Song: Breakout
What started off as a trio interested in doing little more than open mic nights and messing around with a four-track has grown into a vibrant and energetic five-man band of dedicated musicians. After six years of playing music together, the guys of .HEREtoday. have meshed their musical style and talents into an impressive harmony, created a loyal following in their hometown area of Fredericksburg, Va., and recorded two albums, all the while staying true to themselves and their friendship. .HEREtoday. began in 1999 when vocalist and guitarist Mark Kazmier, bass player Matt Murphy and guitarist/keyboardist John Daubert started playing music in their college dorm. After enlisting drummer Bryan Holt and violinist/guitarist/vocalist Ed Dickerson in 2000, the band recorded their first demo called "Blank Slate." Guitarist Chip Holt, Bryan's brother, was recruited to round out the band for a battle-of-the-bands contest at Longwood University in Farmville, Va., which .HEREtoday. won. They opened for Robert Randolph the next day as their prize. The synergy between the members was transferred into .HEREtoday.'s first full-length album, Desert Room, in 2003. After much success and the garnering of a loyal and perennial fan-base in Fredericksburg, Va., the band's main singer/songwriter, Mark Kazmier, felt it was time to move on. The loss actually fueled the band's desire to play together and rekindled their collective love of music. It also allowed the guys to better express their changing musical style. They shifted away from the acoustic-based sound of Desert Room, and replaced it with a harder, more electric edge, while still retaining the vocal harmonies and electric violin accents for which they are known. The guys set aside some studio time to create a representation of this new sound. They started recording in May 2004. In August 2004, Freburg Records signed .HEREtoday. to a recording contract. Since then, Bryan, Chip, Ed, John and Matt have been tireless on the road and in the studio. They won two battle-of-the-bands competitions at the University of Mary Washington and toured throughout the Mid-Atlantic, playing with such noteworthy groups as Fighting Gravity, 2 Skinnee J's, the Jimmy O Band, and the Fox Brothers. In summer 2004, their song "Beneath" was a featured download on the Washington Post Local Music MP3 (http://mp3.washingtonpost.com/). Their new album, self-titled, was released on July 25, 2005.
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