Flickerstick

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Flickerstick
Flickerstick in 2005, from left to right: Brandin Lea, Todd Harwell, Cory Kreig, Fletcher Lea, Rex Ewing.
Background information
Origin	Denton, Texas, USA
Genre(s)	Rock Indie rock Alternative rock
Years active	1997 -
Label(s)	Idol Records Epic Records What Are Records
Website	http://www.flickerstick.com/
Members
Brandin Lea - vocals, guitar (1997 - present) Fletcher Lea - bass guitar (1997 - present) Rex Ewing - guitar, vocals (1997 - present) Todd Harwell - drums, percussion (2002 - present) Tim Locke - guitar, vocals, keyboards (2005 - present)
Former members
Dominic Weir - drums, percussion (1997 - 2002) Cory Kreig - guitar, vocals, keyboards (1997 - 2005) Jeff Lowe - drums, percussion (1997)

Flickerstick (sometimes incorrectly called Flicker Stick) is a Denton, Texas rock band mostly remembered for being the winner of VH1's acclaimed talent/reality show Bands on the Run.

1 Band History
2 Discography
3 External links

[edit] Band History

[edit] Birth and Local Fame

Flickerstick was formed in Denton, Texas by high school friends Brandin Lea (lead singer, guitarist) and Corey Kreig (guitarist, keyboardist). The two decided to put a band together just for the fun of it and picked some friends to join them, including Brandin's brother, Fletcher (bassist). The band started doing local gigs and started gathering a solid fanbase.

Soon they graduated to Dallas bigger clubs and started headlining shows. The band managed to put together $10,000 and self-financed their first album titled Welcoming Home The Astronauts. The album sold well in the Dallas area and at shows. It was then that Billboard magazine picked the band to be on a CD sampler of Best Unsigned Bands in the Country.

[edit] VH1's Band on the Run

During this time, VH1 heard Flickerstick's tune on the compilation and invited them to audition for the Bands on the Run show. After auditioning among 2,000 other bands the band was chosen to be on the show. However, in the midst of the reality show craze of the moment, the show tended to focus more on the joking, affairs, scandals, etc. rather than the music. Disappointed by this, Flickerstick decided to make the best of it and kept focusing on their craft. Flickerstick ended up winning the show on the strength of their music alone, unlike the rest of the bands who tended to focus more on merchadise sales, and went back on the road to celebrate it.

[edit] Post-show Fame

After six months of touring, the band was finally signed by Epic Records. In November 2001, Epic re-released the band's debut album which received moderate reviews in Rolling Stone and Billboard, and poor reviews in other music publications. It was remixed by Tom Lord-Alge and debuted at #2 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart. However, sales were disappointing.

A year later, they were released by Epic and signed with What Are Records. They then released a live album titled Causing a Catastrophe that same year. After the album's release drummer Dominic Weir left the band to pursue his other project Mermaid Purse before eventually joining Smile Empty Soul. He was replaced by ex-Doosu drummer Todd Harwell.

On October 14, 2003 Flickerstick released an EP/DVD combo entitled To Madagascar and Back on 226 Records.

[edit] Recent Years

Flickerstick continues to tour and perform regularly, and has a very strong fanbase especially in their home state of Texas as well as the concert location areas featured in Bands on the Run. Flickerstick is (as of June 10, 2004), a commercial spokesband for Camel Cigarettes as well as Jägermeister.

On October 5, 2004 Flickerstick released their sophomore effort Tarantula on the Dallas-based indie label Idol Records. The band has set out on a number of tours across the country in support of the record. Founding guitarist Cory Kreig left the band in April 2005 for "personal reasons". Currently filling the Cory's slot is Tim Locke, who also handles lead vocals and guitar for Dallas-based alternative band Coma Rally and Alt-Country band Calhoun.