Sonicflood

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Sonicflood
Origin Nashville, Tennessee, United States
Genre(s) Christian pop/rock CCM
Years active 1999–present
Label(s) Sony BMG, Gotee
Website www.sonicflood.com
Members
Rick Heil
Jordan Jameson
Trey Hill
Grant Norsworthy
Chris Kimmerer
Former members
Jeff Deyo
Jason Halbert
Dwayne Larring
Aaron Blanton
Otto Price

Sonicflood (sometimes stylized as SONICFLOOd) is a U.S. group of Contemporary Christian music, based in Nashville, Tennessee. They started in 1999 with a self-titled debut album.

Contents

[edit] History

Sonicflood's origins can be traced back to the band Zilch, which originated from dc Talk's traveling band: lead singer & guitarist Mark Lee Townsend, keyboardist Jason Halbert, and bassist Otto Price.[1] Zilch released its first Christian rock album, Platinum, in 1997 on Gotee Records and received very little publicity.[1] Mark Lee Townsend left the band and was replaced by then-independent artist Jeff Deyo. After performing in various clubs for a while, Gotee Records producers saw the band perform a cover of Lord, I Lift Your Name on High and suggested that the band consider recording a praise & worship album.

The band agreed to this new direction. Because of the change in style and sound, and the departure of Townsend, the band changed its name to Sonicflood.[citation needed] Sonicflood added Seven Day Jesus guitarist Dwayne Larring and drummer Aaron Blanton to its lineup, not to mention a host of additional guitarists appearing as studio guests. Otto Price played bass on the album but dropped out of the core band. Rick Heil, Big Tent Revival bass player, took Otto Price's place in February of 1999 before Sonicflood began touring. In February of 1999, Sonicflood released its debut and eventually sold 900,000 units, had two #1 hits, and garnered three Dove Awards nominations and one win, for "Praise and Worship Album".

[edit] Changes

[edit] Departure of All Original Members

In 2000, Sonicflood went through a series of changes that ended in all members but Rick Heil leaving the band.[2] Following the Newsboys "Love, Liberty, Disco" tour, lead singer Jeff Deyo was voted out of the band, and drummer Aaron Blanton quit. A lead singer from New Zealand and a new drummer were hired, but performed only a few tour dates before the lead singer was deported. Following the devastating deportation of the band's new lead singer, remaining founders Dwayne Larring and Jason Halbert left the band, leaving non-founding member Rick Heil the only man left.

[edit] Break Up

Gotee Records issued a press release that Sonicflood had broken up. At the time of the break up, Sonicflood was booked for the remainder of the year, and into the next year. The Sonicflood website went down, and was replaced by a message by touring bassist Rick Heil, stating that Sonicflood had indeed broken up, and that he felt sorry for the churches that had made non-refundable deposits and purchases for Sonicflood concerts, and so he was putting together a band to honor the bands remaining tour dates. During this tour, Rick Heil decided to make this band the "new" Sonicflood, and continued to book concerts under the name.

[edit] The "New" Sonicflood

After the inevitable legal battles over Rick Heil's continued use of the name Sonicflood were over, the "new" Sonicflood was formed. Gotee Records dropped Sonicflood after Sonicpraise, stating their contract was with the members of the original Sonicflood, not Rick Heil.

Sonicpraise, their live album, was recorded at the 1999 Flevo Festival in The Netherlands, but was only released in 2001 after the band split up to fulfill Sonicflood's contractual obligations to Gotee Records.[2] The new album earned a Grammy Award nomination for "Best Gospel Rock Album".

[edit] Current Status

Heil continued on with Sonicflood, recruiting new members and releasing Resonate (2001), Cry Holy (2003), This Generation (2005) and Glimpse (2006) with INO Records. Aaron Blanton joined the band By the Tree, and Jeff Deyo stayed with Gotee Records as a solo artist. Former Paul Colman Trio bassist Grant Norsworthy joined Sonicflood after the Australian threesome split in 2004. Sonicflood is credited with helping along the modern rock-worship movement that Delirious? began by putting electric guitars, distortion, and audio effects to worship lyrics.

[edit] Discography

as Zilch:

  • 1997 - Platinum

as Sonicflood:

[edit] Awards

  • 1999 - Dove Award for "Praise and Worship Album": Sonicflood
  • 2000 - Dove Award for "Special Event Album": City on a Hill (various artists)
  • 2001 - Grammy Award nomination for "Best Gospel Rock Album": Sonicpraise

[edit] Charts

Album - Billboard (North America)

Year Album Chart Position
1999 Sonicflood The Billboard 200 #158
2001 Sonicpraise The Billboard 200 #172
2001 Resonate The Billboard 200 #168
2003 Cry Holy
2005 This Generation Top Heatseekers #39

[edit] Members

Current members (as of 2008)
  • Rick Heil - Vocals, Guitar
  • Jeff Pardo - Keys
  • Unknown new members
Previous members (as of 2008)
  • Justin Ostrander - Guitar (?-2008)
  • Albert Kiteck - Guitar, Vocals (2007-2008)
  • Chris Kimmerer - Drums (?-2008)
  • Trey Hill - Guitar (?-?)
  • Grant Norsworthy - Bass (?-2008)
Previous members (Jeff Deyo era)
  • Jeff Deyo - vocals, guitar (1999-May 2000)
  • Jason Halbert - keyboards (1999-July 2000)
  • Dwayne Larring - guitar (1999-July 2000)
  • Aaron Blanton - drums (1999-July 2000)
  • Otto Price - bass guitar (1999)

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Powell, Mark Allan (2002). "Zilch", Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music, First printing, Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 1065-1066. ISBN 1-56563-679-1. 
  2. ^ a b Powell (2002). "SONICFLOOd", Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music, 845-846. 

[edit] Further reading

[edit] External links

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