Saturday, November 15th
@ 7:00 PM

Jayson Belt – Vocals / Guitar
Matt Bethancourt – Bass
Andy Smith – Guitar / Piano
Ryan Gleason – Drums

Having made their name as one of Southern California’s most exciting new bands, the Red West are now bringing their bracing modern rock sound to the rest of the world with the Atlantic Records release of their self-titled debut album. Fuelled by Andy Smith’s ingenious guitar work and singer Jayson Belt’s evocative vocals, tracks such as “Don’t Fall In” and “Crazy Cold” are dramatic and irresistible, with layered melodies and powerful hooks that make plain why the Red West have already earned such a loyal grassroots following.
The Red West initially came together back in late 2001, when Jayson and Andy began writing songs as Biola University roommates. However, it wasn’t until the two spent time apart that things really began coming together.

“Andy went to England for a semester,” Belt explains, “and I was stuck at home, going through a whole depressed stage. When Andy came home, he was really excited and the combination of our two emotional states really led to the best songwriting we’d ever done, as well as a stronger friendship between the two of us.”

The strength of songs like “Crazy Cold” clearly demanded a full-scale band, so Belt enlisted his cousin Ryan Gleason to bang the drums. With the arrival of bassist Matt Bethancourt, the group finally came to full flower.

“Everything really came together when Matt joined the band,” Gleason says. “From there it was on.”

Armed with a notebook full of songs and a talented lineup of players, the band opted to call themselves the Red West. Though their moniker may conjure images of Elvis and Pacific Coast sunsets, the Red West prefer to be more opaque about its origins.

“It’s a statement of ambiguous sociological import,” Gleason grins. “Let’s just leave it at that.”

They honed their performing skills with gigs in and around the Thousand Oaks community, filling local clubs as the Hungry Hunter on a weekly basis. With the support of good friend – and top-ranked pro surf superstar – Tim Curran, TRW decided to record a three-track demo at local producer Ian Nickus’ home studio.

“It was really low-budget,” Belt says. “The studio is just Ian’s tiny house – I did the majority of the vocals in Ian’s bedroom; we did the guitars and drums in his living room. It was hard work, but a lot of fun. We just wanted to try recording and see what came out.”

The sessions proved remarkably successful, resulting in enough material to fill 2002’s self-titled debut album. “THE RED WEST” quickly became the buzz all around Southern California, with tracks like “Don’t Fall In” scoring major radio airplay in San Diego and Orange County. Thanks to their relationship with Curran, the Red West have become the fave band of the So-Cal surf scene. Their music has been featured on the soundtracks to such cinematic surf sagas as Taylor Steele’s The Drive Thru and Chad Campbell’s acclaimed Shane Dorian biopic, The Blueprint. In addition, TRW have performed at such megaprestigious events as the 2002 U.S. Open of Surfing in Huntington Beach, and on the WB’s smash summer reality series, Boarding House: North Shore.

“Our music doesn’t sound like stereotypical ‘surf music,’” Gleason notes, “but the surf community is a lot different than it used to be – it’s a wide range of people, from young kids to doctors and lawyers – and they’re very open to different kinds of music. This band’s sound is so diverse, and I think that’s what people respond to. Our feeling is that if the surf community has embraced us, why can’t the rodeo community?”

Since the completion of “THE RED WEST,” the band toured constantly, sharing stages with such artists as Dave Matthews Band, Silverchair, Dashboard Confessional, Counting Crows, Ours, and Something Corporate.

“We’re having an absolute blast,” Belt enthuses. “Getting the trailer all loaded up, packing into the van and getting on the road, all that stuff really makes us feel like a real band. We gain so much musically from having such a close relationship with one another.”

Upon signing with Atlantic, the album has been newly remixed by Eric Sarafin (Ben Harper, Lifehouse, Acetone), and includes the all-new track, “The Balance.” Marked by the Red West’s diverse musical influences, from the jazzy swing of “Disappear” to classic pop like the irresistible “Twenty One,” “THE RED WEST” shows off that rarest of bands – a group of artists unafraid to venture into any musical territory that strikes their fancy.

“This band is very open-minded about where our music can go,” Gleason says. “We all looking to expand and grow and explore totally different frontiers. We’ll never be a band that’s stuck to one sound.”

» www.theredwest.com

» Check out the rest of the bands performing on the LG Music Stage