Artist description Socket is an original rock band featuring a flamboyant female lead singer. This sonic wrecking crew has recently joined forces and headquartered themselves in Birmingham, AL. Ready and willing to throw down the gauntlet and challenge the spectre of teen pop, they stand at the vanguard of a Rock and Roll Renaissance and invite you to bear witness to it's creation. Individually, this quintet brings playing experience from Chicago, New York, L.A., and stages throughout the South touring with national acts. Their backgrounds vary from classically trained professional musician to self-styled roots rocker. This makes for a tasty mix of guitars with just the right amount of attitude to incite random acts of rowdiness.Thier straight forward backbeat, cutting twin guitars, and fiery vocals make a recipe for getting your ass rocked off completely. Their style is no nonsense. Shut Up and Rock!

Music Style Alternative Rock

Artist History The story of the band goes back quite a few years... back to 1988 in fact. That was when drummer (then guitarist) Richard Conville first began to work with a female singer named Dawn Hrdlica in high school. Dawn joined into an existing cover/original band called Sacrificed Thought that Richard had started back in1986. As with all high school bands it was mostly for fun, but songs were written and recorded and some still exist. Just like most other high school bands, however, the band disentigrated after graduation and the members went their separate ways. Both Dawn and Richard decided to enter The University of Southern Mississippi. During the summer, Richard had been planning to put a project together and Dawn was to be a major part. After meeting up with a couple of guitarists from Tupelo, Mississippi, and picking up a bass player from Sebring, Florida, the band Sweet Nymph and the Open Sea was formed. After Dawn realized that people thought she was the "Sweet Nymph," the name was shortened to The Open Sea. Thus started a five year stint with a very successful original band that got so far as touring with Sun 60 replacing The Waterboys. Much was learned and many songs written, but like the high school band, as graduation rolled around, the band drifted off to various other parts of the country. While in school, Dawn had met a bass player named Chad Stewart who had played in several bands and after graduation and a few acting gigs she married him and moved to LA. While in LA, Dawn and Chad formed Honey Island and performed and recorded for several years. This was the beginning of the song base for Sockets first album. Likewise, Richard moved on and played in several bands while working as a gymnastics coach, director of audio visual services, and eventually a technician for IMAX located in Birmingham. It was because of the weird schedule of his new job that he decided to turn his live PA rig into a recording rig and began building Mission Control Studios. It was in these studios that the album was recorded. During this time, another guitarist and bass player were doing gigs in the Birmingham and Huntsville area. Reese Rushton and Rob Landry were known as Hashbrown and played regularly and had an album recorded. This is the other source for much of the material on the first Socket album. So, let's get onto the when, where, and how of the forming of Socket.... It's March and Richard is visiting his parents in Hattesburg, Mississippi. A phone call comes in and Richard happens to answer it. It is Dawn calling to get Richard's phone number. As it turns out she and her husband are moving to Birmingham. Richard tells her he's got a studio and that we would have to work together when she and Chad get there. She brings him up to date on the Honey Island project and Richard brings her up to date on the lack of projects he is in and they hang up. Chad and Dawn are going to be in town when Richard gets back from Hattiesburg. So, when everyone gets back into town, they all decide to go to a Cinco de Mayo party at a place called Superior Grill. Richard's wife has a friend who has a guitarist friend who she wants to introduce Richard to, so they also decide to met at Superior Grill for the party. To make a long story short, after many beers and lots of bullshitting, Reese Rushton becomes part of the project along with Dawn, Chad, and Richard. Now they just need a bass player... Reese suggest we use the bass player he is playing with in Hashbrown. They go hear them play and say okay. So, within one week, the band is formed. Dawn Stewart on vocals, Chad Stewart on rhythm guitar, Reese Rushton on lead guitar, Rob Landry on bass and Richard Conville on drums. With the exception of the bass position, this is the way it would stay. After the first few weeks of practice, the first casualty is Rob Landry. He decides that he's just not cut out for it and gracefully leaves the band. The band decides that since Chad is a bass player by trade, he can record the bass parts until a replacement is found. Eventually, another bass player from the past is found. Rob Crowell, who played in an original band called Atomic Jefferson with Richard agrees to play bass. He is a guitarist by trade and it doesn't take long to realize he's not going to work out. Richard, Chad, and Dawn decide one night he's got to go and Chad calls him up and tells him so. So, again, they are without a bass player. The band decides to finish up the recording with Chad covering the bass parts and they will just find a bass player when the album is done. After nine months in the studio, that is exactly what they do. That pretty much brings us up to speed. Right now, practice for the live gigs is going on. The band just found a bass player (Matt Phillips) that they could live with and assuming he can live with the band, Matt will joining us as our full time bass player. Reese is out distributing non-mastered copied of the album to drum up business for our first gigs (which hopefully won't come at the same time as him and his wife's first child - which is due May 4th). The mastered album should be back on May 1st and the artwork and pressing will be done after that. Currently the press photos and bios are being generated and will be ready shortly.

Group Members Dawn Stewart - Vocals Reese Rushton - Lead Guitar Chad Stewart - Rhythm Guitar Matt Phillips - Bass Guitar Richard Conville - Drums

Instruments vocals, guitar, bass, and drums

Albums Jack

Location Birmingham, AL - USA

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