Sure Shot - by Run Kid Run

I just thought I'd say, that this is a band, that no matter what's going on, I can listen to & know life isn't quite so bad.

Run Kid Run is from Illinois.  Members [David] Josiah Curtis (vocals, guitar), Neil Endicott (guitar, bg vocals), & Matt Jackson (drums) all came from Side Walk Slam, but in 2006, they formed RKR (along with bassist Lyle Chastain, who was later replaced by Paul Stewart in 2007).  They were signed to Tooth & Nail Records, & released their debut LP “This is Who We Are” on May 16^th, 2006.  Their sophomore, “Love at the Core”, came on April 29^th, 2008; both albums were produced by James Paul Wisner (New Found Glory, Dashboard Confessional, Underoath).  The latter also made it to #28 on Billboard’s Heatseekers Albums chart.  RKR has a new album called "Patterns" that is due out Oct. 11^th, 2011.  This song is from “Love at the Core”.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPbcHxcDw_Q

Lost Forever - by Van Canto

A cappella metal = [epic] ‘win’.
Van Canto is from [somewhere in] Germany. They started in 2006 after Stefan Schmidt’s former band broke up – “he wanted to do something vocal oriented”, & after ‘playing’ around, he recorded a few songs with a few friends. This ‘vocal oriented’ project resulted in 5 vocalists* and a drummer doing a cappella metal – the reason, they explain, for having a drummer is stated on their website: “Well, we tried some guys imitating a double-bass drum only with their voices, but they all collapsed after 2 minutes of ‘Lifetime’”. They self-produced & released their debut “A Storm to Come” on their own label in Dec. 2006. A record deal with Sony followed, plus festivals & gigs alongside the likes of Nightwish, Rage, & more. Sept. of 2008 was when their sophomore “Hero” was dropped; more touring; then their third, “Tribe of Force” was released in Feb. 2010.  Their is another album set to be released at the end of September of this year.  This song is from "Tribe of Force".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJ0n-1FmFiw

*I found this kind of amusing - on their Facebook page, they listed the band members as such:
- Philip Dennis Schunke (Sly) – Lead Vocals
- Inga Scharf – Lead Vocals
- Ross Thompson – Higher Rakkatakka Vocals
- Stefan Schmidt – Lower Rakkatakka Vocals, Wahwah Solo Guitar Vocals
- Ingo Sterzinger (Ike) – Doom A Bass Vocals
- Bastian Emig – Drums

What You Make of Me - by Holding Onto Hope

I posted this song a few weeks ago (alongside "We Are the Beacon", but I wanted to share it again...
Holding Onto Hope is from San Luis Obispo, CA. They formed in Aug. of ’08, & did 3 nation-wide tours within a year-or-so’s time. They self-produced & released their album “Of the Sea” on Come&Live Records not long after. In 2010, they also started & finished a KickStarter for their to-be-project – they have since finished recording & it’s supposed to be out later this year; as well as a European Tour. This song is from “Of the Sea”.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtlaozFcgkU

& as an ‘update’ from the last time I posted about them…
They posted this (concerning their upcoming album) on their Tumblr page 3 months ago:
“… this record was recorded with Jeff Schneeweis (Secret & Whisper, Hawthorne Heights, Brighten) of Number One Gun”

Also, you can download "Of the Sea" for free from Come&Live Records (along with all the other artists' music they have on there)..:
http://comeandlive.com/downloads/  (<-- Holding Onto Hope's album is at the bottom of the page...)

Ginkgo Tree - by The Blue Sun

I'm kinda excited that I'm able to say "I know this fellow".
The Blue Sun is based out of Whitby, On.  Devin Vibert is the sole member - writing, singing, & performing/programming all the instruments, all in his home studio.  This project took form in 2006 - his first release, an EP titled “The Colours Collide” came in March 2007; followed by the full-length, “Free” in 2008.  “Morden Sunrise” (an LP)[2009] succeeded, then “Order in Chaos” (LP) & “Circumstance” (EP) were both released in 2010. He is now working on a third EP: “‘A Bomb Went Off’, [is] due to be released at some mysterious, exciting, & unexpected moment in 2011”.  In between all this, he became a university graduate, & is currently studying in a music program at Fanshawe College.  This song was released just yesterday, & it’s from the upcoming project ‘whose working title is’ “A Bomb Went Off”.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1WYJ8TQWKc


Also, you can download "Lighter Eyes" for free from The Blue Sun's PureVolume page:
http://www.purevolume.com/thebluesun

We Are One - by 12 Stones

To my/our neighbours to the South - Happy Independence day.

12 Stones started in 2000, in Mandeville, LA.  They were signed to Wind-Up Records (Evanescence, Finger Eleven, Five For Fighting) only 15 months later, & they released their self-titled debut album on April 23^rd, 2002 - & speaking of Evanescence, their 2003 song “Bring Me to Life” featured Paul McCoy (vocalist for 12 Stones)(unfortunately, as I found out just the other week, radio edits excluded him from the song…).  12 Stones' sophomore album “Potter’s Field” [Aug. 24^th, 2004] followed after their debut sold over 100,000 copies; & after that release, the band decided to take a two year hiatus from touring to spend time at home with their families.  Once they came back, they released "Anthem for the Underdog”, on Aug. 14^th, 2007.  Even more touring & spots followed, including a couple (or few?) songs featured in multiple wrestling shows.  “The Only Easy Day Was Yesterday” – their first EP - was released July 20^th, 2010, & was their final release on Wind-Up Records before signing to EMG for their upcoming release “Only Human”, which is set to hit the streets on Sept. 6^th, of this year.  This song is from “The Only Easy Day…”.

"We Are One" was written, as guitarist Justin Rimer says, “for our troops, but… we knew we had the opportunity to connect with people on so many levels… ‘We Are One’ is a statement for all types of people and all types of situations”.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqnA-CFE1YQ

Good Behavior - by Plumb

Mhmm.
Plumb is Tiffany Arbuckle Lee – she was born in 1975 in Indianapolis, IN, but ‘grew up in Atlanta, singing in church & school’. “At 19, she began working as a backup singer, in part to earn money to help pay for nursing school. She began doing studio work & then touring. College went by the board & she eventually moved to Nashville, where, a month before her 21st birthday, she signed with a small label”. She met guitarist Matt Bronlewee, formerly of Jars of Clay, & together they wrote the debut record for what became ‘Plumb’*. It was a self-titled album released in 1997 on Essential Records & it sold over 100,000 copies. “candycoatedwaterdrops” was the next in line, released in 1999, & it won Modern Rock Album of the Year at the 2000 GMA Dove Awards. In 2003, she released “Beautiful Lumps of Coal” on Curb Records, but as a ‘solo’ artist still under the name of Plumb. 2 more albums have followed, since, & there is now an upcoming album, titled “Faster Than a Bullet”. This song is from “Chaotic Resolve”, released Feb. 28th, 2006.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hZXw59NBwY

* - Tiffany Arbuckle Lee said this about the name in an interview: "...the name, "Plum", came from a song called "My Favorite Plum" by an artist named Suzanne Vega. I loved the song, and think that Suzanne is a great writer, so I added a "b" for character, and found that in Amos and Zachariah in the Bible, the "plumbline" represents the ultimate focus, Jesus Christ. So it has come to mean that to us, but it originated from a song title "

Oh Canada - by Five Iron Frenzy (Happy Canada Day!)

(unfortunately, I've stuff I need to do, so I'm not going to post like normal...  I just wanted to say -)
Happy Canada Day!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIrmPEyt0Nc
(& yes, I know they're American, but it's still a fun song...  :)