| Incendiary guitars, distinctive vocals, tightly-crafted songs - Tonic's Lemon Parade is
one of the most impressive debuts in recent memory. L.A. based and relentlessly gigging (180 shows in a 10 month
stretch), the quartet profoundly rocks, delivering epic music and poetic lyrics artfully welded for maximum effect.
Already radio has embraced the current single, "If You could Only See," Conan O'Brien hosted the band's first national
television appearance, and a tour of 1,000-3,000 seat clubs with the Verve Pipe, they've consistently played to sold-out
halls. Lead guitarist and backing vocalist Jeff Russo delightfully admits "We're definitely living out our childhood
dream." And singer/songwriter Emerson Hart emphatically concurs, "It's an incredible amount of work, but still this is
the best job in the world."
It's one, also, that they've labored resolutely to win. Raised in New Jersey next door to E Street band drummer Max
Weinberg, Hart picked up guitar at around seven years old, and decided to commit professionally to music at age 19.
He woodshedded, first-spending time rigorously practicing and composing; now, with Russo helping out, Emerson is
Tonic's primary songwriter. It was after a move to Los Angeles that the pieces of the larger puzzle came together.
Russo explains: "I walked into a pool hall about three and a half years ago, and there he was. Emerson and I
remembered each other form the past and soon began playing and writing together." Russo had grown up across the
river in New York City, and Jeff Too, a strong guitarist and former drummer, had ventured West to pursue his dream.
The pair began crafting demos. Then, at the Kibbitz Room of Canter's Delicatessen a hot spot for late night jamming
where the Wallflowers, Slash, the Freewheelers and others congregated to groove, they met and enlisted dynamic
drummer Kevin Shepard. With bassist Dan Rothchild on board, they were ready. Rothchild would play on Lemon
Parade; today, it's new bassist and old friend Dan Lavery who helps propel the rhythm section. As Russo comments,
"Kevin's a hard-hitting power drummer, and he's also precise. His personality shines through in his playing. And Dan is
just extremely fluid. The two of them together are unstoppable." |
