Music ~FacesTheBand

Look forward to Shinedown concerts as the Band Tours in 2008.

It takes more than simply cutting records for a band to make an impact in today’s fiercely competitive music scene.  Vying with television, movies, the Internet and video games for increasingly fickle audience attention, surviving record label pressure to be the next great thing, not to mention having to contend with file sharing networks and bootleg concert videos, makes the music business in the 21st century a difficult one.  Many bands toil for years with little to show, but every once in a while, one surfaces that has the talent, tenacity and ability to leverage new media realities.  Florida’s Shinedown is a prime example of a successful band that embraced the challenges facing the current music industry; not only surviving, but branching out and building an ever-increasing fan base.

Vocalist Brent Smith and drummer Barry Kerch are the remaining original members of Shinedown, having formed the group in 2001 along with Jasin Todd and Brad Stewart. Atlantic Records signed the hard rock quartet to a contract leading to the release of the first Shinedown cd, 2003’s Leave A Whisper.  Well-received by critics, CD sales were steady, helped along by the singles Fly From The Inside and 45 (along with its controversial, MTV-banned video).  Momentum continued to build into 2004, when Shinedown released a cover of the Lynyrd Skynyrd song Simple Man as a tribute to Pantera’s Dimebag Darrell, who had been gunned down while performing at a club earlier that year; Leave a Whisper was subsequently re-released.  Constant touring along with a well-deserved reputation as an energetic live act landed Shinedown the opening spot for Van Halen’s tour in 2004.  The critical mass gained during 2004 led to Leave A Whisper reaching Gold certification in 2005; it has since gone on to reach Platinum.

Licensing of Shinedown songs put the band on the soundtracks for movies, television shows and video games.  Their 2005 follow-up to Leave a Whisper entitled Us and Them found a waiting audience and it too eventually reached Gold status.  Furthering their exploration of other media outlets for their audience, the single I Dare You was used by contestant Chris Daughtry on American Idol.  2005 was also a good year for Shinedown videos, with the release of the Live From The Inside DVD, a video that captures what fans get to see in Shinedown concerts.

2008 seems likely to be a watershed year for the band.  Its third CD, The Sound of Madness, was released in June.  Looking at Shinedown photos, it’s obvious that the band has changed substantially since the debut CD.  Not only are there new faces, but there are more of them.  Smith and Kerch are still there, but Todd and Stewart are gone and a second guitarist has been added to support the heavier sound.  The cap to 2008’s success has been the inclusion of two Shinedown Tracks as playable content in Rock Band.  Look for Shinedown to be touring near you.