New Vertigo bassist Nate Engels, third from left, joins bandmates, from left, Lindsey Stamey, Justin Stamey and Joel Rudnick as the act develops a more mature sound.
New Vertigo bassist Nate Engels, third from left, joins bandmates, from left, Lindsey Stamey, Justin Stamey and Joel Rudnick as the act develops a more mature sound.
Vertigo
Morristown band Vertigo has seen modest success in its three years of performing, but all the while the group has been searching for an identity and direction. With the addition of new bassist Nate Engels, the band has found a signature sound as evident on the upcoming sophomore release “The Coming and the Going.”
In the past, Vertigo has been a high-profile band about town largely due to its frequent comparisons to Evanescence and the like. While Vertigo is not likely to fall out of favor with fans of such acts, the new material featured on “The Coming and the Going” will establish Vertigo’s matured, original style, which is derivative of nothing but the band’s capable imagination.
“We still have the same basic sound and mood, but I feel it is much more realized and mature,” describes guitarist Joel Rudick. “I feel the previous CD had many creative outgrowths and branches, and this one is more focused and lean, yet still gets the point across — and maybe more effectively. Where the first one was at times searching, the new one is determined. Where it was innocent, it is now reminiscent, where carefree, now confident.”
“I have never been more proud or had so much faith in anything that I have ever been a part of as I do with this album,” says vocalist Lindsey Stamey. “I am the biggest self-critic, so if I like it, then surely other people will, and we will be able to do this for a living.”
“This album is finally exactly what I wanted to create,” Justin Stamey adds.
With its CD on the brink of publication, Vertigo looks to return to the road, but the band is no stranger to touring. Last year the group performed 150 shows and hopes to up its quota to 200 in ’09. The experience of touring together has noticeably enhanced the band’s chemistry, but life away from home takes its toll on even the most seasoned of performers. Thankfully, for the Stamey siblings who fill out half the band’s roster, spending prolonged periods of time together is something they’ve practiced their entire lives.
“Touring is the most fun a person can have, but you have to be the right kind of person and more importantly with the right type of other people,” says Justin Stamey.
“It was probably one of the most fun yet grueling things I’ve ever done,” adds Rudnick of last year’s extensive touring. “People always assume it’s all a good time, but we’re doing everything ourselves, including driving — usually late at night in the wee hours of the morning. We typically get only a few hours of sleep a night due to our obligations to load and unload equipment, find places to sleep — often in the van in very unaccommodating conditions and weather, only eating what you can when you can, etc. But, it’s all worth it, because we’re doing what we love. Our plans for next year are even more ambitious than the last.”
Vertigo was originally scheduled to perform at The Cider House, an extension of The Valarium, tonight, but construction delays for the new venue forced the show’s cancellation. While the band’s intended Knoxville CD release show has fallen through, Vertigo will appear on Knoxville radio station 105.3 today at 4 p.m. to give a live interview and preview the upcoming album. The band will be playing the Southern states for much of the next several months, but will play Knoxville’s Valarium on March 13 along with 10 Years. In the meantime, Vertigo fans eager to hear the new material in a live setting can find the band at Capone’s in Johnson City tomorrow at 8 p.m. or at The Downtown in Morristown on February 20.
THE BETTER TO HEAR YOU WITH, MY DEAR: The Big Ears Festival comes to Knoxville this weekend bringing Antony and the Johnsons to The Bijou Saturday night. The show starts at 8 p.m. and costs $35, or purchase an Inner Ear pass for $195, allowing access to all the weekends Big Ears events.
CURE FOR THE BLUES: Former Blue Cats venue turned Barataria, and now The Catalyst will host Dan Deacon and The Baltimore Round Robin as part of the Big Ears Festival. This show is slated for 11 p.m.
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