Local band spreads message through music

Shh. Do you hear that sound? It's the sound of silence. A sound that follows the end of the seventh season of "American Idol." No more "Idol" theme music, no more rants from Simon, Paula and Randy and no more cheesy jokes from Ryan Seacrest — at least until next January.

Somewhere, maybe everywhere, there's a collective sigh of relief at that thought.

But before I leave my "Idol" platform, I must say I'm truly glad David Cook won the talent competition. Though I wish both Davids the best.

Still, on my first "American Idol"-free night in months, I couldn't part with the thought of not hearing a musical performance. So I spent an evening hanging out at FYE music store in the DeSoto Square mall to hear a local band play at its CD release party.

The group, called Since October, is a Christian Rock band who — for folks that are familiar with the genre — sound a little like the hard rock band P.O.D., and that's a good sound to have. The band was celebrating its first national CD release under their new label Tooth & Nail Records.

I brought the self-recorded CD about a year ago off itunes. It's music with a message that I really enjoyed, especially "Disaster" and "Beautiful."

At FYE, I met bass player Josh Johnson and drummer Audie Grantham from the four-member group. Audie gave me a quick run down of the band's history. They started as a praise and worship band around 1999 and slowly grew into their own from there, later touring at Christian music festivals across the nation and overseas. A few months ago, the band landed a deal with Tooth & Nail records.

Both Josh and Audie were very pleasant to speak with, and it was interesting watching them and the other band members politely interact with fans young (about age three or four) and old.

I wasn't sure what to expect last night since I had not heard the group live before. I figured this would be a chance for me to see their performing prowess. Since October didn't disappoint, performing "Disaster" and a couple other songs from their new and old albums.

Since their new album includes several tracks from their debut CD, I didn't buy it. But I made sure to download the four new tracks off iTunes. Just goes to show, Bradenton has all kinds of hidden talent.

You can check out more about Since October at www.sinceoctober.com.
— January Holmes