Virgos Merlot

Infobox musical artist
Name = Virgos Merlot


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Alias = Virgos
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Origin = Birmingham, Alabama/ Orlando, Florida, U.S.
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Genre = Hard rock Alternative metal
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Years_active = 1998 – 2002?
Label = Atlantic Records
Associated_acts = Course of Nature Creed Dark New Day theDeadline The Devine Downstem Red Halo
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Past_members = Brett Hestla
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Virgos Merlot was a hard rock band formed in 1998. Their singular album, "Signs of a Vacant Soul", was released in 1999, and featured densely-produced atmospheric guitars, a heavy rhythm presence, and the commanding vocals of lead singer Brett Hestla.

Perhaps due to lackluster sales and its lukewarm critical reception, the original lineup disbanded sometime after the release of "Signs of a Vacant Soul". The band later reformed for a short while without guitarist Jason Marchant. Due to legal red tape, they were known simply as Virgos and released their only album, "The Path of Least Resistance", under Hestla and Marchant's old record label, Devine. The Devine was also the name of the band Hestla and Marchant were members of prior to the formation of Virgos Merlot. The Devine's only record, "Victim", was also released under this label.

After touring with Creed as replacement for bassist Brian Marshall, Hestla joined Dark New Day in 2004.

Marchant, JD and Ledbetter went on to form the band [http://www.redhalorocks.com/ Red Halo] .Chris Dickerson later played bass for Downstem [with JD on drums] and Course of Nature.

Just announced October 9th 2008, 4 of the original 5 band members have decided to reunite for a 10 year anniversary, a show has been scheduled for January 9th 2009 at The Workplay Theatre in Birmingham, AL. The show will feature Marchant on lead guitar, Deacon on guitar, Chris Dickerson on Bass, JD on drums, and Chase from Red Halo on Vocals. An EP is also being recorded with 3 new Virgos Merlot songs. All updates will be directed through [http://www.virgosmerlot.net/ http://www.virgosmerlot.net] which is their new official website.

Members

* Chase - Vocals, Guitar
* Jason Marchant - Guitar
* Ted "Deacon" Ledbetter - Guitar
* Chris Dickerson - Bass, Vocals
* JD Charlton - Drums

Discography

* "Signs of a Vacant Soul" (1999, Atlantic)
* (As Virgos) "Collapse EP" (2002, Devine) [ [http://www.inmusicwetrust.com/articles/52r50.html In Music We Trust - Virgos: Path of Least Resistance ] ]
* (As Virgos) "The Path of Least Resistance" (2002, Devine) [ [http://www.inmusicwetrust.com/articles/52r50.html In Music We Trust - Virgos: Path of Least Resistance ] ]

ingles

External links

* [http://www.virgosmerlot.net http://www.virgosmerlot.net]
* [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/virgosmerlot Virgos Merlot] at Rolling Stone

References