ATHENS
Athens, Georgia, United States
Music
Press
"Athens" band members Chase Brown, 13, Beau Anderson, 10, Walt Sorrow, 14, and 14-year-old drummer Zak "Attack" Smith will be appearing at Washington's Spring Musicfest on the Square Saturday, April 25.
"Everybody's really excited about 'Athens,'" organizer Debbie Wells said. "They're new and just taking off, and we can saw we knew them before they were famous."
The Washington-Wilkes Arts Foundation's Spring Music Fest is April 24, 25, and 26. The Young group members, who just became a band last fall, have just completed their first single, "Arguments," and are beginning to appear all around Athens.
Hear their music at http://theathensband.com.
The concert is free, and local winner of the Kiwanis Talent Showcase, along with members of Clovers and Company, will open for the band. - The News-Reporter (Washington, GA)
Watching the guys in the Athens band practice, the adults hanging around have so many good things to say about the fellas: how mature they are, how talented and ambitious.
The band, named for its hometown, is made up of four guys younger than 16, and the group has performed dozens of shows, mostly alongside musicians twice their age.
You can hear the pride in their parents' voices when they talk about these kids, and they're right - there is a lot of good to say about them. But for their peers - other teenagers who come to the shows they play at festivals, restaurants, gymnasiums - Athens the band could be summed up thusly:
EEEEEEEeeeeeeeee!!!!! (Please forgive if my speech is dated; it's been a while since I spoke Teenage Girl.)
To their credit, the guys in the band (Beau Anderson, 11, lead guitar; Chase Brown, 14, lead vocals/rhythm guitar; Zak Smith, 15, drums; and Walt Sorrow, 14, bass/backup vocals) are nonchalant about any attention they receive from fans.
But the group's MySpace page has plenty of encouraging comments from members of the fairer sex, and Jimmy Anderson, Beau's father, informs me that a vanload of girls are planning on carpooling from a neighboring town to this weekend's CD-release show at The Melting Point.
It is all about the live experience for Athens. I visit them at practice in a club behind Deer Acres Inn in Monroe that Beau's dad is renovating. They're clearly gearing up for a great time at the Melting Point - even during practice, they're bringing the show. Zak is twirling his drumsticks, Beau drops to his knees for a guitar solo, and Chase and Walt have mastered the lean-back, to say nothing of the dancing around that happens while they play. Teenage boys haven't looked like they're having this much fun since the Xbox came out.
The group wasn't always so comfortable onstage.
"We didn't really want to look at the crowd," Chase says of their first show. "We tried to make it look like we were really into what we were doing. Zak would sit there and stare at the high hat and Beau would stare at the neck of the guitar, and I would just close my eyes and hope for the best.
"It's true!" he laughs.
It is a bit hard to believe, based on how confident they look now. The group formed in 2008, and though a year and a half of playing together and practicing every weekend has helped hone their live show, the guys attribute much of their success to good fortune - and the hard work of their parents.
What makes the band work so well is "luck, and knowing the right people for sure," says Zak, whose introduction to the other members was pure chance. Chase and Beau met Zak at Guitar Center in Atlanta where his "madman" drumming attracted their attention. The three had their "people" talk to each other (and by "people," I mean parents), and soon Zak was playing with the band - a commitment that requires his parents to bring him 86 miles from Lula. "I mean talent is a big part of (our success), too," Zak says, "but it's a very small part compared to luck and meeting the right people."
Of course, being raised in a music town doesn't hurt, either. The fellas have been fed a steady diet of classic rock, through their parents and discovered through friends - or the 2009 way, through "Guitar Hero" (which is how Beau became interested in playing guitar).
But a true Athens rock band story starts at Wuxtry, and it was there that Chase picked up an AC/DC album in the third or fourth grade, beginning his interest in rock music. Years later, Chase and the guys in the band are playing the songs of their idols: Zeppelin, Drivin' 'n' Cryin' and, of course, AC/DC. But they have their own stuff, too, and an album, recorded at Angelic Productions in Atlanta, to prove it. So what's next for the group?
