12 Stones making Creed's audience its own
By Tim Adams
San Antonio Express-News
Web Posted : 09/20/2002 12:00 AM
What a short, strange trip it has been. New Orleans Christian rockers 12 Stones have gone from playing in a Chinese restaurant to opening for Creed, possibly America's most popular rock band, tonight at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater.And all this, including a deal with Wind-Up Records, Creed's label, happened in two years."Creed's audience has really embraced us — the feedback has been phenomenal," lead singer Paul McCoy said. "As our CD sales have gone up, we've noticed more and more people have been showing up early to hear us. So it's been really gratifying to know that the word about 12 Stones is spreading."McCoy turned 21 last week, making him the same age as guitarist Eric Weaver, which leaves bassist Kevin Dorr and tour guitarist Greg Trammel as the band's only minors. Drummer Aaron Gaines is the old man at 26. None of the members knew each other before they met two years ago through mutual friends and a suburban New Orleans music store, but they've covered a lot of ground. After placing a well-crafted demo in the hands of manager Kenny Vest (who discovered Three Doors Down), they were off and running.They had played only 13 shows (including the restaurant gig) when they signed with Creed's Wind-Up Records. The band's self-titled debut disc has sold more than 125,000 copies in four months — impressive numbers when you consider the first single "Broken" received modest airplay and no MTV exposure. McCoy said he was "stoked" about the prospects for the second single, "The Way I Feel," slated for release Tuesday."We're developing loyal fans rather than just one-time listeners," he said. "Everything so far has been by word of mouth through our street teamers, our Web site and people we've connected with while we've been touring with Creed the past two months."The band takes its name from the Old Testament book of Joshua, a reference to the stones the Israelites retrieved from the Jordan River to commemorate their passage into the promised land. McCoy's lyrics and the liner notes for the CD show a strong spiritual side, but members don't consider themselves rock 'n' roll evangelists. "If you put a label on your songs, if you try to interpret a song for your audience, you can lose a part of your audience," he said. "Not everyone who listens to a song gets the same thing out of it, so I leave the meaning up to the listener."McCoy was raised Southern Baptist; both he and Dorr played in Christian bands before joining 12 Stones. Weaver's father is a former Methodist pastor, but the closest these guys come to wearing their faith on their sleeves is Weaver's tattoo of "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength," which he had copied from his dad's Greek New Testament. The band goes to great lengths to connect with audiences. 12 Stones played one other San Antonio concert, a Sunset Station show June 12. The performance was high energy and true to the studio sound, but what was equally impressive was band members' willingness to introduce themselves to fans after the show, staying for nearly an hour to make sure no one was overlooked. Tim Adams is a freelance writer and ordained minister.Contact him at u2wesley@ swbell.net
To unsubscribe or change your preferences for the Creed-Discuss list, visit:
http://www.debbir.com/lists/Creed-discuss.htm
To submit your profile, visit:
http://www.creedlisters.com/profile/submit.asp
To view List member Profiles, visit:
http://www.creedlisters.com