THE PHÖENIIX

"Out of the Ashes, Arose in Crimson Sunlight. . . The Firebird Beckons Near! BEHOLD THE PHÖENIIX!!!" None are certain when the legend of the great firebird began. As far as this band is concerned, the story begins in the year 1997. Vocalist Jeremy Penick was a drummer practically since birth. He was in a band entitled "Taste of Nails" at 12 years of age. This is when he began writing his own music and lyrics. The first song written was called Experience. The lyrics changed through the years into what is now known by the title, "The Romantic Lunacy." He began singing in high school with the choir at Mt. Vernon Senior High School in Mt. Vernon, Indiana at the age of 16. After singing in the USI Chamber Choir in Evansville, Indiana, he moved to Maryland. His influences of musical theatre, 80's rock, and Classical vocals made it very hard for most of the bands he was in to reach his own creative expectations. As a drummer in previous bands, he realized that he was getting tired of lead vocalists not following key structure and harmonious balance. After leaving the band, "Fall of Dawn" in 2006, he decided he was going to move forward with his dream of creating an album with his influences of musical theatre, and heavy metal. In the early part of 2007 he played his song "The Tragedy of Cleopatra" alone to manager Danno Mattice. Immediately Danno picked Jeremy up and they decided to make this dream a reality. Soon to join the band was guitarists Donnie Clelland and Johnny Glennon. Together they created the song "My Dark Deception". Johnny G. would soon have to leave the creative sessions for work related reasons. At this point Jeremy had written "Overture", "Into the Dream", and "The Passion Play" all through the popular computer program Finale'. After listening to the creations, Donnie and Jeremy were an inseperable duo. In the fall of 2007 the band first came together to jam. These members included Jeremy Penick on vocals and drums, Donnie Clelland on guitar, Ken Glory on guitar, Lyndon Hill on guitar. The guitarists switched around on bass to see who would fit the best role. Danno Mattice and the rest of the band fealt the Lyndon was too immature for inclusion into the band. After Lyndon parted ways, Bass player Alan Simpson joined the band. Thus was the original line up. The "band" now had the task of weilding their musical weapons of choice in an effort to emulate that which Jeremy had placed before them. The band, after countless sessions of practice and learning, decided to record their first album and fulfill Jeremy's long awaited dream, "The Tragedy of Cleopatra", without playing one show. The album was recorded at Electric Love Studios with guitar virtuoso, Ney Mello. The album, in an almost completed stage, was mixed by one of Jeremy's old friends, and former lead guitar player of "Fall of Dawn", Dan Maloney. Artwork for the Album had to compliment the true meaning of the music. Manager Danno and Jeremy pulled their creative minds together and formulated a masterpiece. The album was sent to Oasis Disc Manufactures, mass produced, and the rest is history! Following the arrival of the completed album, the band knew that the word of "The Phoeniix" needed to be shared with the public. The band needed to play some shows in order to accomplish this to share the CD and promote their name. As Jeremy is an experienced front man, the band knew they needed to find a drummer for these shows. However, it was difficult to find someone who had the talent to play the music that was not their own. Eventually a friend of Ken Glory's played the part at their first show in Deale, MD at the South County Festival. After a success at the show a large blow was about to be struck. Three band members would leave the band. The Drummer at the show was immediately gone. Ken Glory was going to college and needed to focus on his studies. Alan Simpson was expecting a child, and wanted to spend more time with his family. This left only Manager Danno Mattice, guitarist Donnie Clelland, and Vocalist Jeremy Penick. Lyndon Hill came back to help out the band on guitar. In the Fall of 2008 the band would finally be on their feet again. One night at a local restaurant Jeremy Penick ran into old coleague, Rob Poetzman, of the band "Still Unbroken." After a long discussion of the concept of the album and music theology for it, Rob decided to try out for the bass guitar slot in the band. He was accepted beyond 5 stars of approval for the slot. However, one night he made the mistake of going behind Jeremy's drum set. Long story short, the band begged him to play drums. He accepted. The band then attained bassist Chris Yates. Tension grew between Donnie Clelland and Lydon Hill. Artistic differences caused Lyndon to leave the band. Meanwhile there were multiple shows booked. For a show with Gorilla Productions at Jaxx, in Alexandria, Virginia, Ken Glory came back to the band to help them out. M