"Playing Shea Stadium!" proclaims Beau.
Zak is more measured in his preference of venues: "Whoever won't kick us out because we're underage."
Athens (the band) will hold a CD-release show Sunday at The Melting Point.
Athens
CD-release show
When: 7 p.m. Sunday
Where: The Melting Point, 295 E. Dougherty St.
Cost: $5 advance, $7 at door (all-ages show)
Call: (706) 254-6909
Online: theathensband.com
- Athens Banner Herald
Listen: No one likes to be talked down to. And on top of that, the ageism that is endemic to the way the Athens music scene is structured, for better or for worse, makes it hard to be a young band. So, with a minimal amount of gimmicky lead-in, let's get this out of the way: the band known as Athens is made up of some young dudes. The group—vocalist/guitarist Chase Brown (age 14), lead guitarist Beau Anderson (age 11), bassist Walt Sorrow (age 14), and drummer Zak Smith (age 15)—formed in October 2008. Since then,
they've put in a staggering number of hours laying the groundwork for their future as a band. They've recorded their first CD. They??ve played AthFest and the Human Rights Festival. And hey, check it out: they can actually play their instruments. It's all pretty impressive when you also consider the fact that none of the members are old enough to be eligible for a driver's license. A few of them are still a few years off from the learner's permit.
Flagpole recently had a chance to sit down with Athens for an interview. In a time in a kid's life when each year is a giant step in a new direction, the quartet were affably goofy among one other, showing no signs of ranking between each other due to age differences. One would not be surprised to learn that two of the guys, Beau and Walt, are cousins. All four seem completely comfortable and confident, and genuinely have a blast just hanging out and talking.
Prior to starting the group, Chase found inspiration in an unlikely place: Disney World. “I had a guitar for a while before I started playing, but it was just sitting it my room gathering dust. And I was actually in Disney World riding the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster, starring Aerosmith. Hearing Joe Perry play
made me want to go home and actually put some effort into playing the guitar,” he says. After lessons with local legend Mike Guthrie, Chase set out to get his garage band going. Longtime friend Beau was enlisted on bass but soon moved to guitar, and Zak was discovered at a Guitar Center in Duluth. “We were up in the guitar area and we heard somebody playin' the drums, and I thought, 'Probably some older guy,'” recalls Beau. “Chase was like, 'Dude, you've gotta see who's playing!'” Walt was the final piece of the puzzle.
Named in tribute to one of their favorite acts, Boston (seriously!), Athens astutely side-steps the emocentric trends of its generation and is refreshingly highlights-and-eyeliner-free. The band is actually informed entirely by acts quadruple their age: when I quiz them on how they would curate a hypothetical dream festival, they rattled off the classics. “Ted Nugent!” suggests Walt, prompting a round of fist-bumps. Chase continues: “AC/DC, Aerosmith, Poison, Van Halen…” David Lee Roth or Sammy Hagar era? “Lee Roth, of course,” is the resounding response. “Even though he's a legend in his own mind,” adds Beau.
Looking towards a future of figuring out their way into the local club scene, including upcoming shows at the Melting Point and the 40 Watt, we left Athens with one final question: What's the hardest thing about being in a band? The answers are as true for them as they might be for a musician of any age.
Walt: Getting people to believe that we could play at this age as good as we do.
Zak: Getting the timing right.
Chase: Not having my own car.
Beau: Making your dreams come true. - Flagpole Magazine
Discography
Athens (2009)
Photos
Bio
"Athens" is a rock band named after its hometown, the legendary music hub, Athens, GA. The band is made up of four guys younger than most of their rock heroes’ last albums. Although these guys are all under 15, they rock out like they’ve been doing it for years. Their youthful energy and classic rock/metal inspired performance on stage has captured the attention of press, promoters, venue owners, teen girls and other musicians.
