Rumspringa

Rumspringa (n) : an Amish rite of passage; the practice of releasing teenagers to explore the outside world, its sins and pleasures.

A half-century ago, baby boomer teenagers wiggled from their parents� grips to gyrate naughtily to the sonic rebellion that was captivating America�a thrilling, liberating sound that would eventually be tagged Rock n� Roll. It is with this spirit that Los Angeles-based Joey Stevens and Itaru de la Vega created the Americana outfit Rumspringa, which with its jumpy backbeat and colorful riffs seeks to reignite the hot, human passion of its audience. They draw on the energy of the earliest era of rock, when a hysteric wave of paranoia spread throughout the minds of parents, terrified that their children were listening to the devil's jungle music. Kids were responding because the music had never been more alive, and Rumspringa�s contemporary tweak on dependable, rugged 12-bar blues-rock similarly awakens the inner fire of its listeners.

Drawing on influences as distant and diverse as John Lee Hooker, Canned Heat, Cream and underground psychedelic pioneer Michael Yonkers, Rumspringa's daring blend of genuine early rock n' roll with the familiar catchiness of modern influences also contains hints of old school and gangsta rap. Like the Amish practice of releasing teenagers to the outside world to experience the "devil's playground", the band's new sound is sure to bring shock and awe to your comfort zone. "That's why we declared ourselves to be on our own version of Rumspringa", says front-man guitarist and vocalist Joey Stevens, "To step away from all the self-serving surface of the mainstream music culture, and to get back to the heart of discovering the soul of rock through the roots of its creation."