We're absolutely excited about playing the all-ages Liahonaroo Festival. It will be a blast. I traveled to Nashville at one of the event coordinator's house, and with about twenty other very talented artists did a promo video. I did a quick snippet of "Slip" which was about as stripped down as possible as could be. If a song is able to be stripped down to just vocals and an acoustic guitar, then it's worth something.
The band just got out of Beech Creek Studios finishing up all of the instruments and got to lay down one vocal track. We're ecstatic how it's going and sounding. The single "Black Widow" rips open with a thunderous drum track and yes some "cowbell" then the powerfully fuzzed B3 Hammond Organ. Hopefully, everyone will get to hear this track as soon as we get it back. So, we can wet your whistle with just one track to hold you over till you get the rest of the hot tracks.
Before all of this happens we're going to film an entire video with the Iphone 4 for our song "23". Throw some Zombie Apocalypse in the mix and see where that leaves us.
-Bran
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Monday, April 9, 2012
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Liahonaroo
Liahonaroo is a family friendly music and arts festival to be held on April 20-21, 2012 at the Wilson County Fairgrounds in Lebanon, Tennessee (just 30 minutes from Nashville).The festival is independently organized by a group of Mormon artists and musicians to celebrate positive and engaging music and art. The festival will provide artists and musicians of all faiths an outdoor venue (stage and booths) to showcase their talent.
Friday, April 20 from 7:00-11:00 p.m. Gates open 6:30 p.m.
Saturday, April 21 from 1:00-11:00 p.m. Gates open 12:30 p.m.
Sleep Nation will take the stage at 6pm on SATURDAY
Purchase tickets in advance and save! Ticket prices will increase on-site click here to purchase your tickets today!!
For more information visit liahonaroo.com/ or check it out on facebook!
Friday, April 20 from 7:00-11:00 p.m. Gates open 6:30 p.m.
Saturday, April 21 from 1:00-11:00 p.m. Gates open 12:30 p.m.
Sleep Nation will take the stage at 6pm on SATURDAY
Purchase tickets in advance and save! Ticket prices will increase on-site click here to purchase your tickets today!!
For more information visit liahonaroo.com/ or check it out on facebook!
Friday, April 6, 2012
A Nation of Three
“Check, check,” a deep voice comes through the speakers. A few practice notes from the guitar hit the airwaves. You hear the low strum of the bass. You feel the beat of the drums. This is it, the band is set, the crowd is anticipating those first notes and then there they are. The show has begun and you can’t help it—your foot has started involuntarily tapping along with the beat.
Micah Rowland, 22, is originally from McMinnville, Tenn., and is a current student at Tennessee Technical University (TTU) in Cookeville. Justin Swingler, 25, originally from Texas, graduated from TTU in 2011. Bran Merritt, 25, originally from McMinnville is also a TTU graduate. These are the guys who make up Sleep Nation, a homegrown band from Cookeville, Tenn.
In 2005, Swingler put a bulletin up on the social network Myspace looking for a guitarist and bass guitarist to start up a band. Merritt replied to the bulletin and soon there was a band put together with these two and two others. Swingler and Merritt both decided in time that this punk rock band was simply not the style of music they desired and soon parted ways.
A few years passed and we hit 2007. Swingler contacts Merritt once more to find out if the
guitarist is playing with anyone now. When he found out that Merritt was not committed to anyone, Swingler quickly jumped on the opportunity to join forces again with a “let’s get together and see what happens!” And so the band “Above” was created with four members.
After two of the members left in 2008 the guys found themselves in need of a bass player. A friend of Merritt mentioned Rowland. They contacted Rowland, telling him they needed a bass player for one show. Rowland accepted the offer for a one-show gig. Rowland said once he showed
up, unloaded his stuff and began to play he “knew the music that was coming from these two [Swingler and Merritt] was something I wanted to be a part of.”
And soon Sleep Nation was created.
Why Sleep Nation, you might wonder. So did I, and when I asked I got an answer I was not expecting.
Merritt explained, “Our nation (the United States) is asleep to all of the happenings in our world [today]. We don’t do anything.” They talked about how we sleep as a nation instead of standing up and aiding in the search for solutions for our world’s problems. I was not expecting such a deep explanation about a rock band’s name.
The band’s influences range from The Who to Blink 182, Led Zepplin to Nine-Inch-Nails, Switchfoot to Angels and Airwaves. They create their own sound and songs but also cover all different ranges of music.
I talked to the guys about their favorite songs to cover and when Swingler named his as “Sleep Now in the Fire” it took all of two seconds for he and Merritt, almost like it was practiced, to begin playing their air guitars and drums and giving me a glimpse of how the song goes.
This group is more than just a band; they are their own little family, or nation. Maybe their name comes from our own nation, but I don’t think they could’ve picked better. They are best friends. They are brothers by music.
Rowland explained that at times they need a break from each other, which
is completely understandable when you find out that not only are they bandmates, but also roommates. Rowland says it’s good to have a break every now and then and when they come back together that seems to be when they write some of their best music.
Sleep Nation’s shows start with a prayer before they take the stage. There is a passion with their
music that a lot of artists today lose. They don’t have to tell you about their passion, you can absolutely see it every time they collide with their instruments.
You can hear it in the strum of the guitar Merritt holds. You can feel it in the clash, bang, boom of the stick to the drum created by Swingler. You experience it when Rowland makes the bass hit that low growl. It’s there with every note, and you can’t help but take in every ounce of genuine, honest passion.
