Away Team

March 29, 2012 — To get fans ready for the May 22 release of their fourth album, BENEATH THE SCARS (Executive Music Group label via Fontana/Universal), 12 STONES is hitting the road with Saliva and Royal Bliss starting April 18 in West Springfield, VA.

For  BENEATH THE SCARS, the New Orleans 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 spinning on Active Rock stations nationwide and is available for download on iTunes and Amazon.  Fans who pre-order the album from band’s official website  will have early download access to six songs.  The rest of the album will then be made available on May 22.

A lyric video for “Infected” can be seen below.  As singer Paul McCoy explains, “The song 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.”

Check out 12 STONES at any of the following stops, with more dates being added in the coming days.  Fans should check any of the band’s websites for updated information.

DATE        CITY            VENUE

With Saliva and Royal Bliss:

Wed 4/18    West Springfield, VA    Empire

Fri 4/20        Vienna, WV        YellowBeards Tavern

Sat 4/21    Maggie Valley, NC    Stingrays

Sun 4/22    North Charleston, NC    Market Street Saloon

Thu 4/26    Mt. Clemens, MI    Emerald Theatre

Sat 4/28    Flint, MI            Machine Shop

Fri 5/11        Broussard, LA        The Station Bar and Grill

For More 12 Stones visit their official website or click here.

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

3 DOORS DOWN- Time of My Life

Universal/ Republic

Rating:  7 out of 10

Reviewed by: Jay Rybak

While I admittedly have not been a fan of much of the work 3 Doors Down has done as of late, I have been digging their new single “Every Time You Go”.  That being said, I decided to delve into their latest offering Time of My Life to see what other ear-pleasing entrees lie within.  What I found was an album packed with more ups and downs than the ongoing NFL Labor negotiations.

The album jumps out of the gates with the guitar-heavy, high energy title track.  Once we get primed and ready to go, the boys from Mississippi take things down a notch with their hit ballad, “When You’re Young”.  Enjoyable nonetheless, the first single off of the album is an ode to overbearing parental guidance and crushed dreams.  From here, the train gets rolling again with “Round and Round”.  Though not the Ratt cover I was hoping for when I saw the name of the track, this one is another high energy cymbal-smasher that keeps drummer Greg Upchurch busier than Tiger Woods at a Sorority Slumber Party.

The up and down pattern continues through the next couple of tracks; from the self-lamenting love ballad “Heaven”, to the energetic “Race For the Sun”.  “Back to Me” follows up with a musical sound similar to that of Shinedown’s .45, but is unfortunately combined with a lyrical quality that makes it destined to be the song of choice for high-school Romeo’s trying to get to first base at the school dance.

One of the album’s least desirable tracks is followed up by one of it’s brightest spots.  The latest single “Every Time You Go” is a catchy, solid tune, destined for major radio play.  It’s one of those songs you “hate to love”, because once it gets in your head it stays there like the friend we’ve all had that doesn’t quite know when it’s time to head home.  Despite not every song in the album’s first half being a home run hitter, I can still see myself singing karaoke to any one of them after indulging in a few adult beverages.

You ask “What’s Left?”  Well that just so happens to be the name of the next track in this ballad-rocker roller coaster.  The aforementioned is a slight departure from the norm, in that upon first listen you might think your CD player malfunctioned and you were listening to the Country music station.  That doesn’t necessarily make it a bad song, let’s just call it different.  Speaking of different, the next track, “On The Run”, is an interesting musical mashup that sounds like Matchbox 20 teamed up with Jake E. Lee on guitar.  A tough call, definitely one that will require several more listens before I make my love/hate determination.

Track #10, “She Is Love”, I do not.  This is by no means a knock on Santana, but the emulation of the latin guitar god’s style on this track, leaves us with something more suitable for a retirement community dining room.  Within the first minute of this one I was overcome with the smell of White Diamonds and urine.  Once I got my bearings back and made sure there weren’t any dentures in my water, I was met with the pleasant surprise that is “My Way”.  This is 3 Doors Down in it’s purest… redemption.  Just as I was ready to write this one off as just another mediocre album from 3 Doors Down, enter the final chapter, “Believer”.  Now we’re talking!  This riff-heavy, fast paced, foot stomper is just the smash in the teeth they needed to rescue this album from mediocrity.  Perhaps my favorite song on the album, the guitar solo at approximately 2:15 is enough to make any air guitarists fingers bleed.  But be careful not to get any blood on the stereo when you press the repeat button on this one.

All in all, Time of My Life give you much more (and much less) than you bargained for, but the good outweighs the bad here, and this album comes Highly Recommended.

Time of My Life hits stores this Tuesday July 19th.  For more info on 3 Doors Down including tour dates, and to purchase music click here

12 STONES SET TO RELEASE NEW ALBUM, ‘ONLY HUMAN,’ AUGUST 23 ON THE EXECUTIVE MUSIC GROUP LABEL

As singer Paul McCoy recently explained to Revolvermag.com:  “One of the things
that I love about this record is that there are so many different things.  We’ve
got some songs that are really heavy and then some really nice songs that have a
full orchestra behind them.  There’s a lot of variety on this record.  Those 12
Stones fans that like the heavy stuff, we’ve got something for them.  And the 12
Stones people who like ‘Lie to Me’ and stuff like that, we’ve got plenty of
songs in there for them as well. This album’s our most mature for
sure.”

The New Orleans band’s previous albums and singles have sold over two 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.”

Stay tuned for further album details and news about the
band’s forthcoming summer tour.

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www.ExecutiveMusic.com