Artist description After their metal era, which wasn't very productive,they decided to take a lighter approach. Hence thename, Awaken. Josh Lumpkin is the lead vocalist, plays guitar, and plays the drums. Chris Young is the lead guitarist, plays the bass, and the keyboards. All of the studio work is done by Josh and Chris. They hire a stage band for gigs. Josh and Chris have been playing together since Septemberof 1997, so they've got a lot of good chemistry.

Music Style Rock

Musical Influences Skid Row, Metallica, Silverchair

Similar Artists Fuel, Skid Row, Silverchair

Artist History In 1997, a musical revolution was being formed. From that revolution evolved a sinister being, and a path of destruction. In September of 1997, the band "RATH" (mispelled purposely because they thought it looked cool)was formed from an endless desire to start one. There were only two members, Josh Lumpkin and Chris Young. They practiced in the old house that Josh used to live in. They had many songs, but the music was usually the same riff over and over again. Since they had no idea what they were doing, they thought it was good music. Needless to say, it wasn't. With cuts known as "True Nightmare", "I like to be alone", and "Rubber Steel", they thought that they were the coolest band in the world. Little did they know of the world that lay ahead of them. They kept practicing and knew they had to get more people. One day a guy came by Josh's house, heard one song, and said that it sounded pretty good. His name was Chad Martin. He told Josh and Chris about one of his friends that played music. His name was Lee Green. The boys thought Lee sounded pretty interesting, so they told Chad to bring him the next time he came over. When Lee got there, "RATH" started playing "True Nightmare". Lee came in with a killer solo and just blew them away. So they decided to ask him to play for "RATH". Lee said yes, and then they had another member. Josh's half-brother Mark lived in Mobile, AL, and he used to come down sometimes to be with his family. To make a long story short, Mark also decided to join the band. The only problem was that Mark didn't have a bass to play. Lee let him borrow his bass. They went to Picayune Junior HighSchool, which had a little T.V. show called "Tide T.V." (the football team was called the Maroon Tide--hence the name "Tide T.V."). The show talked about school events and projects. Luckily, Josh and Chris knew the show director, Mrs.Leslie Lincoln. They convinced her to come out and do a show with them on music and "RATH". And in March of 1999, "RATH" was debuted in front of about 750 students that went to PJHS. They played their song "Rubber Steel", which had been improved, from the version in which the early "RATH" played it in. It showed close-ups of each of the members of the band, they had a short interview with them, and it turned out pretty good (even though that was the band's firstofficial practice). After viewing the video, and practicing some more, they realized that Lee didn't have the energy or intensity that the rest of the band had. They kicked him out. Mark got to keep the bass because eventually he paid Lee for it. Over the summer of 1999, the band realized that the band name "RATH" was getting a little ridiculous. They decided to change it. It became "RAZZIA". With new, better songs, the band was going to release an EP consisting of six cuts that they wrote in a matter of months. The full album was going to contain these songs and more. However, during the summer of 2000, Mark decided that he didn't want to play bass anymore. So he sold all of his equipment and returned to his old hobby of playing the drums. Earlier, during the "RATH" and "RAZZIA" stages, Josh and Chris had written some songs, that were good, but exceptionally more mellow than usual. They decided to follow that path of music and largely elaborate on it. They quickly began working on a new music project that they called "Awaken", making sure to tone down the melodies quite a bit and move away from the metal edge. A demo of three songs became of the new start. Josh and Chris decided that they would do the studio work alone and hire a stage band to play gigs. Coincidentally, Mark plays drums in the stage band, and a new acquaintance the two made, Brandon Peterson, is the new bassist. Now, Awaken is well on there way to accomplishing their goals.

Group Members Josh LumpkinChris Young

Instruments Josh-Lead and Backing Vocals, Rhythm Guitar, Drums; Chris-Lead and Rhythm Guitar, Bass, Keyboards

Additional Info ...a new beginning, Reflection of Dawn

Location Picayune, MS - USA

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