This is where geographical differences played a part, as central and west Florida had many venues for live music. In many industry meetings with band managers and label executives I attended in the past, they all hammered the importance of live performances.
They turned an average album into a success all because they made sure a larger audience would hear their music. Shinedown, because they were ready and willing to tour helped promote their album. While not an immediate success, through the extensive touring and successful singles, eventually certified platinum by the RIAA in the United States, indicating sales of over 1 million.Īnother familiar part of any story from Florida bands has to be the will to work extensively. The resulting work was the band’s début album, Leave a Whisper, which was released May 27, 2003. Most decisions are made with money in mind.
Tough, but record companies have to decide how they will invest funds. There were a few whom the label expressed interest in one or two members, forcing a band decision if they wanted to keep the contract. I can recall a few stories of bands being signed to record deals that did not work out. I cannot count how many times I have heard similar stories from other bands from Florida. The four worked together on creating demos, and submitted their work-in-progress material to Atlantic, who approved of the material and green-lighted a full-length album. The original lineup was rounded out by drummer Barry Kerch, who was the seventh drummer the band had auditioned for the spot. Smith and Stewart began recording demos together in a small local studio, whose owner recommended they meet with her fiancé, guitarist Jasin Todd, who Smith brought in as the third member. The first member he recruited was bassist Brad Stewart, through local Jacksonville music producer Pete Thornton. Smith moved to Jacksonville, Florida and began work on the project in 2001. Atlantic signed Smith to a development deal where record representatives helped him with his song-writing ability, and helped him recruit members for a new band, which would become Shinedown. The record label, unhappy with Dreve as a whole, dropped the band prior to releasing an album, but retained Smith, who they felt was worth developing separately as an artist. It all started back in the year 2000, when frontman Brent Smith’s prior band, “Dreve”, signed a record deal with Atlantic Records. After that you might listen to their music. Today, I just want the readers of Weekly Music Commentary to look at Shinedown’s story. Others might not know one song from the hard-rocking outfit.
Some readers may be part of the loyal fan base that has followed Shinedown for over fifteen years of music-making. As I read the story from this weeks’ featured band Shinedown, it reminded me of some of those stories I heard in past years. Throughout the years I have met members of all types of successful bands from every corner of the state. However, when it comes to rock bands, the struggle always appears the same. North Florida is quite different from South Florida. The state of Florida has many natural musical divisions. Since moving to Florida several years ago, I have learned a lot about local music scenes and music opportunities.
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