The Fray

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

  (Redirected from The Fray (band))
Jump to: navigation, search
This article is about the band. For the band's self-titled album, see The Fray (album). For other uses, see The Fray (disambiguation).
The Fray

The Fray performing live at Radio One Big Weekend in May 2007.
Background information
Origin Denver, Colorado, USA
Genres Piano rock, pop rock, alternative rock
Years active 2002–present
Labels Epic Records
Sony Music
Website thefray.net
Members
Isaac Slade
Joe King
Ben Wysocki
Dave Welsh
Former members
Dan Battenhouse
Zach Johnson
Caleb Slade
Dave Hedin
Mike Ayars

The Fray is a Grammy Award-nominated four-piece piano rock band with Christian influences. Formed in 2002 by schoolmates Isaac Slade and Joe King, the Denver-based group achieved mainstream success with the release of their debut album, How to Save a Life in 2005. The band is best known for the Grammy-nominated song "How to Save a Life", which charted in the top three of the Billboard Hot 100 and was also a top 5 single in Canada, Australia, Ireland, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. The Fray also found national success with the song "Over My Head (Cable Car)" which became a top ten hit in the United States. How to Save a Life was certified double platinum by the RIAA, and was also certified platinum in Australia, Canada and the UK.

The band released their sophomore self-titled album in 2009, which was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album. [1] The album spawned the hit singles "You Found Me" - which reached the number-one spot in Australia and charted in the top ten in the United States - and the Grammy-nominated "Never Say Never". The Fray signed on for the 2008/2009 year as an ambassador for VH1's "Save The Music Foundation".[2]

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] Composition

The Fray was formed in 2002, and currently consists of Isaac Slade (lead vocals and piano), Joe King (guitar and backing vocals), Dave Welsh (lead guitar), and Ben Wysocki (drums and percussion).

[edit] Education

Growing up in Arvada, Colorado, Isaac Slade and Joe King attended Faith Christian High School, and Dave Welsh and Ben Wysocki attended Ralston Valley High School.

[edit] Early history (2002)

Isaac Slade (front) and Ben Wysocki (back) performing in Chicago.

In the spring of 2002, former schoolmates Isaac Slade and Joe King reconnected and began regular two-man jam sessions that led to writing songs. Isaac and Joe later added Zach Johnson on drums and Slade's younger brother Caleb on bass to the band. Caleb was the band's first (and only official) bass player but was eventually asked to leave. Caleb's departure from the band caused a rift in his relationship with Isaac and this rift later became the inspiration for "Over My Head (Cable Car)", which is about the brothers' waning relationship.[3] Following this, Johnson eventually left the band as well to attend an art school in New York.[4]

Ben Wysocki, a former band mate of Isaac Slade, then became the drummer for The Fray. Later, Dave Welsh, who was another former band mate of Slade and Wysocki, was added as lead guitarist to the band. While the band has no official bass guitarist, Jeremy McCoy has been the touring bassist since March 2009. Prior to McCoy joining the touring fold, Dan Lavery of Tonic was the touring bassist from March 2007 to February 2009. Prior to Lavery, Jimmy Stofer, also a member of the band "Hello Kavita", was employed as the band's touring bassist from 2005 to February 2007.

The band chose their name "The Fray" from a suggestion bowl that was placed at a graduation party for Caleb Slade. The members of the band first claimed that they found the name suitable because they frequently quarreled over the composition of the lyrics in their songs. However, they have since stated that the band is usually on good terms while composing music, and acknowledges contributions from all of its members.[5]

In 2002, the band released Movement EP, a collection of four songs. Very few copies were pressed, and it is currently unavailable for purchase. The next year, they released Reason EP to some local critical acclaim, particularly by Denver's Westword alternative newsweekly.[6][7] Despite these reviews, the band struggled to launch a single. Denver radio station KTCL rejected eight of their songs before the band decided to submit "Cable Car". The song found airplay on a KTCL radio show highlighting local bands, and the radio station received a large number of requests for it soon thereafter. The band changed the name of the song to "Over My Head (Cable Car)", and by the end of 2005, it had become KTCL's most played song of the year.[8]

[edit] How to Save a Life (2005–2007)

Later in 2005, the band was voted "Best New Band" by Denver readers of Westword. Epic Records A&R man Mike Flynn (who later co-produced their debut album) discovered the band through the article in Westword.[9] Epic Records officially signed the band on December 17, 2004, and released their debut album, How to Save a Life, in September 2005.

