Tremonti (band)

Tremonti is an American heavy metal band founded and fronted by lead vocalist and guitarist Mark Tremonti, best known as the guitarist of the American rock band Creed, and the lead guitarist of American rock band Alter Bridge. The band also consists of rhythm guitarist Eric Friedman, drummer Garrett Whitlock, and bassist Wolfgang Van Halen. What originally started as a Mark Tremonti solo project evolved into a fully fledged band after the release of the group's first album, All I Was, in July 2012. That album featured Tremonti himself playing guitar in addition to lead vocals, and the band was joined by Tremonti's Creed and Alter Bridge bandmate Brian Marshall playing bass on tour until his departure later that year. He was replaced by Van Halen bassist Wolfgang Van Halen, who contributed to the band's second album, Cauterize, which was released on June 9, 2015. The band also has another album, entitled Dust, in April 2016, serving as a continuation to Cauterize.^[2]

History

All I Was (2011–2012)

Tremonti began expressing interest in releasing a solo album in 2010. "The bands are so different," he said of his two current main projects. "And I write so much. I'm going to do a solo record because there are some songs that I'd hate to think wouldn't see the light of day because they don't work for Creed or Alter Bridge." He is playing guitar and singing lead on all of the songs himself, and former Submersed members Eric Friedman and Garrett Whitlock perform on the record as well. Tremonti described the music as "melody driven," and in a May 2011 interview, Tremonti said that it would be a "heavier-sounding" thrash metal album. He later said that the album is "probably heavier than either Creed or Alter Bridge," and that it would have "lots of soloing."

On January 20, 2012, Tremonti launched a website for his album where fans can sign up to receive news, previews, live streams, and giveaways. A list of working song titles was also included on the webpage, as well as the album title, All I Was. He later launched a new website for his work after the album's release. It was set for a July 10, 2012, release on FRET12 Records under the management of Dan Tremonti & Tim Tournier. "You Waste Your Time" will be the first single from the album, and according to FMQB, "You Waste Your Time" would be released to active rock radio stations in May 2012. The entire song was made available for listening on May 6, 2012, one day before its release, on Loudwire.com.

One day after its release, the song reached number 10 on the iTunes Rock Songs Chart, and Tremonti's live music video for it premiered on May 17, 2012, on Noisecreep. The album's official release date was announced on Ultimate Guitar Archive as July 17, 2012.

His solo band originally consisted of Friedman and Whitlock alongside Alter Bridge and Creed bassist Brian Marshall playing bass guitar as a touring member. The band performed its first solo concert at The Social in Orlando, Florida, on July 17, 2012, with the performance filmed for a future video release. Wolfgang Van Halen replaced Brian Marshall as a touring bassist in September 2012.

Cauterize and Dust (2014–present)

In 2013 Mark Tremonti regrouped with Alter Bridge to record the album Fortress. After a tour Alter Bridge vocalist Myles Kennedy went on to provide vocals for the Slash record that was released the next year. In 2014, Tremonti began recording their second album with Wolfgang Van Halen playing bass. On March 3, 2015, Tremonti released a sample of the song "Radical Change" whilst revealing the album title Cauterize and the track listing for the upcoming sophomore effort. On Tuesday, March 17, 2015, Tremonti released another song preview for the track "Flying Monkeys" and also gave a concrete release date of June 9, 2015 for Cauterize. On March 20, 2015, Tremonti unveiled via Twitter that the first single, titled "Another Heart", would be released Tuesday, March 24, 2015. On March 23, 2015, the single Another Heart was made available for streaming via FRET12. On March 27, 2015, the artwork for Cauterize was revealed, and it was revealed that it will be the first of two albums to be released as the two albums were recorded together. The second single off the new album, titled "Flying Monkeys", was released in the US on May 15, 2015 and is available for digital download via iTunes. The album was released June 4, 2015 in Australia, being a day earlier than the region's set release date for the sophomore album. The third album titled Dust will be released in early 2016, "after [they] record the Alter Bridge record and [they] have that three or four month gap, [he]'ll be looking to tour on it to support it." Tremonti said he "wanted to make sure both albums flowed dynamically. If there were two slow moody songs, [he]'d put one on each album, same thing if there were two really heavy aggressive songs, [he] would split them up evenly. There’s isn’t a specific theme to one or the other. Each record is mixed"^[3] and that "it's definitely not the 'b-sides' of this album."^[4] Dust was released on April 29, 2016.

Musical style

The band's music is a departure from Mark Tremonti's main bands, featuring more of a [thrash metal]] influence with melodic vocals.

Band members

Current members

• Mark Tremonti – lead and rhythm guitar, lead vocals (2011–present)
• Eric Friedman – rhythm and lead guitar, backing vocals (2011–present); bass guitar on All I Was (2012)
• Garrett Whitlock – drums and percussion (2011–present)
• Wolfgang Van Halen – bass guitar, backing vocals (2012–present)

Touring members

• Brian Marshall – bass guitar (2011–2012)
• Tanner Keegan – bass guitar (2015–present)

Discography

Studio albums

• All I Was (2012)
• Cauterize (2015)
• Dust (2016)

References

External links

• Official website