The Autumn Crush

The Autumn Crush began as a childhood dream dating back to 2004. Founding guitarist Ryan Etherington had been playing guitar for one year, and though he was told redheads have no chance of survival in the music industry, he still had a burning desire to jam with other musicians. Unfortunately, his elementary school severely lacked musicians. It lacked walls too, but that’s another story. Much to his dismay, he had no choice but to ask his buddy Dylan to start learning guitar so he’d finally have someone to jam with. He also asked his friend Dan, who already had an extensive knowledge of music. After about three months, Dan was shredding and Dylan was still struggling on a G chord. The boys were forced to tell Dylan the truth – he had to play bass instead. Every Friday night the three aspiring musicians would get together and go over every single KISS and Guns N’ Roses songs that they knew. Guns N’ Roses not only influenced Ryan’s guitar playing immensely but also informed him that his life up until that point had been a lie – redheads could make it in the music business. With that notion in place, the boys felt it was the right time to start a band.

Lacking a drummer and a singer, the boys began writing instrumentals and jam songs, some of which would later become the basis of The Autumn Crush. The three of them continued practicing for the next year until they ventured off into the next step of life – a place that wouldn’t accept Ryan for having red hair, a place that wouldn’t accept Dan for wearing glasses, and a place that wouldn’t accept Dylan for playing bass – high school. It was here where Ryan was awkwardly introduced to drummer James Oleksiak who subsequently introduced the guys to Brianne Lidstone, a singer driven with the passion to make an impact on the local music scene. The band was dubbed Trial & Temptation, and in retrospect, they were terrible. Well, maybe not that bad, but they still had much to learn. Shortly before entering the studio for the first time after winning some recording time in a local Battle of the Bands, James left the band to focus on playing blast beats in a hardcore band. Brianne filled in on drums for the recording while engineer Carmen Sorge introduced the band to Michael Lamb, a drummer with an unusual obsession with the ride bell. The band continued with this line-up for another year or so, playing various competitions before deciding it was time to move on.
Fast forward to 2010 – after a few months with no musical projects, Ryan, Dylan, and Brianne decided it was time to start fresh. Still playing with his ride bell, Mike was delighted to be asked to drum for the new project. Dan was busy with another band and decided not to be a part of this new project. As a result, the band was forced to look for a new guitar player. They had heard the name Steve Terreberry before – he was the guy who sat in his bedroom and played virtuoso metal. He was also widely known for only having his mother and sister for friends, but so what? He can shred! Though he hadn’t left his house in years, Steve was finally convinced to come out for a jam session. The result? The Autumn Crush. The connection could be felt for miles away – everybody just clicked. The last step was coming up with a band name that both sounded good and was easy to remember. After loading equipment into his house before one band practice, Ryan went back outside to close his garage door. Long story short – he caught his finger in the door and couldn’t play guitar for three months. Lucky for him, not only could he still play Smoke on the Water, but the band had a name: Crushed. Mike quickly decided that this name was too basic and suggested The Autumn Crush instead. Finally, everything was secure!

Fast forward once more to 2011 – the release of The Autumn Crush’s debut album. At around the same time, the band was named the 2010 Runner-Up Band of the Year on ImageFM, an online radio station that promotes Canadian independent music. With the album out, the band was also invited to play acoustically on 91.7 Giant FM – Niagara’s classic rock radio station. After all the past annoyances of projects not working out, it seems that with these three accomplishments the band is finally making the name for themselves that they have always desired. The Autumn Crush will not slow down now – they will continue to bring their raw live shows and infectious music anywhere they can! Anybody who has witnessed The Autumn Crush has been left with a simple reaction – whoa. Time to let it burn!