Away Team

February 22, 2012 – 12 STONES will release their fourth album, BENEATH THE SCARS, May 22 on the Executive Music Group label via Fontana/Universal.  The band joined forces, once again, with producer Skidd Mills (Saving Abel, Skillet, Saliva), who had previously worked with 12 STONES on 2007’s ANTHEM FOR THE UNDERDOG.  The first single, “Infected,” mixed by Johnny K (3 Doors Down, Disturbed, Staind), is currently being serviced to Rock radio and will be available for download on iTunes and Amazon on February 28.

Fans who pre-order BENEATH THE SCARS from the band’s official website will have early download access to six songs starting March 6.  The rest of the album will then be made available on May 22.

A lyric video for “Infected” recently premiered on Loudwire.com and can be seen below.  As singer Paul McCoy explains, “The song ‘Infected’ was written about the messed up state of the world. It speaks about how crazy these times are, and about being fed up with the chaos and hatred.”

Early buzz for BENEATH THE SCARS surfaced last year as the track “Bulletproof”—which was mixed by Mike Shipley (Green Day, 30 Seconds To Mars)–made its way onto Rock radio stations across the country, including SiriusXM’s “Octane,” WIIL (Chicago), WBSX (Wilkes-Barre), KDJE (Little Rock), WRXW (Jackson), KFRQ (McAllen) and KHTQ (Spokane).  It reached #1 on the CMW “Rock” chart, where it lived for eight consecutive weeks.

As singer Paul McCoy explains, “The album title comes from knowing that we all eventually fall short of our expectations regardless of financial, emotional, physical well being.  But in the same breath, we all strive to find a way to better ourselves.  That’s human nature.  There are always two sides to people.  It’s all about realizing that we all bleed the same.  We are ALL human.  Lyrically, the songs capture the essence of life’s challenges.  As an example, the song ‘I’m With You’ is about the impact a friend’s suicide had on all of us in the band.  It’s a song of hope for those that are going through the trials we all face and the hardships that are a part of life.”

A new partnership with the Executive Music Group and a recording that is the realized vision of a decade of finding their voice in BENEATH THE SCARS has delivered a renewed passion for the future of 12 STONES.  “Thanks to EMG,” says McCoy, “we have found a new love for this industry.  I think that people forget how hard it is to succeed when you don’t have the right people in place.  We think that we are finally poised to break through the mold.  I have never felt stronger about what we are doing and I think that this is only the beginning for this band.”  Guitarist Eric Weaver added, “EMG, and their partners in Fontana/Universal, are all supporting the vision that we have for the band.  We’ve always wanted to reach out to our fans that are all over the world, and finally we’re getting to do that.  Our first tour in support of BENEATH THE SCARS will be in the U.S., and the opportunity to tour globally is something we have been waiting years for.”

12 STONES’ previous albums and singles have sold over one million copies in the U.S., in addition to singer Paul McCoy winning a Grammy® Award for “Best Hard Rock Performance” for his contribution on Evanescence’s “Bring Me To Life” smash hit single which went on to sell over 14 million albums worldwide.  The band has also garnered multiple GMA Dove Nominations for their singles “Broken” and “Lie To Me.”

Here’s the complete track listing of BENEATH THE SCARS:

1. Infected

2. Bulletproof

3. For The Night

4. Worlds Collide

5. That Changes Everything

6. The One Thing

7. Blind

8. I’m With You

9. Bury Me

10.        Psycho

11.        Only Human

12.        Someone Like You

13.        Shine On Me

14.        Pretty Poison

January 19, 2012 — JANUS—singer David Scotney, guitarist Mike Tyranski, bassist Alan Quitman and drummer Johnny Salazar—experienced great success with their 2009 debut album, RED RIGHT RETURN, but the band’s new album, NOX AERIS, reveals how far they’ve come.

That musical revelation is the self-produced NOX AERIS, which is due out March 27 on REALID Records (through Warner Music Group’s Independent Label Group).  The first single, “Stains,” is already getting spins at WIIL (Chicago), KPNT (St. Louis), WBUZ (Nashville), WJJO (Madison), WWBN (Flint), KHTQ (Spokane), as well as SiriusXM’s “Octane” and “Hard Drive XL.”  Early feedback includes Zigz at WBUZ (Nashville), who says, “If ‘Stains’ is a taste of things to come… then 2012 is going to be a great year for Janus.  They’ve hit on a new level with ‘Stains’… this track is righteous.”

 “Stains” explores what can happen when you don’t follow your heart, the marks left on your spirit when you become someone you’re not.  “It embodies what I was trying to say on the record,” says singer David Scotney, “it’s a dark point of view, but represents a cathartic process of self-healing.”

In 2012 touring news, the band’s first round of tour dates will be with Chevelle and Middle Class Rut starting February 24 in Grand Rapids, MI.  Additional dates will be announced in the coming weeks.

The record’s title, which is Latin for “night air,” comes from the 14th Century, a period where a third of the European population was killed off by the plague.  Then, people believed going outdoors at night would cause them to succumb to the Black Death.  While writing NOX AERIS, JANUS found this idea to be an apt metaphor for their own journey, preconceived notions of their own being flipped around as they became a bigger, more established band since the release of RED RIGHT RETURN.  NOX AERIS reveals who JANUS is and what they’ve gone through.

RED RIGHT RETURN came out in September 2009 on REALID Records and spawned the Top 10 Active Rock hit, “Eyesore.”  They spent months on the road touring with Chevelle, Sick Puppies, Sevendust, Pop Evil, Halestorm, Five Finger Death Punch, and Alice In Chains.  JANUS also sold-out numerous headlining shows of their own, appeared on MTV’s “Headbangers Ball” and performed in the biggest rock festivals in the U.S., including Rock On The Range.  Absolutepunk.net raved about the album:  “There are a few bands, given the opportunity, could take the radio by storm.  JANUS is a perfect example of this type of band.  If they were given the chance, and played on some larger radio stations alongside all of our alternative ‘favorites’ (sound-alikes), they could earn themselves hordes of fans.”  While Away-team.com hailed in a 9 out of 10 album review:  “Brilliant on many levels and impeccably engineered and produced to perfection.”

