HinweiseGenre : Alternative Rock
Country : USA
Year : 2007

With great pop sensibilities and a keen knack for writing catchy melodies, Ash Avenue makes refreshingly original, contemporary pop/rock music with vintage tones and modern hooks.

Ash Avenue may have only been together, collectively, since April of 2005, but their history spans over a decade. Rob Merz, Jim Brennan and Chad Noyes met in college at Iowa State University in 1994. They immediately clicked over a mutual love for music and quickly started playing in a few bands together. A couple years of bad covers and even worse originals followed , they finally got everything sorted out and formed their first successful band, Good Things in 1996.

Good Things eventually split up after three years due to members in the band relocating to separate cities. But in 2001, Rob and Chad both moved back to Chicago and right away they hooked up with Jim to start something new. As fate would have it, Jim was living with a friend’s younger brother, Johnny Alletto. Johnny was the lead singer of the cover band Jank, was a trained accapella singer and had been performing acoustic shows for several years around the Chicago-land area. They also had the good fortune to find Eric Ellis as a drummer. Eric was new to Chicago, but that didn't stop him from being the secret marketing weapon to get the Ash Avenue name out around the city.

The five of them hit it off and started jamming on songs they had written over the last few years. After a couple months, a good collection of an album’s-worth of songs had been born. They decided to name themselves after where it all started ... Ash Avenue; the street where Rob, Chad and Jim lived in college.

Ash Avenue's debut album, “And Then We Ignite”, is a hook-heavy, upbeat album containing 12 songs injected with intricate instrumentation, thought-provoking lyrics and dynamic vocals. In addition to the band’s usual electric guitar/bass line-up, the inclusion of Hammond B3 organs, Wurlitzer and Rhodes keyboards, mandolins and analog synths has fused Ash Avenue's modern sound with a classic, vintage vibe. Songs such as “Collapse”, “Trash Romance” and “Disposable King” are guaranteed to resonate long after you hear the final chord and has already to grabbed quite a following, along with some rave reviews:

"Breezy melodies and thoughtful lyrics make this a band worth checking out."
- Chicago Sun-Times

“Ash Ave comes out of the Windy City with a power pop sound that might be the right formula to make it with this age of music - when reaching the masses is imperative. Their debut album welcomes the easy listener to kick back in a world that is almost never cooler than strolling on Ash Ave.”
- USA4real Upstream Radio

“This is not only a band, but a band with strong songwriting skills. Dynamics, lush distortion and melodicism puts them in league with the Foo Fighters, but without sounding derivative - and this is helped by the singer's unique voice.”
- Garageband.com