Flyleaf with Lacey Sturm - 20th Anniversary Tour

Performers

• 

  Flyleaf

  The Belton, Texas-based heavy rock quintet Flyleaf formed in 2002 when frontwoman Lacey Mosley played a string of the dark, hard-edged songs she consistently wrote as a brooding teen for drummer James Culpepper. After a brief period of playing together, they recruited guitarists Sameer Bhattacharya and Jared Hartmann, members of a local outfit that had recently called it quits. In July 2002, bassist Pat Seals joined, and the band, initially known as Passerby, was born.

  The road to Flyleaf's 2005 self-titled debut on Octone Records was dotted with more green lights than red: the band played wherever they were invited around their home state at first, gradually building the kind of fan base that allowed them to open for acts such as Bowling for Soup, Fishbone, and Riddlin' Kids. By 2003, with word of Mosley's arsenic-laced lyrics and blowtorch-style delivery spreading through Texas and beyond, Flyleaf earned a spot at the annual South by Southwest Music Conference. A contract from Octone was rushed to the signing stages by 2004.

  An EP, issued in early 2005 and also called Flyleaf, benefited from the production team of Rick Parashar (Pearl Jam, Blind Melon) and Brad Cook (Foo Fighters, Queens of the Stone Age). Key tracks such as the roiling "Cassie" and the emo-tinged "Breathe Today," both of which appear on the full-length, furthered Flyleaf's reputation, as did raging live shows alongside Saliva, Breaking Benjamin, 3 Doors Down, and Staind. For the fall 2005 release, producer Howard Benson (My Chemical Romance, Papa Roach, the All-American Rejects) joined Flyleaf in Los Angeles. A batch of 20 songs was winnowed to 12, with Mosley's searing vocals and Bhattacharya's and Hartmann's storming guitars offsetting each other to affect a sound by turns morose, compassionate, hopeful, and bitter.

  Following the release of Flyleaf, the band toured heavily on the festival circuit. They hit the main stages with Korn, Deftones, and Evanescence on the 2006 and 2007 Family Values Tour, as well as the Soundwave festival and Disturbed's Music as a Weapon III tour. They also made a jump to the world of video games when their single "I'm So Sick" was put in the first installment of the Rock Band series and their single, "Tina," debuted in Guitar Hero 3. After taking some time out of their hectic touring schedule to record, Flyleaf released their sophomore album, Memento Mori, in 2009. In 2010 Flyleaf delivered the EP Remember to Live, featuring stripped-down, reworked versions of some of the band's early songs.

  In 2012 the band released its third studio album, the Howard Benson-produced New Horizons, after which Mosley (then going by the name Lacey Sturm) and the band amicably parted ways. Kristen May, former lead singer for the band Vedora, was recruited as a vocalist, and the May version of Flyleaf recorded a single, "Something Better" (again produced by Benson), which was part of the 2013 EP Who We Are. Between the Stars, the band's fourth long-player and first outing for Loud & Proud Records, arrived the following year. After four years with the band, May announced her departure in August 2016.

  Flyleaf has reunited with Lacey Sturm for 2023.

• 

  Lacey Sturm
• 

  Escape the Fate

  ESCAPE THE FATE is a three-word phrase synonymous with heavy rock n’ roll and hooks, post-hardcore with weight, and unrelenting genre-redefining anthems built for diverse audiences. Over a decade into their young career, they have proven to move crowds equally at major rock radio festivals, the legendary Vans Warped Tour, or on the road with Five Finger Death Punch.

  NEW ALBUM is the sound of a band that’s more comfortable in their own skin than ever, recharged for the next era of their career, reinvigorated, and redefined, without losing any edge.

  “I hope that people think of Escape The Fate as a good time, but a good time in a better way,” singer Craig Mabbitt explains. “We want people to connect deeply with the music and disappear in it. Get lost and then return from the album, or show, feeling inspired about themselves. We want to make people feel better about life, to know they can take on all of its hardships. That’s what the music does for us as a band. That’s what we want it to do for the audience, too.”

  Mabbitt, Thrasher, TJ Bell, and Robert Ortiz have each been making music, and on the road, before they were old enough to drive. Almost ten years into the group’s best known and longest lasting incarnation, ESCAPE THE FATE is poised to shatter all preconceived notions about the past, with a bold step forward into their future. It’s not their storied and beloved music, which regularly captures roughly 2 million listeners across streaming services each month, that requires any distance. It’s the decadence, drama, and retrograde “bad boy” image that they’ve left in the dust.

  An authentic, visceral, and electric connection with the audience is the heart of what ESCAPE THE FATE is about. The guys in the band understand what it means to be broken, from childhood trauma, to the tumultuous downsides of the music business. They know how music can heal.

  It’s what has made the band’s message transcend any sense of “difference” in genre, all around the world, touring with Avenged Sevenfold, Godsmack, Papa Roach, I Prevail, Bullet For My Valentine, Hollywood Undead, HELLYEAH, All That Remains, and on multiple Vans Warped Tours. The tangible passion and energy of the music and lyrics transcend language and culture, whether ESCAPE THE FATE performs at Rock on the Range, Graspop Metal Meeting, or Rock am Ring.

