Leader Times - May 19, 2005

Three area bands in the next round

By Jim Heasley
Entertainment Editor
Thursday, May 19, 2005

The Emergenza Festival is a competition among bands in the United States and several other countries giving those bands an opportunity to play in quality venues and get exposure to a varied and much larger audience. Three local bands, After the Fall, KAJ and Rockabilly Junction have advanced to the regional finals May 28 at Mr. Small’s Funhouse in Millvale. The show stars at 8 p.m. and tickets are $15 from the bands or $25 at the door. There are 17 cities holding events in the United Stats as well as cities in Europe. After the Fall is ranked number two in the region.

After the Fall consists of B.J. Galbraith (vocals and guitar), Steve Craven (bass and vocals), Bruce Craven (guitar and vocals) and Matt Ferrante (percussion) and plays new metal music. Actually the group prefers to play its own material.

Group members say they deliver a hard-hitting, dark and melodic sound driven by “crunching” guitars and lyrics about real life struggles.

The members have performed collectively with national bands such as Dope, Death Angel, LA Guns, Switched and Slaves on Dope. They have performed as part of the Warped Tour and the Odd Fellows Circus I and II. They have also helped sponsor and headline an annual event called the Rock4Life Cancer Event raising money for area kids stricken with cancer. UPMC will sponsor the event this summer, to be held Aug. 5 and 6. After the Fall's roots can be traced back to two bands: Hybrid and SunDog. Both of these bands were unsigned, local mainstays in the Alle-Kiski Valley and northeastern United States.

Hybrid recorded a few EP's and competed in the Graffitti Rock Challenge. They played with many national and regional bands during their evolution from the band Hybrid to SuperXero.

SunDog was a musical juggernaut. Sundog placed 27th nationally in the Warped Tour's 2001 Battle of the Bands. Rockabilly Junction’s members hail from Apollo and Dayton with the members also performing with many other bands previously.

The members are Casey Davis, Billy Postle, Tony Dongiovanni, Bob Pratt, Sid “Snap” Brandon and Lars Rosell. They describe themselves as a versatile band, ranging from a low-key acoustic band to a full-blown rock band and many things in between.

KAJ consists of Brian Shaffer of Kittanning, Curt Costanzo from Ford City, Eric Anthony from Kittanning and Kris Righi from Cadogan.

The band released its second CD entitled “Bombs” and has been getting good buzz and some air play. To get a taste of the band they will perform tomorrow at Peter B’s in Sarver.

Jim Heasley can be reached at jheasley@tribweb.com or 724-543-1303 ext. 215.