Not only is their show fun and upbeat, but I got a front row seat at my own private screening of a Sleep Nation practice; let me just say there is no lack of energy here either. They set up practice in the finished basement of their house; posters decorate the walls from the bands Tool, Led Zeppelin, Misfits and Pink Floyd. They put just as much effort in practice as if it were a real show.
It’s amazing to sit in on one of these practices and hear this band’s version of the classic Ben E. King tune “Stand by Me.” It has to be my favorite performance of this song I’ve heard.
You can sit there and hear them play cover after cover and be blown away, and then they break out into writing a new song and swish, you’re blown again. These guys are so talented. It’s incredible to watch how they put a song together.
Merritt has an idea, he starts to play, Swingler listens, you can see his mind at work as his head pulses to a beat only he can hear. He picks up the drum sticks and introduces the room to this beat. Then Rowland joins in with a bass line he has been thinking up and it all comes together somehow.
“You won’t hear curse words or some new love ballet come from this group,” says Swingler
“We wanted different topics people weren’t talking about. We wanted things we were passionate about,” declare Merritt.
Sleep Nation is looking to put out a full length record, and the way things are going, I’d place my money on this goal. If you’re ever in the Cookeville area be sure to look up this band. You can find the band on Facebook and on YouTube under ‘Sleep Nation.’ Make sure you watch for that album to hit shelves!
By: Haley Nelms
Micah Rowland, 22, is originally from McMinnville, Tenn., and is a current student at Tennessee Technical University (TTU) in Cookeville. Justin Swingler, 25, originally from Texas, graduated from TTU in 2011. Bran Merritt, 25, originally from McMinnville is also a TTU graduate. These are the guys who make up Sleep Nation, a homegrown band from Cookeville, Tenn.
In 2005, Swingler put a bulletin up on the social network Myspace looking for a guitarist and bass guitarist to start up a band. Merritt replied to the bulletin and soon there was a band put together with these two and two others. Swingler and Merritt both decided in time that this punk rock band was simply not the style of music they desired and soon parted ways.
A few years passed and we hit 2007. Swingler contacts Merritt once more to find out if the
guitarist is playing with anyone now. When he found out that Merritt was not committed to anyone, Swingler quickly jumped on the opportunity to join forces again with a “let’s get together and see what happens!” And so the band “Above” was created with four members.
After two of the members left in 2008 the guys found themselves in need of a bass player. A friend of Merritt mentioned Rowland. They contacted Rowland, telling him they needed a bass player for one show. Rowland accepted the offer for a one-show gig. Rowland said once he showed
up, unloaded his stuff and began to play he “knew the music that was coming from these two [Swingler and Merritt] was something I wanted to be a part of.”
And soon Sleep Nation was created.
Why Sleep Nation, you might wonder. So did I, and when I asked I got an answer I was not expecting.
Merritt explained, “Our nation (the United States) is asleep to all of the happenings in our world [today]. We don’t do anything.” They talked about how we sleep as a nation instead of standing up and aiding in the search for solutions for our world’s problems. I was not expecting such a deep explanation about a rock band’s name.
The band’s influences range from The Who to Blink 182, Led Zepplin to Nine-Inch-Nails, Switchfoot to Angels and Airwaves. They create their own sound and songs but also cover all different ranges of music.
I talked to the guys about their favorite songs to cover and when Swingler named his as “Sleep Now in the Fire” it took all of two seconds for he and Merritt, almost like it was practiced, to begin playing their air guitars and drums and giving me a glimpse of how the song goes.
This group is more than just a band; they are their own little family, or nation. Maybe their name comes from our own nation, but I don’t think they could’ve picked better. They are best friends. They are brothers by music.
Rowland explained that at times they need a break from each other, which
is completely understandable when you find out that not only are they bandmates, but also roommates. Rowland says it’s good to have a break every now and then and when they come back together that seems to be when they write some of their best music.
Sleep Nation’s shows start with a prayer before they take the stage. There is a passion with their
music that a lot of artists today lose. They don’t have to tell you about their passion, you can absolutely see it every time they collide with their instruments.
You can hear it in the strum of the guitar Merritt holds. You can feel it in the clash, bang, boom of the stick to the drum created by Swingler. You experience it when Rowland makes the bass hit that low growl. It’s there with every note, and you can’t help but take in every ounce of genuine, honest passion.
Not only is their show fun and upbeat, but I got a front row seat at my own private screening of a Sleep Nation practice; let me just say there is no lack of energy here either. They set up practice in the finished basement of their house; posters decorate the walls from the bands Tool, Led Zeppelin, Misfits and Pink Floyd. They put just as much effort in practice as if it were a real show.
It’s amazing to sit in on one of these practices and hear this band’s version of the classic Ben E. King tune “Stand by Me.” It has to be my favorite performance of this song I’ve heard.
You can sit there and hear them play cover after cover and be blown away, and then they break out into writing a new song and swish, you’re blown again. These guys are so talented. It’s incredible to watch how they put a song together.
Merritt has an idea, he starts to play, Swingler listens, you can see his mind at work as his head pulses to a beat only he can hear. He picks up the drum sticks and introduces the room to this beat. Then Rowland joins in with a bass line he has been thinking up and it all comes together somehow.
“You won’t hear curse words or some new love ballet come from this group,” says Swingler
“We wanted different topics people weren’t talking about. We wanted things we were passionate about,” declare Merritt.
Sleep Nation is looking to put out a full length record, and the way things are going, I’d place my money on this goal. If you’re ever in the Cookeville area be sure to look up this band. You can find the band on Facebook and on YouTube under ‘Sleep Nation.’ Make sure you watch for that album to hit shelves!
By: Haley Nelms
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