What started as simply as a father using the power of music to form a bond with his son, rapidly progressed into a hard rock heavy metal band with the capacity to add one more musical legend to the rich musical heritage of their native Arkansas. This band is Switchbach. Switchbach is a band that delivers hard rock /heavy metal with style and flair. They have deep creative roots in the soil of many musical influences of the South as well as numerous legends in hard rock and heavy metal that have fueled their ambitions in becoming the next big major rock act on the national scene. Founders of the band, Curtis Yancey and his son Jett Yancey, have a great appreciation for hard rock music that is evenly matched by their love of heavy metal. When Jett moved home to live with his dad, Curtis told him to Put all that studying of drum theory to good use...
Go play your drums! They started jamming together which resulted in Curtis being inspired to write some fresh material. Being a veteran of the L.A. rock scene, he felt that the opportunity to work with his son was too good to pass up. The duo put feelers out to find a lead guitar player and came across Christian Underwood. The trio instantly clicked and penned what became their debut release, The Beginning of the End. Underwood's guitar riffs and solos reveal definite influences of Pink Floyd, Alice in Chains and Metallica, yet he is still able to carve out originality. The band went through several bass players as a result of creative and business differences, but soon realized they already had the perfect bass player in house by the name of Donald Underwood. Donald, Christian's brother, joined the band and gave it a true rock edge, strong background vocals and a dynamic live performer. With the band members having diverse music tastes and experiences, their sound became a hybrid of classic rock, hard rock and heavy metal. Switchbach caught the attention of Darien Stribling of Blue Chair Studio. Stribling's credits include American Idol winner Kris Allen among others. Stribling liked the band's sound so much that he agreed to produce their debut album. Rocky Gray, former drummer of multi-platinum selling artists Evanescence was another early fan of the band. Gray, owner of Lycan Studios in Little Rock, AR, enjoyed their music and worked a great deal with them to use their songs to help launch his video production/graphics company. This has no doubt resulted in the start of a national explosion for Switchbach. Their debut video Mainline has already passed 77,000 views on You Tube after only two months and they are garnering radio airplay in several markets across the U.S. including Phoenix, Minneapolis, Buffalo, and their hometown of Little Rock, AR. Because visuals are so important in today's market, Gray has definitely had a big hand in the initial success of the band. Gray had the following to say about Switchbach: The vocals of Curtis Yancey take you back to the early 90's rock, yet still hold up under the modern rock sound that Switchbach delivers. Modern Rock fans will enjoy Switchbach. Gray is excited about being a part in their musical journey to the top of the charts. A Switchbach live show has all the trappings of a big rock and roll/heavy metal arena show with a ton of energy and high performance. In it's brief history, the band has already picked up fans all over the U.S. and Europe with it's hard driving, melodic songs containing giant hooks that replay in your head time and time again. According to Curtis Yancey, In both our songwriting and live shows, we throw in some screaming lead guitar and crank the drums up a little which makes us more adventurous. No doubt, we're a bunch of rebels with a heart for rock and roll and heavy metal.