  Smashing forward with the momentum from Billboard Top 5 Independent Album Hate Me (2015) and I Am Human (2018), which produced the Top 20 Billboard Mainstream Rock single “Broken Heart,” the four men of ESCAPE THE FATE have crafted an ambitious third entry to what could certainly be described as their most powerful trilogy of albums. Made together with A-list producer John Feldmann (Panic! At The Disco, 5 Seconds Of Summer, The Used) and co-produced by Kevin ‘Thrasher’ Gruft (ETF guitarist and production pro in his own right), NEW ALBUM delivers an arsenal of driving bangers and melodic ballads, among the best of the hard rock world. Thrasher has been working with the likes of Machine Gun Kelly and Travis Barker on other projects and running from studio to studio to create new music. His packed production schedule in recent times has greatly sharpened his skill set, making NEW ALBUM a real show of his musical strength.

  Ortiz is a big fan of megastar violinist Lindsey Stirling, so the band were elated when she accepted their invitation to contribute to one of their songs. “She is an angel – she has so much light in her. But the primary reason I wanted to work with her… strictly speaking musically, she is gnarly - her music is epic,” adds Ortiz. Travis Barker, best known as the drummer for blink-182, makes a handful of appearances as well. Songs like “Lightning Strike,” “Not My Problem,” “Hand Grenade,” and “Invincible” are destined to take their place alongside classic ETF anthems like “One for the Money” and “The Flood.”

  ESCAPE THE FATE have always emphasized diversity in their sound. Each record seamlessly blends soaring melodic hooks, powerful riffage, shredding solos, and some of the most instantly recognizable drumming in the genre, with Mabbitt’s heartfelt, authentic, lyrical missives on top.

  ESCAPE THE FATE conquered the burgeoning metalcore scene on the strength of their breakout album, This War is Ours (2008), which led to a major label deal and the rock crossover success of Escape the Fate (2011), produced by hitmaker Don Gilmore (Linkin Park, Korn, Avril Lavigne). The album hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Hard Rock Albums, the first of three ESCAPE THE FATE records to debut at No. 1 or two on that chart. Ungrateful (2013) boasts the roaring “You’re Insane.” Hate Me is equally defined by stunning singles like “Just a Memory” and “Remember Every Scar.”

  I Am Human, released in 2018, marked the band’s second collaboration with GRAMMY® Award-nominated producer Howard Benson (My Chemical Romance, Skillet, Seether). That album saw fan-favorite songs like “Empire” and “Do You Love Me?” added to the ETF songbook, but it was the title track that really blew down the doors, heralding the new chapter begun on NEW ALBUM.

  “I started doing this because music was my ‘escape’,” says Mabbitt. “I was running from unresolved feelings or chasing things away with a bottle. But music was always there for me. The whole experience of making NEW ALBUM, while reflecting on the other records; it was a beautiful realization to contemplate the power of music. It’s been such an escape for so many people that it puts me in my place. I become so humbled. I’m so grateful, not only that I’m still alive, but that I can get this music out of my head and that it will hopefully help some other people, too.”

  It may be the same guys, with the same name, but it’s a brand-new ESCAPE THE FATE. “We get up on that stage, we go into the studio, for different reasons now,” Mabbitt insists. “Throw out everything you thought you knew about this band. NEW ALBUM is a new beginning for us.”

  SHORT FORM BIO

  ESCAPE THE FATE is a three-word phrase synonymous with heavy rock n’ roll and hooks, post-hardcore with weight, and unrelenting genre-redefining anthems built for diverse audiences. Over a decade into their young career, they have proven to move crowds equally at major rock radio festivals, the legendary Vans Warped Tour, or on the road with Five Finger Death Punch.

  Craig Mabbitt, Kevin Thrasher, TJ Bell, and Robert Ortiz have each been making music, and on the road, before they were old enough to drive and playing as this incarnation for roughly a decade. An authentic, visceral, and electric connection with the audience is the heart of what ESCAPE THE FATE is about. The guys in the band understand what it means to be broken, from childhood trauma, to the tumultuousness of the music biz, and they know how music can heal.

  It’s what has made the band’s message transcend any sense of “difference” in genre, all around the world, touring with Avenged Sevenfold, Godsmack, Papa Roach, I Prevail, Bullet For My Valentine, Hollywood Undead, HELLYEAH, All That Remains, and on multiple Vans Warped Tours. The tangible passion and energy of the music and lyrics transcend language and culture, whether ESCAPE THE FATE performs at Rock on the Range, Graspop Metal Meeting, or Rock am Ring.

  ESCAPE THE FATE have always emphasized diversity in their sound. Each record seamlessly blends soaring melodic hooks, powerful riffage, shredding solos, and some of the most instantly recognizable drumming in the genre, with Mabbitt’s heartfelt, authentic, lyrical missives on top.

  ESCAPE THE FATE conquered the burgeoning metalcore scene on the strength of their breakout album, This War is Ours (2008). Crossover smash Escape the Fate (2011) hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Hard Rock album chart, the first of three ESCAPE THE FATE records to debut at No. 1 or two on that chart. The I Am Human (2018) title track heralded the new chapter begun on NEW ALBUM.

  Made together with A-list producer John Feldmann (5 Seconds Of Summer, The Used), it delivers an arsenal of driving bangers and melodic ballads that are among the best of the hard rock world.

  It’s still about a good time, but with a deeper meaning, the kind that empowers listeners to overcome all obstacles. It may be the same lineup, but it’s a brand-new ESCAPE THE FATE.

  LINEUP

  Craig Mabbitt – Vocals

  Kevin Thrasher – Guitar

  TJ Bell – Bass

  Robert Ortiz – Drums

• 

  Islander

  Greenville, SC