Walt Disney did it. William Shakespeare did too. It’s taking the metal of another one’s work, and spinning it into your own gold. It’s the alchemy of the creative mind. It’s declaring the statement, “I can take your idea, and make it better.” Cry to the Blind, a five-piece heavy rock band out of Rochester, NY, declared such a statement last month after walking into Oblivion Studios to record an already established hit. One month and more than 90,000 YouTube views later, the band has itself, what a growing contingent of fans and followers think, is gold.
“The past month or so has been pretty weird,” said Jon Lamanna, the band’s lead singer. Back in December, the band loaded up a studio video of their recording of Miley Cyrus’ mega-hit, Wrecking Ball. The reception to their hard rock version has been nothing short of exceptional, first leading to play time on local radio stations, and precipitating to national attention on Nikki Sixx’s syndicated show, and now satellite radio. It wasn’t long before they obtained mechanical rights from the copyright owner to allow them to perform and sell their version of the song.
“The energy and the excitement level at our shows, and online, are at a level I’ve never seen before. People just seem like they really believe in us now.”
It’s really inspiring to see.”
The band has released three CDs independently since 2009. They are a heavy, modern rock band, who market themselves as a “therapeutic release” for their fans. They like to promote a “positive spin on the negative energy that surrounds us every day,” as stated on their Facebook page.
Jon explained that the inspiration to record the song came from a simple turn of his car’s radio dial, as he started his commute to work one November morning.
“The first time I heard the song, I thought it would make a great rock song. We’ve never done a cover. [This was] just a random idea. I texted Jesse (Maty), our guitar player, and said, ‘hey, have you heard that Miley Cyrus song “Wrecking Ball? I think it would be awesome as a rock song.’ He was like, ‘yeah, why not? Let’s give it a shot.’ He wasn’t into it as much as I was. But, when I polled the other guys in the band, they were really excited about it. .. As soon as we started rehearsing it, it sounded phenomenal.”
They changed up the second verse to make it rhythmic and heavy, which was (the band’s drummer), Jay Talarico’s idea. Together with Ryan Mcfaul on guitars and Kory Maclauchlan on bass, Jon said, “I think that’s what makes the song stand out.”
Since Cyrus released the song last August, Wrecking Ball has topped the pop charts in 13 different countries, including the United States. There have been a number of different cover versions released, including that from Rumer Willis, the 25-year-old daughter of actors Demi Moore and Bruce Willis.
Today, up to 40 radio stations, including Sirius Octane, is playing their song, and the positive feedback just keeps building. Jon said that the band has yet to be signed by a label; however, he says people who they’ve spoken to in the past, are coming back to talk.
“[We’re] pretty confident that things are going to continue to snowball in a good direction for us.”
Cry to the Blind play next at The Montage Music Hall in Rochester, NY on Saturday, February 15.
You can view their breakthrough video here: http://youtu.be/diL0I17RlCk
For more information, visit them on their Facebook or their website at www.Crytotheblind.com.
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