Shinedown

Infobox musical artist
Name = Shinedown


Img_capt =
Landscape =
Background = group_or_band
Origin = Jacksonville, Florida
Years_active = 2001-present
Genre = Hard rock, Post-grunge, Southern rock
Label = Atlantic Records
Associated_acts =
URL = [http://www.shinedown.com/ shinedown.com]
Current_members = Brent Smith
Barry Kerch
Zach Myers
Nick Perri Eric Bass
Past_members = Jasin Todd Brad Stewart|

Shinedown is an American hard rock band from Jacksonville, Florida formed in 2001 by Brad Stewart, Jasin Todd, and Barry Kerch. The band has formed a stable and loyal fanbase, and has thus far released three considerably successful albums on Atlantic Records, all of which have featured high charting singles such as "45", "Save Me", and "Devour".

To date, Shinedown has sold over 2 million albums worldwide.

Formation (2001-2002)

In May 2004, Brad Stewart shed significant light on the formation of the band during an interview with Metal-Rules.com:

"The band started with Brent Smith, our lead singer. He had a development deal with a different band on Atlantic and the label decided to move forward with Brent and not with the rest of his band. They allowed him to write with other people, develop his songwriting craft, and find the musicians that he wanted to work with. This led him to Jacksonville where he met Brad, the bass player, through a mutual friend of Brent’s A&R guy, local Jacksonville producer Pete Thornton. The two hit it off and guitarist Jasin Todd would join the band next. Jasin was in another band and wanted to concentrate on his guitar playing and didn’t want to sing and play any more in his other band. Jasin’s fiancé owned the studio where Brad and Brent were making the demos and Jasin got the chance to play with us. We just fit together. His attitude, style, and personality were exactly what we were looking for. Barry was our lucky #7 drummer. The 7th drummer we tried out. He blew us away. He was confident, powerful and had mad chops. We finally had a working band. We continued to make demos in Jacksonville and Orlando and Atlantic gave the green light to record our record. This was about 3 years ago." [http://www.metal-rules.com/interviews/shinedown-May2004.htm]

"Leave a Whisper" (2003-2004)

"Leave a Whisper" was released on July 15, 2003 and received a warm critical reception on the back of successful singles such as "Fly From the Inside" and the emotionally-charged, MTV-banned "45." The album quickly gained momentum and was certified Platinum by the RIAA in October 2005. A year after the album's initial release, it was re-released to capitalize on the strength of a new single, a cover of Lynyrd Skynyrd's classic "Simple Man." The band dedicated the song to their late friend, Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell, who died in 2004. This new edition also featured an acoustic version of "45" and a new mix of "Burning Bright."

The band's rigorous touring earned them much respect in the hard rock community, especially after the band opened for Van Halen in 2004. The band also released a live DVD called "Live From The Inside" in 2005 that documented a full-length concert held at The House of Blues in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

"Us and Them" (2005-2007)

After the hugely successful "Leave a Whisper" and accompanying tour, the band went back into the studio in 2005 to record their second album. On October 4, 2005, the band released "Us and Them", which went on to produce three singles; "Save Me", "I Dare You", and "Heroes". The lead single, "Save Me", maintained the #1 position of the Active Rock Charts for twelve weeks straight, setting a record for the band. The two other singles had similar success - "I Dare You" was notably performed on American Idol by Chris Daughtry. Us and Them was certified Gold by the RIAA in November 2006.

The album has three versions for release; the regular thirteen-track version, a limited edition with three bonus acoustic tracks, and a store-specific version with two bonus tracks: "Break" and "Carried Away". After the album's release the band took part in 2006's SnoCore Tour with Seether, Flyleaf, and Halestorm. After the tour, the band joined Trapt for the Equinox Tour. The band then proceeded to play their first overseas concert at the London Astoria on June 6, 2006, supporting Alter Bridge. In the summer of 2006, the band then opened for Godsmack and Rob Zombie on their tour of North America, effectively ending their rigorous touring schedule.

On December 12, 2006, Shinedown played a concert in Knoxville, Tennessee at The Tennessee Theatre which was filmed for a DVD the band was expected release later in 2007. However, after a show in Waukesha, WI on July 21, 2007, the band made it known that the DVD was scrapped by Atlantic Records. "We don't want to put anything out if the band is gonna be presented in the wrong way," Smith said. "I might be able to bootleg it later on ... but as of now I don't see it coming out." In late 2007 after taking some time off, the band returned to studio to record a new album.

"The Sound of Madness" (2007-Present)

The band began recording their new album in Los Angeles on September 20th, 2007. Their first single, "Devour", was released on May 6, 2008, and has proven a successful single, with it becoming their second #1 on the active rock chart. "Devour" was also the theme song for the WWE pay-per-view Night of Champions 2008 The video for the song was released in June 25, 2008. On June 17, 2008, the album in its entirety was put up on their MySpace page for listening. Shinedown's third album, "The Sound of Madness", was released on June 24, 2008. "The sound of madness" is based on 60 songs Smith submitted plus a few songs that were written in the studio during the recording process [ [http://www.side-line.com/news_comments.php?id=35066_0_2_2_C Shinedown releases 3rd album 'The sound of madness'] ] . The band played various festivals across North America before embarking on a tour in support of the new album.

