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 This
southern rock,
monster blues trio consisting of Brad Wilson (guitar,vocals), J.J.
Garcia (drums), and Brian James (bass) are from the southern
California area and have a track record of awards as big as the
state! At first listen to “Here
Before” I was
immediately convinced and greatly relieved by the fact that this was
not a mediocre, run-of-the-mill southern blues submission in any
sense of the expression. From beginning to end - and then again -
“Here Before”
made it hard to press the stop button.
Within the music of Stone, you can hear the echoes of everyone from
Clapton, Poco, Skynyrd to the Allman Brothers Band. And you may even
feel that they are cut from the same cloth of (real southern rock
blues!), I know I do.
During the 3rd track, “Cool
Running” (a
Poco/Firefall style blues, which had some of the best pickin’
I’ve heard in some time), I knew that it was time to really
listen. My first thought was If “Cool
Running”
isn’t a cover, then maybe it should be!” Throughout the rest of
this disc I heard plenty of full bass tones that were smooth as silk
by (Brian James), firey guitar and vocals by (Brad Williams), and
tight, precise drum beats executed by (JJ Garcia).
4th track “Home”
is a good southern-rock ballad... what can you say, “Something
Goin’ On” , 5th track, is a upbeat boogie with more guitar magic
and soul-driving vocals by Williams; 7th track, “I’m
Still Breathin’”
with the line ‘Cigarettes and coffee, trail of evidence leading to
a broken heart...’ is again, filled with an awesome lead,
rock-steady drummin’ and a blues vocal worthy of great
merits...” All the other original songs on “Here
Before”
(“Across the Mojave”, the mesmerizing “Never Again” and
especially “If
I Should Fall”,
which is definitely billboard material, have the seal of
authenticity in every category. The songwriting abilities of Stone
seem endless - “The
Ballad Of John Lee”
is a fast standard blues riff blessed with the wizardry of Brad, and
the last original tune, “Transition” is the last revelation of
the heart and soul of the great Stone “
Here Before is 11 originals and 4 covers including: (Baby,
What You Want Me To Do”,
“I Just Want To
Make Love To You”,
and “Further On
Up The Road”)
that rocks in the southern hemisphere of heaven... “Somebody put
these guys on the level they deserve.” All I can say is “I will
see this band again somewhere” - probably at the forefront of
Southern California’s 2nd coming of great Southern Rock (remember
the Eagles?).
Some Interesting
History about the band’s name:
Brad Wilson named the band after Stone Gossard (Pearl Jam), who was
going to name his side project “Shame”, but couldn’t because
Brad’s former band was named Shame and Brad had the rights to it.
Stone Gossard named his side project “Brad” instead - and so
Brad named his band Stone to return the favor! Now there’s a
“name story” you can be proud of!
Other
Accomplishments:
Recent accomplishments include
Stone’s
contribution to the soundtrack of John Carpenter’s Vampires with
their song “Teaser”, which was the only track with vocals on the
soundtrack - (the Vampire soundtrack in it’s entirety, won The
Saturn Award presented by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy
and Horror Films). Stone also won “Best Blues Rock Band” in Los
Angeles at the Rock City News Awards, “Outstanding Rock Artist”
at last fall’s LA Music Awards, and countless other awards
including JJ Garcias “Best Drummer of the Year Award” .
http://artists.mp3s.com/artist_song/699/699601.html
http://www.muen.net
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