Lzzy
Hale and Arejay Hale created HALESTORM in 1997 (Lzzy was 13 and Arejay was
10 years old). Lzzy began taking piano lessons at the age of 5 and Arejay
received his first toy drum kit at 2, and a scaled down professional kit
at the age of 5. Their first professional performance was in February of
1998 at Blue Mountain Coffee House. Lzzy played keyboards and lead vocal,
Arejay on Drums/Percussion(and backing vocals), Roger Hale (Dad) on bass
guitar. Lzzy began studying guitar at age 16. Her desire was always to play
lead as well as rhythm.
In 2002
Philadelphia producer, David Ivory (Eryka Badu, Patti LaBelle, The Roots)
witnessed their showcase at the Dewey Beach Music Conference and approached
the band wanting to work with them.
Over the
first 3-4 years the band built a large following in the Central PA Regional
area. By the third year the band had a very busy schedule performing over
200 dates each year. They performed in bars and clubs until the PA Liquor
Control Board made them stop when Arejay was 15. The band was not aware
that they could not perform in liquor establishments, in Pennsylvania,
until the age of 18. They also scored openers for many National Acts like,
Breaking Benjamin, Three Days Grace, Finger 11, Moments in Grace, Kittie,
Thornley, Nonpoint, Gin Blossoms, Sponge, Spin Doctors, Seven Mary Three,
David Allen Coe, and more. With HALESTORM at a standstill, they decided
to work with David Ivory to keep moving forward in songwriting, recording
and shopping to labels. For 6 months, beginning in January 2003, Lzzy
started writing with David and other songwriters in the Philadelphia music
community. By June 2003, Lzzy and Arejay were ready to reconstruct the
band and add new players. They held auditions at David's studio in late
June, and amongst more than 50 guitar players, Joe Hottinger was picked
to join the band.
Unable,
at the time, to find a permanent bass player, they used several temps
over the next year. One of the temporary bassists was Josh Smith, who
was already involved with another project in the Philadelphia area. Josh
performed with HALESTORM beginning in July of 2004, and within a month,
both the band and Josh decided this was the right project for him. Josh
learned classical piano at an early age, moved to the bass in his teens.
In 2004
the band showcased at Don Hills in NYC. Don fell head over heels in love
with Lzzy and her band, and brought David Chidekel (Don's lawyer) to see
them the next time they performed. David, in turn, brought Leigh Lust
(A&R Atlantic) who also signed Jet, among others, to the label. Leigh
first saw the band perform in January 2005, and in June, he signed the
band to a record deal with Atlantic.
Immediately,
the band began touring and performing successful shows opening for National
Acts such as, Seether, Shinedown, Saliva, Crossfade, Dark New Day, Cold,
Smile Empty Soul, Trapt, Theory of a Deadman, Silvertide, 30 Seconds to
Mars, & RA.
The band
recorded the One and Done Live EP at Grape Street Philadelphia in Manyunk,
PA on August 13, 2005. Which was self-released on December 10, 2005. HALESTORM
was recently on the Sno-Core Tour with Seether, Shinedown & Flyleaf. The
tour will took all four bands across the entire USA January through March
2006.
After
the EQUINOX tour with Shinedown & Trapt in the summer of 06, the band
has been working on their album in LA. Look for the new cd on Atlantic
Records in early 2008!!
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