By Daily staff report Agave in Avon will welcome alternative band Blind Melon on Saturday, Dec. 29. Doors will open at 9 p.m.
Twenty-five years after the release of their self-titled debut—an album that fused southern psych-rock influences with nineties-era alt-grunge—Blind Melon is returning to the studio and the stage.
The internet age has made rediscovering the gems of eras past all too easy and reunion tours of old material an obvious choice. But despite the fact that the band’s breakout single, “No Rain,” became one of the most indelible music videos of the 90’s, Blind Melon’s return is no exercise in nostalgia. With new members and new material defined by powerhouse harmonies, the band sounds both fresh and familiar.
Blind Melon began in Los Angeles, founded in 1990 by a group of southern transplants. Rogers Stevens, Brad Smith, and Glen Graham (on guitar, bass, and drums, respectively) all headed West from Mississippi, while Christopher Thorn (guitar) hailed from Pennsylvania. The group’s original and iconic vocalist, Shannon Hoon, arrived shortly thereafter from Lafayette, Indiana.
The band gained some early buzz after Hoon sang on the Guns N’ Roses single “Don’t Cry,” and the group’s early demos landed into the hands of Capitol Records, which resulted in a recording contract soon after. Nearly overnight, the band went from honing their distinctive blend of stripped-down psychedelia in a sleepy old house to topping Billboard charts and shredding through a set at Woodstock ’94.
But all too soon the clouds began to gather. Critics panned their 1995 follow-up, “Soup.” Then, during a tour stop in New Orleans—just a few weeks after the album’s release—Shannon Hoon died from a cocaine overdose.
Hoon’s death was cataclysmic: he was just 28 years old and a new father. In the wake of the tragedy, the band struggled to carry on. The band released a record of outtakes, “Nico,” named for Hoon’s daughter, and a documentary, “Letters from a Porcupine.”
The record included such gems as “Soul One” while the documentary received a Grammy nomination. But, unable to find a suitable replacement for Hoon, the band officially disbanded in 1999.
Blind Melon’s revival began in Austin, Texas, when Smith and Thorn produced a record by singer/songwriter Travis Warren in 2006. Few singers possess the range of someone like Hoon, and fewer still the raspy edge. Warren had it, and moreover, Warren had his own musical ideas, which served to push the band into new territory. The discovery brought the four remaining members together again, and with a new singer up to the task, they reunited.
In 2007, they sold out clubs around the country and recorded their first new music in over a decade, culminating with the 2008 release of “For My Friends.”
Although the band continued to perform around the globe, the dates were occasional and their future uncertain. Then came a period of unprecedented creativity.
Up late one night in late 2016, Stevens sent a sketch of a song to Warren. When he woke up the next morning, Warren had sent …read more
Via:: Vail Daily