From eager seeds to mighty sounds...the rise of Savage Henry

This was originally posted on "The Ringmaster Review" back in 2013
Written by: Pete Ringmaster

The musical journey for Colorado band Savage Henry and its members has been long and undoubtedly exhausting for a group whose seeds began with a group of teenagers who started out on a musical quest in 1994 as the band On Second Thought. The musical exploration and venture of the Denver band is still an expanding and growing experience with already plenty of highlights but as 2013 opens its welcoming arms the feeling that Savage Henry is standing on the precipice of a deserved wider reaching recognition is a strong warm wind in their creative skies.From that summer the original members of the band from the those first days and those who joined as Savage Henry emerged in 2004,  earned their musical spurs through releases and hard work leading up to the band’s introduction through the album All In the following year. With a line-up of vocalist Damon Guerrasio, guitarist Stu Miller, bassist Ryan Morrow, drummer Mike Rice, and keyboardist Jeremy Lawton, the band found the impressive record strongly received record upon its debut in July 2005 at the legendary Red Rocks Amphitheater (part of the Film on the Rocks series) and showed the creative prowess and imagination of the songwriting was back to its creative best with extra instinctive flourish and rock passion to the new songs, though less of the previous ska and reggae teasing, though it still whispered loudly at times. Constantly rippling with great tracks like the wonderfully engaging Daisy, the tantalising Alive & Kickin’ where the band switches feet and styles with consummate ease and skill, and the feisty Monkey, the biggest highlight of the album, the release incorporated many essences and flavours into its pulsating passage The last of the three mentioned offered a potent Squeeze like warm rock pop beauty, just one compelling example of the thoughtful diversity within the release. It is a record which re-ignited the emotions the first album of OST sparked and more, its varied and riveting array of ideas and sounds going a long way to helping the band find themselves with again plenty of radio attention which included performances at Denver rock stations 93.3 KTCL and 99.5 KQMT amongst a full on charge of gigs and shows, over 175 including sharing stages with the likes of Cowboy Mouth and Better than Ezra to name a couple.

         Changes in personnel occurred in 2007 with bassist Morrow joining fellow Denver band, Black Blood Orchestra and drummer Rice turning to solo projects. Replaced by John Jeffers and Mike Boyd respectively and with the additional joining of second guitarist Glen Esparza, the band sculpted another striking evolution to their sound for next album Step Lively which was unveiled in 2009. Again the even stronger rock voice of the band ignited the passions whilst the pop and ska breezes added extra relish to their increasingly potent music. From its very start with the magnetic Shot In The Dark and the immense Broken, the album is a wonderful storm of sinewy riffs and thumping rhythms entwined with a heated melodic majesty as well as a seamlessly fused intelligent caress of emotive and golden elegance in songs like Melody and Call On Me. The release also found a rich vein of pop punk to ignite certain songs as in the excitable and brilliant Unrequited and the equally scintillating Vice. Without doubt the album is the band’s finest moment to date and the strongest of many reasons why you feel the band is standing on the verge of breaking into that worldwide recognition.
Since the album the band has continued to make an impression on the radio and live, as well as having their song 300 Miles which was inspired by a terrible bus accident with a Fed Ex truck during a tour of the mid-west, licensed by Eddie Bauer and First Ascent ski clothing company to use in a video to advertise their clothing around the world from 2010-2011.The past year was noted for a video produced by the band’s passionate P.R. Manager Hal Jester, for the track Hero which was written to honor fallen soldiers and those that have made the greatest sacrifice for us, as well as generally a growing intensity in the media through blogs and radio play. Their increasing presence thanks to the online drive of Jester has put the band in a prime position to make 2013 a major landmark in the eighteen year history of the band. Savage Henry is a band everyone should get acquainted with.
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Pete RingMaster 02/02/2013
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