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Official Biography from the Fallout Release
Myles Kennedy - Lead guitar/lead vocals Raised in the semi-rural/semi-urban city of Spokane, Washington, the Mayfield Four are childhood friends, drawn together by their mutual love for music and their unflagging desire to play rock and roll. And ultimately, the Mayfield Four's Epic debut album is just that: a rock and roll record textured thick with intricate guitar work and aggressive rhythms. But Fallout is also an album crafted with intelligence and intimacy, an album that takes its inspiration from root sources like Motown and the Sufi devotional music called qawwali - as well as from bands like the Police, Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones. Recorded in late 1997 in Seattle and San Francisco, Fallout was produced by former Talking Heads member Jerry Harrison and recorded by Karl Derfler. Harrison was at the controls for Live's multi- platinum debut Throwing Copper as well as albums by the Violent Femmes, Rusted Root and The Verve Pipe. Brendan O'Brien, who has worked with Pearl Jam, Rage Against the Machine and Soundgarden, mixed Fallout at his studio in Atlanta. "The basic approach we took was to try and make this album be as honest as possible," says drummer Zia Uddin. Myles Kennedy, the lyricist and primary songwriter, agrees. "There's no BS. We laid it all out. I think that's really risky and really scary, but that's what wewanted to record." Articulate and compelling in its lyrical content, Fallout finds Kennedy exposing his demons, fears and scars with unflinching sincerity. From the title track's intimate explorations of a trust betrayed to the healing sentiments of "No One Nothing," these songs dig through the emotionalrubble of broken relationships, self-doubt, anguish, surrender and redemption. "I've gone through a lot of tough personal things in the last few years," Kennedy says. "The album is really therapeutic in thatregard, helping me work through a lot of things. I've saved a lot in counseling bills working on this record." The Mayfield Four also make dynamics a priority, both on the album as a whole an d within the individual songs. From the dark, gracefulmovements of "12/31" to th e seething riffs of "Shuddershell," the band deftly moves from muscular rock ene rgy to moments of delicate restraint. Kennedy's strikingly flexible voice weaves the two elements together as it careens from elegant highs to smoldering lows. "I learned to sing by listening to Stevie Wonder, as well as other Motown and St ax artists," he says. In addition to Wonder, the Mayfield Four place Marvin Gaye among their musical h eroes-hence their decision to cover the Gaye classic "Inner City Blues." Here, t he Mayfield Four pay due reverence to the soul master while lending their own pr ogressive edge to the song. The members of the Mayfield Four-all long-time musicians and friends from their early school years-formed as a band in Spokane during the summer of 1996. "From our first rehearsal we knew that we had something extremely special," bassist Ma rty Meisner says. "It's more like a brotherhood than anything else," Uddin says. All four graduated from the same high school and went on to study music at vario us colleges in the region. They spent 10-plus years playing in numerous bands, o ften times with one another but never alltogether until the formation of the May field Four. And it was this band's demo tape, recorded in a mere 30 hours, that got the attention of Epic Records. "As far as our debut record goes, it was our goal as musicians and friends to ju st make a great album," Meisner says. "I think we've accomplished that goal, whe re all four of us can sit down and say, 'yeah, this is how we wanted our first m ajor effort to sound.'" "It's a golden opportunity to get our music out, it's what we've dreamed of for years and worked at,' guitarist Craig Johnson says."Hopefully it/s going to be o ne hell of a ride." |