New York, NY (Top40 Charts) With an energetic pop/punk sound met with a driving hard rock edge, New York natives The Royal Guard have been able to breathe new life both figuratively and literally into their second full length album "Hail the King", to make its debut on iTunes April 21st. As a dynamic three-piece whose influences include the likes of Muse, Green Day, the
Foo Fighters and My Chemical Romance- it's no wonder they've created a buzz in both the Long Island and NYC music scenes. The band will hit the stage for the Official Release show with Jake E. Lee's Red Dragon
Cartel on Tuesday, April 21st at Revolution Bar &
Music Hall, located at 140 Merrick Rd, Amityville, NY 11701 www.revolutionli.com
After returning to the Big Apple after five years living abroad in Eastern Europe, lead vocalist/guitarist Todd Davidson was ready to create some exciting rock-driven original music.
Calling upon lifelong friends and equally talented musicians Andy Ascolese (Guitar, Vocals) and Fred Scragg (Drums), they were ready to get to work on what would become their first full-length effort as "The Royal Guard", 2009's "
Showdown". Traveling back to Eastern
Europe yet again- Davidson, along with this newfound alliance, toured the country of Estonia to promote the album to an astoundingly positive response from the native population. As Ascolese remarked of their journey: "It was so amazing how we were received" adding "We played in front of these people for the first time ever and they immediately followed us around the country until we left.".
But with their newfound success and excitement for their music would come some unsettling news. Upon their return to the U.S., drummer Scragg would be diagnosed with cancer but continue to rehearse through the life-changing circumstances, often having to take breaks throughout practice. Later on and through a tearful meeting, he urged his bandmates not to cancel upcoming dates stating "The show must go on" as the band was fortunate enough to find a replacement drummer for that time being. Still, hard times seemed to follow the band from that period on, as both Davidson and Ascolese's mothers would be diagnosed with the same disease. While Andy's mom would make a full recover, Todd's would not be so lucky; losing her battle in June of 2009.
WATCH: The Triumphs of The Royal Guard
However, the sun had yet to set on The Royal Guard. Fred would make a full recovery from his diagnosis and remains cancer-free to this day, and in 2012 the band began donating the proceeds from the digital downloads of their song "
Tell Me" to the American Cancer Society.
In late 2013, the band would kick into gear on pre-production for the up-and-coming "Hail the King", produced by Ascolese and co-produced and engineered by Andrew Gearhart (Matt & Kim, Michael Franti, Young The Giant) with a renewed focus and drive. Says the trio: "These are songs of Hope. These songs helped us heal, let us blow off steam, and they give us hope. And we feel that they can do the same for others".
They've said of themselves "The goal of the band is that we want our music to be heard. We hope to see ourselves on big stages", and you can see them do just that on Tuesday, April 21st at Revolution Bar &
Music Hall, located at 140 Merrick Rd, Amityville, NY 11701 www.revolutionli.com
For more information on The Roya Guard, go to: www.TheRoyalGuardBand.com
