Lynam - On the Road to Success
By Clay Menzik
While not yet a household name, Lynam is bound and determined to be one. With a combination of hard work, dedication, skilled musicianship, and what some might call the Midas Touch, Lynam is bound and determined to become what they want to be - rock stars. In a few short years, they have reached many of their goals without compromise.
Hailing from Birmingham, AL, Lynam (Jacob Lynam - vocals/guitar, keys, David Lynam - drums, and Mark Lynam - bass) has played 80s influenced hard rock since their formation in 2001. They have toured almost non-stop since, quietly building a firm and slowly growing fan base, and released three self-financed CDs. Their hard work and talent garnered them praise, minor hits on the radio, and secured them through word-of-mouth the song The Party Starts Now on the 20th Century Fox movie Catch That Kid.
According to Jacob, the band has been playing 5-6 nights a week for years and has built up a huge fan base of various ages in the southeast. Their song Disco King from the Bling! Bling! CD was picked up by two radio stations and ended up on one a countdown show, reaching #2. This is when the labels took notice and began calling the band. Jacob wouldn't state what label they met with at one point, but he'd said there wasn't anything the label could offer them that the band wasn't already doing. We were making money, paying the bills. We were do all of this (promotion/touring) ourselves.
At this point, the band decided they needed a manager and secured a deal with Union Entertainment Group, who also handles Nickelback, Saliva, and Default. Not long after they had their record label debut, Slave To The Machine with DRT Entertainment, a subsidiary of Universal Music. They have since toured three countries with national bands Hinder, Godsmack, and Puddle of Mudd and look forward to going to Japan and Europe. They found themselves playing shows to 2-3,000 people a night. Currently they are on their own club headlining tour in preparation for their next CD.
In 2006, they recorded their heaviest album to date, Slave To The Machine, with big name producer Jason Elgin, who has worked with Creed and Collective Soul. Filled with infectious grooves, melodies, catchy hooks and choruses, this CD is a must-have for people craving both something new and something reminiscent of 80s hard rock. The single Tanis has reached #1 on independent rock charts across the country and Slate to the Machine reached #21 on Billboards Top Independent Albums chart. Not bad for a band only six years old.
Slave To The Machine is a rocking disc, going from loud and heavy to melodic and mellow. Jacob relates, The very first CD (White Trash Superstar') was just straight-ahead rock. Then Bling! Bling! Was still rock but more on the pop side. This came back straight-ahead rock.
Jacob states there is more to meet the eye (or ear, in this case) when it comes to influences. The band likes a bit of everything: from hard and heavy Megadeth, Alice in Chains, Def Leppard, and Green Day to mellower stuff like Justin Timberlake, Steely Dan and bluegrass.
You're going to wonder how we arrived at our sound, Jacob says. We try to bring the big arena rock element to our sound and the pop melody of Green Day. We don't sound like an 80s band, and we don't sound like every band that's on the radio today. If you turn on the radio these days, every band sounds identical. You can't tell the difference from one band to the next. We offer a different path. Our songs sound like Lynam songs.
Lynam's 80s influences, some of whom have made recent comebacks on the reality TV circuit, have also taken notice. Jacob says, (Warrant's) Jani Lane loved our songs so much he flew down and hung out with us for a week. And the latest thing is Vince Neil's Motley Cruise. (Vince's manager) called us and told us what a fan he was of our music and that he and Vince wanted us to be on the cruise. The Motley Cruise is a four-day Carnival Cruise Lines getaway with performances by Vince Neil, Skidrow, Slaughter, Ratt, and now Lynam.
The band has just released its fifth CD, titled Tragic City Symphony, featuring Tom Keifer from Cinderella and members of Hinder. Lynam worked with Jason Elgin again on this project, and it is sure to have a killer and crisp sound. Lynam will use it as fuel to continue their quest for world domination and to bring the meaning of rock back to the phrase rock stars.
Check them out at Fire on September 22 and then again on December1st.
Source : Cmenzik
