CANDLELIGHT RED

CANDLELIGHT RED - "When You Show Up At A New Venue And Lots Of People Know Your Songs That’s Pretty Surreal"




By Kelley Simms


Pennsylvania-based modern rockers CANDLELIGHT RED’s humble and
hard-working ethics has kept the band forging ahead since its 2008
inception. By paying its dues, they’ve started to secure more
high-profile gigs; such as the current Rockstar Energy Drink Uproar 2012
Festival tour featuring SHINEDOWN, GODSMACK, STAIND and PAPA ROACH.



Candlelight Red aren’t following an American Idol-type trend, they
started the good old fashioned way; by slugging it out in the clubs —
lots of ‘em. The band played all over central PA, New York and the
surrounding areas while building up its fan base. Sharing the stage with
prominent bands such as DISTURBED, STONE SOUR, AVENGED SEVENFOLD and
KISS certainly hasn’t hurt their stock either.





Guitarist Jeremy Edge said that coming from a small town has its
advantages. “Any band that’s played in New York City or those big
cities, it’s tough to get a big gig and to get people out to see you.
Sometimes in these country-type areas where you have normal bars that
are really excited to have you play is an advantage.”


In 2010, the band was hand-picked by KISS bassist/entrepreneur Gene
Simmons and Guitar Center to open for ‘The Hottest Band in The Land’ in
Pittsburgh. They were chosen among 22 regional contest winners after
beating out 10,000 other bands. Candlelight Red also landed the grand
prize of $10,000, which allowed the band to go on a Guitar Center
shopping spree.


The band continues to take it to the next level by remaining
persistent. “It definitely feels like we’re headed in the right
direction,” Edge said. “Sometimes you keep going and going and you hope
that it finally pays off by playing all these gigs and hope people come
back. We went out with TRAPT for our first tour around March or April of
the year and when we showed up to play, we noticed people in the
audience that knew the lyrics to our songs in cities that we never
played in. When you show up at a new venue and lots of people know your
songs. That’s pretty surreal.”





Candlelight Red’s debut CD, The Wreckage, wasn’t a bad effort by any
means, but on the new EP, Demons, produced by SEVENDUST drummer Morgan
Rose, they sound much more focused. In five days, they wrote and
recorded four songs, which all appear on the EP. It’s more of an
indicator of how the band wants to sound and it’s a sign that
Candlelight Red is coming into its own.


Candlelight Red is a “something for everyone” band who has
radio-friendly rock/metal/pop rock crossover appeal. Edge feels this
concoction is a great mixture of heavy and melodic, which blends
together evenly.


“It’s just one of those things where it just sounds right to us.
Sometimes you get somebody that listens to your stuff and it’s hard to
classify. Some people say it’s not heavy enough, or some people say it’s
too heavy. People in the business need to categorize but I feel
listeners like a good mixture. I think the casual rock fan doesn’t like
something that’s very formula-orientated or spoon-fed and predictable.
People get tired of that, too. We’re just going to do what sounds right
to us.”


The band is comfortable doing the tour cycle and one thing’s for sure, Candlelight Red can only get bigger from here on out.


“People always say to me that we’ve made it further than a lot of
other bands,” Edge concluded. “But it’s a lot harder and it’s a lot
longer road. The guys that I see out here that are doing it, most of
them got it through a lot of hard work and persistence. It has paid off
for us so far and we’re going to keep going.”