Artist description Simple straight forward rock songs with feeling

Music Style Rock/Alternative Rock

Musical Influences Journey, Poison, Van Halen, Styx, Eagles, Beatles, Metallica, Matchbox 20

Similar Artists Queensryche, Journey, Sister Hazel

Artist History Plastic Smile was founded by Tyler Tingey of Shadowland Studio and Russell Wilson, vocalist extrordanaire back in late 1996. Russell heard an ad that Tyler was running on our local radio station KDUX and called him about recording some of his songs in the studio. After a little talking they decided to start a band. Russell would sing, Tyler would play bass and Russell's friend Mike Dillard would do the drumming. After searching for a guitar player for quite some time without any luck Tyler decided to pick up the guitar. They wrote 12 songs and began to do the studio work. At this point they came across Mike Henninger, who played bass, and they were now complete. They finished their 1st self titled CD and began making live appearances around the Grays Harbor area. After a while the group broke up because of internal differences. About 1 year later Tyler decided it was time to reform the band. He called Russell and patched things up, but the two Mikes (Henninger and Dillard) had moved on to other bands. So the search began for a new drummer and guitarist. Drawing from the many artists that recorded at Shadowland Studio, Tyler called Bill Elrod (formerly of Hydrospin) to try out as their new drummer. He agreed and mentioned that a friend at work might be interested in the guitarist position. Rick Manwell (formerly of Offset) was soon thereafter the new guitarist. The band was excited to have a musician of his caliber. Things were looking up, songs were written and recorded, and their 2nd CD "Change in the Weather" was soon thereafter finished.After finishing the recording and mastering process for their 2nd CD the band decided that they needed more depth and harmony to their sound and added Mark Skinner (formerly of Offset) as a second vocalist and keyboardist. With his knowledge of music and keen ear for killer harmonies the band had a great new dimension to their styleAfter playing out for a period of 6-7 months in support of their new release their drummer, Bill Elrod, chose to leave the band. So once again the group was in search of another member. But unlike before they found someone fairly quickly. Local skin beater Tracey Denhart was called and agreed right from the get go to join forces with Plastic Smile. The band was ecstatic to get someone as rock solid as Tracey. He instantly added tightness and tempo to their sound. The band is now rehearsing old material to get Tracey up to snuff and also to finish writing new material for their upcoming 3rd CD release due out in the late summer of 2000. Plastic Smile has built up quite a following in their home area of Grays Harbor County/Western Washington. So their plans are to get back to playing live on a regular basis and to just have some fun out there.

Group Members Tyler Tingey on Bass, Mark Skinner on Keyboards & Vocals, Rick Manwell on Guitar & Vocals, Tracy Dehnert on Drums.

Instruments Vocals, Guitars, Bass, Drums, and Keyboard

Albums Plastic Smile, Change in the Weather, This Side of Nowhere, Demo 2001, Demo 2002.

Press Reviews This Aberdeen quintet is an interesting mix of influences. The quickest soundalike comparison to be made among hard rock bands is to Uriah Heep, although Plastic Smile is without keyboards. And no matter. They have the same formula that bands like Heep rode a long way, including a dynamic guitarist in Rick Manwell and a histrionic lead singer in Russell Wilson. More interesting than some of the band's attempts at heaviness are the lighter moments, like "Okay Today," in which Manwell picks up an acoustic guitar and the band experiments with some different textures.Speaking of texture, one area that will vastly improve as this band continues and gains more of a following will be Manwell's guitar sound. He's an agile player who can get down and blast in the lower register with the best of them, but he's only got two electric guitar sounds; Full-on crunch or phased spacieness. A little more playing with effects an maybe another guitar and amplifier combo would vastly expand his arsenal of sonic textures and add depth and variety to the band's sound.In fact, if there's one real weakness among the metal and bluster here, it's one that all younger bands share: the longer you're around, the more money you make, and the better the equipment you can pick up. This is a promising second album (though the first for several of the members), and while it may not catapult these guys into national or even regional prominence, it shows one thing clearly: There's life in the Aberdeen scene yet.David WilkinsThe Daily WorldFriday July 2, 1999

Additional Info Visit our website and enter yourself in our drawing to win a free cd. All you have to do is sign up for our mailing list.

Location Aberdeen, WA - USA

Copyright notice. All material on MP3.com is protected by copyright law and by international treaties. You may download this material and make reasonable number of copies of this material only for your own personal use. You may not otherwise reproduce, distribute, publicly perform, publicly display, or create derivative works of this material, unless authorized by the appropriate copyright owner(s).