DOWNBLEED

Downbleed's New Web site

Downbleed has a new web site - You can preview it during it's building phase at http://www.bandzoogle.com/downbleed/. Soon it will be renamed "downbleed.com", a month or so away... check it out!

Check out TRICITIES.com- Downbleed has a featured article on the Entertainment page.

downBleed CD Release Party – “Bleed For Me”

By: Xyon

In the winter of 1989, two cousins dreamed about playing the guitar, forming a band, and making an album. Soon both cousins were in bands and developing their style of music. Time passed, the two cousins eventually got married, but they never lost their passion for the music. Dawg (Kris), the lead guitarist, married a wife who supports his music career and Doug Fletcher, the drummer and lead singer, married Leona Drake. Leona had been playing the bass since she was fourteen and would use her talent to complete the band that was first called “Cheap Disguise”. As any band will tell you, finding the right place where it all “clicks” is a tough and lengthy process, but when it does it’s magical. That magic has been found with downBleed and their debut album “Bleed For Me.”

“For awhile we called ourselves ‘Cheap Disguise’ but soon our music started evolving and getting heavier,” Doug said during a round table discussion I had with the band before their show at O’Malley’s in Bristol. “One day Dawg came in and asked if we would care if we changed the name, and you know, it was the best thing to happen to us. Everything started clicking and meshing together. We started getting gigs and now this album!”

According to Doug and Leona, Dawg came up with the new name. “It was really pretty simple. I was tired of coming up with names that were already taken. For instance, for about – what Doug, 24 hours? – we called ourselves “Lifebleed” after one of the songs on the CD. But we found a band on the Internet that already had that name. It was just long enough time for me to really want that name, to really start feeling it. I was really let down so I just started putting together words that I thought sounded cool together. When I came up with downBleed, I presented it to the group and they liked it. We do everything as a group.”

The total group effort is what makes this band strong. Leona explains, “Not only are we family, but we like being around each other. That makes it so much easier. We collaborate equally on all the songs – from writing of the lyrics to writing the music.” Doug added that the after they get all their thoughts and ideas down, he organizes it into the format the band uses.

When asked how the recording process went, they all said, “Long!” with grins all around. The producer on the album is local favorite Gene Hughes and they recorded both in Johnson City and Bristol. According to Leona, “If it didn’t sound right to Gene, he would make us do it over and over until it sounded right. He was very professional getting everything to sound the way we wanted it to. It was so worth it!”

The band had a previous recording of demos that they recorded and gave out free at the shows. When this was mentioned they all got slight grimaces on their faces and Leona said, “The demo did not capture the character that the new CD has.” Doug said that because they are such perfectionists it was hard to hand those out, but it was all they had to get their name out to the public.

DownBleed’s new CD entitled, “Bleed For Me” will be available Feb 20 when they play Heather’s Hide-Away with a full line up that includes: Omega Tribe, WFO, and Underpass. If you buy it from the band it will be $6, but you will be able to find it soon at DADS (in Johnson City, Bristol, and Abingdon) and at the Music Palace (Rogersville) for $8.99.

Before long my time with downBleed had run out. First Dawg was called on stage for his sound check. As he left he said, “If you like heavy music then I think you will like this CD.” Next Leona’s was called. As she got up from the table she said, “You know, it is not about the money. What we hope to get out of this CD is some exposure, to help build our future playing the music we love.” As Doug watched his wife walk over to the stage he said, “You know, our music is from the heart, whatever we felt – that is what we wrote.”

From the advanced copy I was given, this album will live up to every expectation and is just a preview of things to come from downBleed. Samples of a couple of the songs from the new CD have been put on the Team Rock website (http://teamrock.blogspot.com) and are available to download. This CD has been a long process and I say, from the heart as well, It’s about time!

The Downbleed Collected Studio Update

DOWNBLEED HITS THE STUDIO




Nov. 13, 2003
We hit the studio wide open Thursday night to begin work on our first studio release "Bleed For Me." Gene Hughes will be handling the task for us and we are very lucky to be working with him. We laid down all of the drum tracks and also got "scratch tracks" of the guitar and bass that will be over-dubbed later. We will keep you updated on the progress of the cd so keep checking back for the latest info!!

STUDIO UPDATE 2




Dec. 6th, 2003
Well, it's time for another update from the studio! We finished up all of the guitar rhythm parts today and only lack the solos on those. We'll be hitting the bass tracks hopefully early next week. Then it's the guitar solos and the vocals, so it is definitley coming along nicely. It's sounding great and we can't wait to get this thing done and ready to unleash. As always, we'll keep you posted on the progress.

STUDIO UPDATE 3



Saturday, December 13, 2003
Well, the progress of the cd is chugging right along, therefore it's time for another update! We went back in the studio Saturday and knocked out all of the bass lines so we are one step closer to having this thing wrapped up. All we need now are the guitar solos and vocals. So sit tight 'Bleedfreaks, it won't be long now. As always, we'll keep you updated on the progress...

STUDIO UPDATE 4

Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2003
We are now one step away from completing our debut cd, "Bleed for Me." We hit the studio again Tuesday and wrapped up the lead guitars and solos. That leaves just the lead and backing vocals. We will be getting those ASAP, as we are very excited about this project. It is sounding great so far, Gene Hughes is doing a killer job and we recommend him to anyone wanting to record.

STUDIO UPDATE 5

Sun. Dec. 28, 2003
Well, it's official. All of the tracks are laid down for the new cd!! We hit the studio Sunday and knocked out all of the lead and backing vocals, so that leaves only the mixing/mastering process and we'll be ready to unleash this beast. Hopefully within the next week we'll be back in the studio for the mixing process and finish it up.

Downbleed Comment Section Added

Just added a Comment Section. Let's see how well it works.

Bleed for Me!

Team Rock and Friends With Downbleed @ Rafters

DownBleed - Guest Post from Xyon at Team Rock

Friday night (9/19/03) Downbleed blew the top off the 7th Street Cafe in Bristol and Saturday night (9/20/03) was no different. The ability to draw the audience into the bands world of rock with their hard and heavy music has become Downbleed's trademark (at least for me).

The Band:

Dawg - When you talk to Dawg, his is one of the nicest persons you could possibly talk with. The thing not to do though, is get between him and his guitar. He blisters through each song while making it all look so easy. Don't let his nice guy charm deceive you because he is meaner than hell on the guitar.

Leona - She is the Bassist extraordinaire. Her red hair only fuels her passion as she makes the bass contort to her wishes. She has fingers of steel that whip over the strings and sometimes applies so much pressure that they snap every now and again.

Doug - Drummer and Lead Vocals. Doug's heart and soul downbleeds onto the stage with every song. His intensity on the drums are matched with his equally intense vocals. He can only be upstaged by his son...

...which happened Saturday night. During their 3rd song, "Bleed For Me," Gunnar, Doug and Leona's 5 year old son, grabbed a microphone and accompanied his dad on vocals. He had complete stage control as he danced around (moshing for kids 101) and singing. Like father - Like son.

In this day of bands being thrown into the spotlight before they are really ready and one or two people emerging as "leader(s)" of the band, it is really refreshing to see a band like Downbleed that have equality amond the ranks (or lack of ranks). They have an all or nothing attitude toward their respective bands with the whole band involved with the decision making process. In my opinion, for what it worth, this style will keep them together for a long time. Let's hope anyway. :)

Do yourself a favor and make one of these shows soon!

Xyon