Check out JANUS with Chevelle and Middle Class Rut at any of the following stops:

 DATE               CITY                             VENUE

 Fri 2/24             Grand Rapids, MI          Orbit Room

Sat 2/25            Fort Wayne, IN              Piere’s

Sun 2/26           Niagara Falls, NY          Rapids Theatre

Tue 2/28            Portland, ME                 State Theater

Wed 2/29          New York, NY               Irving Plaza

Fri 3/2               Providence, RI              Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel

Sat 3/3              Atlantic City, NJ            House of Blues

Mon 3/5            Baltimore, MD               Rams Head Live

Tue 3/6             Norfolk, VA                   The Norva

Thu 3/8             Knoxville, TN                 Valarium

Fri 3/9               Nashville, TN                 Marathon Music

Sat 3/10            Indianapolis, IN            Egyptian Room at Old National Centre

Sun 3/11           Springfield, MO                         Gillioz Theatre

Tue 3/13            Wichita, KS                   Cotillion Ballroom

Wed 3/14          Omaha, NE                   Sokol Auditorium

Fri 3/16             Oklahoma City, OK        Diamond Ballroom

For more JANUS visit the band’s official website here.

 

May 10, 2011 — “Sometimes you’ve got to burn the past to rise up from the ashes,” sings BURN HALO frontman James Hart.  What started out as Hart’s solo project has been laid to rest and reborn in BURN HALO’s sophomore album UP FROM THE ASHES. Due out June 28 on Rawkhead Records (through Warner Music Group’s Independent Label Group) and produced by Colby Wedgeworth, this new collection confirms BURN HALO’s evolution from being essentially a solo project by former 18 Visions singer/songwriter James Hart to a full-blown, collaborative band.  The music has grown too, and now marries the anthemic, radio-ready hard rock of their 2009 self-titled debut to metalcore flourishes reminiscent of 18 Visions.

The band—James Hart (vocals), Joey Roxx (guitar), Brandon Lynn (guitar), Aaron Boehler (bass), Dillon Ray (drums)—is already receiving early radio support for the first single, “Tear It Down,” from stations such as SiriusXM’s “Octane,”  WIIL (Chicago), KHTQ (Spokane), WCCC (Hartford) and WJJO (Madison).  A video for the song will be hitting the TV and Internet airwaves before the end of the month.  A behind-the-scenes teaser clip was recently posted on the band’s YouTube page here:  http://bit.ly/iOriSG.

“We wanted our own identity,” says singer James Hart. To achieve that, BURN HALO would collaborate in the studio for the first time.  “This album is us.  This is BURN HALO,” states guitarist Brandon Lynn.  Bassist Aaron Boehler was the first to initiate the writing process with drummer Dillon Ray.  Brandon and lead guitarist Joey Roxx quickly followed suit and began compositions of their own.  It was Brandon who was the real architect in the musical direction of the new album.  “Most of the songs we were writing early on were very standard rock songs,” says James.  “I had written an old song called ‘Dakota’ that was much more aggressive and a lot heavier,” says Brandon.  “To me, ‘Dakota’ is the most important track on the album,” explains James. “Without that track, we don’t have the album we have.” The path was clear and what they would pave out from there would be 11 bone-crushing rock songs that touch on every edge of the rock/metal spectrum.

The future wasn’t always so clear for BURN HALO.  It took quite a while for their current lineup to come together.  “There were just a couple of things that never felt right,” said James of touring prior to the recent band additions.  It was bassist Aaron Boehler who brought friend and fellow Tulsa, OK resident Brandon Lynn to the band in 2009 when the band needed a fill-in on rhythm guitar.  “It just felt right after one rehearsal,” James said of Brandon joining BURN HALO.  In early 2010, it was Aaron again who had targeted his best friend and previous band mate Dillon Ray to take over on the drums.  “The three of us living in Tulsa just gave us a great opportunity to work on the songs for tour,” Aaron states.  “I had been lobbying for Dillon to join the band since day one.”

Songs from the band’s debut album, which went on to sell over 25,000 copies, were heard frequently on WWE and ESPN, as well as the season finale of “Friday Night Lights.” It also spawned the hit single, “Dirty Little Girl,” which features a guest appearance by Avenged Sevenfold’s Synyster Gates.  Alternative Press had described the album as “…a raucous collection of arena-ready rock songs…” While Outburn had praised:  “…this self-titled debut doesn’t just rock a little, this disc is loaded with sing-along anthems that will get stuck in your head for days…this is a must have record that will spend more time spinning in your player than sitting on the shelf.  9 out of 10.”

On the touring front, the band has already racked up a slew of dates with bands such as Avenged Sevenfold, Korn, Buckcherry & Papa Roach.  They’ll be hitting the U.S. concert trail this summer, with dates currently being confirmed.

Here’s the complete track listing for UP FROM THE ASHES:

1. Tear It Down
2. Up From The Ashes
3. Stranded
4. Threw It All Away
5. Alone
6. Stuck In A Rut
7. Give Me A Sign
8. Dakota
9. Rest My Soul
10. I Won’t Back Down
11. Shine

www.myspace.com/burnhalo
www.facebook.com/burnhalo
www.twitter.com/burnhalomusic

iTunes Ping page – http://c.itunes.apple.com/us/profile/id-11804
“Tear It Down” iTunes link – http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/tear-it-down-single/id430249113