Regarding the album, lead singer Brent Smith was quoted in an interview with Billboard.com as saying; "It's time to just go over the top, literally go above and beyond what a human being thinks they're capable of recording. We want to do a huge hard rock record that has a lot of crossover potential, but also some of the most insanely intense and heavy material that this band has ever tried - and see if we can pull it off." Smith noted that the group had more than forty songs to consider after writing sessions in Atlanta, Nashville and Los Angeles, but this was narrowed down to eleven songs for the standard album, and 14 songs for the deluxe edition.

During the fall of 2008 the band will be supporting Disturbed on their worldwide tour.

Members

Current

* Brent Smith – vocals (2001 - present)
* Barry Kerch – drums (2001 - present)
* Zach Myers - Guitar (2005 - present)*
* Nick Perri – Guitar (2008 - present)
* Eric Bass - Bass Guitar (2008 - present)

Former

* Jasin Todd - Guitar (2001 - 2008)
* Brad Stewart - Bass Guitar (2001 - 2007)

(* Zach Myers was touring guitarist from 2005-2007, and bassist from 2007-2008. In 2008 he became the permanent rhythm guitarist.)

Discography

tudio Albums

Live Albums

* "Live From The Inside". August 23, 2005

ingles

* "Burning Bright" reached #7 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart.

Music Videos

#45
#Simple Man
#Save Me
#Lady So Divine
#Devour

Other Material

# "Dirthouse" (Live Acoustic) - "Masters Of Horror II Soundtrack"
# "One" (U2 cover) - [http://www.strippedmusic.com/arch_shinedown.html See Here]
# "Tie Your Mother Down" (Queen cover) - ""
# "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" - John Lennon cover
# "Nutshell" (Live Alice In Chains cover with Seether) - ""
# "Sitting on the Dock of the Bay" (Live Otis Redding cover) [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCp2sySZA04 See Here]

Features in other Media

* "I Dare You" was a secondary theme song for WWE "WrestleMania 22", and was performed by Chris Daughtry on the fifth season of American Idol. [http://www.americanidol.com/contestants/season5/chris_daughtry/"]
* "Save Me" was the official theme song for WWE No Mercy 2005.
* "Devour" was the official theme song for WWE's 2008 Night of Champions. The single will also be featured on ESPN throughout the current major league baseball season, and will be included on the soundtrack to EA Sports' "Madden NFL 09" video game.
* "Fly from the Inside" was used in the movie "Grind", and was also featured in the EA Sports game "MVP Baseball 2003" and in "MX Vs. ATV UNLEASHED".
* "45" has been used by pitcher Bronson Arroyo of the Cincinnati Reds as his entrance music.
* In support of the new album, Shinedown has contributed "Devour", along with the fan favorite, never-before-released "Junkies for Fame", as downloadable tracks for the video game "Rock Band". [ [http://www.rockband.com/forums/showthread.php?t=64551 Rock Band DLC Week of July 22nd - Nine Inch Nails and Shinedown] ]
* "Second Chance" is used in a promo for Season 2 of "". [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUQGEAbtGR0"]
* "Devour" is the opening theme of MTV's .

Collaborations

* The songs "Save Me" and "Nutshell" with Seether are featured on the album ""
* Lead vocalist Brent Smith is featured on the final version of WWE's new "ECW" Theme song with Saliva called "Don't Question My Heart".
* Vocalist Brent Smith is also credited as one of the writers of the song, "There And Back Again" along with Chris Daughtry on Daughtry's debut album. [ [http://repertoire.bmi.com/title.asp?blnWriter=True&blnPublisher=True&blnArtist=True&keyID=8506378&ShowNbr=0&ShowSeqNbr=0&querytype=WorkID BMI | Repertoire Search ] ]
*Lead singer Brent Smith provided backing vocals for the track "So Happy" by Theory of a Deadman.

Trivia

* "Simple Man" has been used as a tribute to Dimebag Darrell. [ [http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=z2l8O1JUrRo YouTube - Shinedown-Simple Man(Live) ] ]
* In 2005 Shinedown played the Station Family Fund show in Providence, RI, with Tesla to benefit the vicitims of the Station Night Club Fire.
*Brent Smith proposed to his girlfriend on July 9, 2008 on stage at The Valarium in his hometown of Knoxville, TN.

References

External links

* [http://www.shinedown.com Shinedown.com - Official website]
* [http://www.myspace.com/shinedown Shinedown's Myspace Profile]
* [http://www.shinedownnation.com/ Shinedown Nation - Shinedown's Official Fan Club]
* [http://www.ishotyourband.com/w/sd.html Live Photos of Shinedown via iShotYourBand.com]
* [http://www.floridaentertainmentscene.com/music/artists/shinedown/review/index.htm Shinedown Concert Review]
* [http://www.floridaentertainmentscene.com/music/artists/shinedown/gallery/2/gallery.html Shinedown at EDBD XIII Gallery by FloridaEntertainmentScene.com]
* [http://project961.com/iplaylist/artist/559284/?_show Shinedown on Demand]
* [http://www.project961.com/cc-common/ondemand Shinedown Acoustic Videos]