Chase “Squiggle” Brown (13) fronts the band on lead vocals and rhythm guitar. Beau “Monkey” Anderson (11) is the stage-stealing lead guitarist, backed by Walt “Mr. Responsible” Sorrow (14) on bass, and Zak “Attack” Smith (14) on drums.
Beau and Chase have been friends since they were three and six. More recently, the two studied with the same guitar teachers, Mike and Vanda Guthrie. They got together for a jam-date in the Spring of 2008 and Athens was officially born. They recruited Beau’s cousin Walt, already a skilled guitar player, who picked up the bass and was obviously born to play it. While ogling guitars at Guitar Center in Atlanta, the three heard what they described as a “mad man” banging the drums in a back room; it was there they found Zak “Attack” Smith and asked him to join.
Athens caught the interest of Nina Baldridge of Fast Forward Management, who hooked them up with Greedy White Citizen’s Austin Bolen and A New Effect’s Taylor Baldridge, who helped groom the band with writing workshops, group guitar lessons and rehearsals, rendering enough original material for an EP. Their renditions of rock classics “TNT,” “When I Come Around,” “Fly Me Courageous,” “School’s Out,” and “Rock n Roll,” made their stage show an immediate hit landing them a dozen gigs in their first months together.
Their performances at festivals, private events, and music venues in and around Athens inspired one venue owner to say he told all his musician friends to, “hang it up; everything you’re aspiring to musically has already been achieved by a group of kids.” Athens stole the show at the 2009 world-renowned music festival AthFest, and at the Athens Human Rights Festival. They have also rocked the stage at the Washington Wilkes Music Festival, where they were called by the local paper an act of “teen sensations,” as well as at Melting Point in Athens, a venue named in the “Top 40 Music Venues in the Country’ by Paste magazine.
Athens has captured the attention and praise of veteran rocker Carl Jah (Dread Zeppelin), who wrote a song for the band called “Roll On,” which is featured on their EP. Jah has become a mentor and one of the band’s biggest fans. They have also sparked interest from music industry professionals anxious to get the band out to a larger audience, including photographer Rusty Bailey who has captured their charisma and stage presence in photos and video.
Athens opened for one of their musical influences, Greedy White Citizen, at the Sweetwater Bar and Grill in Duluth, GA, and performed on stage with Carla Le Fever (Carla Le Fever and the Rays). Band members cite other sources of inspiration as Led Zeppelin, Boston, Def Leopard and AC/DC, Driving n Cryin and specifically musicians Eddie Van Halen, Angus Young, Jimmy Page, Neil Peart, John Bonham, Tommy Lee, Ted Nugent, Tommy Shaw, Steven Tyler, Robert Plant, Vince Neil, Cee Cee Deville, Bill Collins and Steve Clarke.
The band went in to Angelic Productions’ The Loft Studio in Atlanta with Eric “E-Rock” Heil in the summer of 2009. With Heil recording and mixing, and Nina Baldridge producing, the band laid down high-energy, rhythm-driven tracks like “Arguments,” “She Don’t Even Know,” and “Annoying” for their debut EP. The songs feature smoking hot guitar leads, busy baselines, and killer drums, with passionate vocals backed by all three other band members singing pitch perfect harmonies. The songs’ catchy lyrics reflect their experiences with classmates, each other, young love, and growing up.
The band is supported by a steadfast team of parents and teachers, including Beau’s father—a rocker himself—who says, “some dads are soccer dads; I’m a ‘Rocker Dad’.” One of Chase’s teachers, Steven Sacco, called Chase a “remarkable talent with a command of rhythm far beyond anything expected” from a person so young. Sacco booked Athens for two fundraiser Concerts for Kids, calling the band “polished” and “an exceptional act.”
In addition to their inner support circle, the band’s fan-base is exploding like wildfire with each show. The band members are extremely dedicated, spending all their free time watching music being played, listening to music, or making music themselves. They have big dreams about going on tour, playing big arenas and becoming professional musicians. They have jumped right in to the hard work of “making it,” writing, practicing, playing out, meeting with industry professionals, and recording in the studio. With their talents, enthusiasm, and support structure,
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