed.

Since forming in 2002, Make Me Shiver has racked up an impressive list of accomplishments, including having their debut single, "Riding The Bell," selected by VH1 for the cable channel's "Best Week Ever" podcast, and reaching number 4 on the Seattle regional list on MTV2's "On The Rise."

The future is wide open for Make Me Shiver. This is one band that simply refuses to sit back and dream about it. Instead, they are hell-bent on making their dreams a reality, and doing so the old-fashioned way -- through hard work, perseverance, and a keen understanding of what it takes to succeed.