"Over My Head (Cable Car)" was released as the first single from the album, and soon became a top 40 hit on the Modern Rock Tracks chart in late 2005. It lasted three weeks on the chart and peaked at position #37.[10] The single gained airplay nationally, entering the Billboard Hot 100 chart on the issue marked February 25, 2006. Fourteen weeks later it reached its peak position at #8 on the Hot 100 chart.[11] On the Billboard Adult Top 40 chart, the single reached the #2 position.[12] The single also saw airplay on some Christian radio stations and spent several weeks on the R&R Christian charts, where it peaked at #27. Internationally, the song was a Top 25 hit in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, New Zealand and the UK. The song was the fifth-most downloaded single of 2006.[13]

While "Over My Head (Cable Car)" was rising on the charts, the song "How to Save a Life" was first featured during a second season episode ("Superstition" aired March 19, 2006) of Grey's Anatomy, and then on a fifth season episode of Scrubs (aired April 25, 2006).[14] The song was also featured on the teen drama show One Tree Hill and was also played at the end of Cold Case. Despite not having been originally released as a single, "How to Save a Life" entered the Hot 100 chart on the issue marked April 15, 2006. The song was released as the band's second single. On August 18, 2006, ABC announced that the song would be used for the main advertising promotion for the season premiere of Grey's Anatomy.[15]

Only weeks after this promotion started, the song became The Fray's second Top 40 hit in the United States. The song reached the top three of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, surpassing the peak position of "Over My Head (Cable Car)". It became the joint sixth longest charting single on the Billboard Hot 100, tying with Santana's "Smooth", at 58 consecutive weeks. The song also topped the Adult Top 40 chart for 15 consecutive weeks. "How to Save a Life" became a major hit internationally, topping the singles chart in Ireland, Spain and Canada.[16] The song also charted in the top five in Australia, Italy and Sweden. It also was the band's first hit in the United Kingdom, peaking at the #4 spot in the UK Singles Chart.[17] The song is the band's highest-charting song to date.

The album peaked at #14 on the Billboard charts. It peaked at #1 in Australia and charted in the top five in Ireland, New Zealand and in the UK. It also charted in the top 10 in Canada.[18]

To promote the album, The Fray performed on several TV shows including The Tonight Show, The Late Show with David Letterman, and Rove Live in Australia.[19] They also released a live album, Live at the Electric Factory: Bootleg No. 1, on July 18, 2006. The concert was recorded on May 21, 2006 at the Electric Factory in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. On September 19, they re-released How to Save a Life as a CD/DVD set with exclusive content including a documentary on the making of the album.[20] On April 28, 2007, The Fray performed at Grad Nite, an event for graduating high school seniors at Disney's Magic Kingdom.

The Fray won all three awards in the digital category at the 2006 Billboard Music Awards, including digital album and digital songs artist of the year. Both "Over My Head (Cable Car)" and "How to Save a Life" have each sold over 2 million digital downloads.[21]On December 7, 2006, the band was nominated for two Grammy Awards: Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for "Over My Head (Cable Car)" and Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for "How to Save a Life".[22]
"How to Save a Life"
"How to Save a Life" from How to Save a Life
"Over My Head (Cable Car)"
"Over My Head (Cable Car)" from How to Save a Life
Problems listening to these files? See media help.

The band released a live cover of John Lennon and Yoko Ono's "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" to iTunes as a 2006 Christmas single. The song debuted and peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 at #50, on the strength of a large number of digital downloads.[20]

"Look After You" was released as the band's third official single, peaking at position 59 in the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the band's first single to miss the Top 40. The song was featured in the 2008 movie Jumper as well as in the first episode of the TV Series Journeyman. "All at Once" was released as the fourth and final single from the album. It peaked at #20 in the Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks chart.

The band worked with Reverb, a non-profit environmental organization, for their 2007 summer tour.[23] On September 4, 2007, the band released another live album, Acoustic in Nashville: Bootleg No. 2, which was recorded in late 2006. The album could only be purchased with the original CD from Target but was made available on the iTunes Music Store on November 13, 2007. On Tuesday, October 16, the band re-released their 2003 EP, Reason.

[edit] The Fray (2008–2009)

The band finished recording their self-titled second album (The Fray) at the end of July 2008 for a February 3, 2009 release.[24] The album was produced by Aaron Johnson and Mike Flynn, the same production duo from the band's debut album, and recorded by Warren Huart.[25] The Fray filmed a music video in Chicago, for their first single, "You Found Me", directed by Josh Forbes, which debuted on VH1.com on December 9, 2008. A documentary, titled Fair Fight, directed by the band's longtime photographer and documentary filmmaker Rod Blackhurst[26][27][28] will be sold with the first 300,000 copies of the second album.[29] The album became available for preorder on November 21.

The Fray debuted their first single from the album, "You Found Me" on November 20, during a commercial break of the show Grey's Anatomy. It was a one-minute promo with scenes from the upcoming season of ABC's Lost. "You Found Me" peaked at #7 in the Billboard Hot 100 and at #1 in the Billboard Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks. It became the band's first song to reach the #1 spot in Australia and the band's third song to sell 2 million digital downloads in the United States. The band performed the song live at the 2008 American Music Awards on November 23.[29][30]

The Fray debuted at the number one spot on the Billboard charts selling 179,000 copies in the first week of the album's release. [31] The album has sold over 2 million copies worldwide to date, and has been certified Gold in the United States, Canada and Australia. It was also nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album.[32]

On March 14, The Fray confirmed on the VH1 Top 20 Video Countdown that their next single would be "Never Say Never". A video was filmed for this single, and released on the internet only via Myspace on April 24. It premiered everywhere else on May 5, 2009. On May 30, 2009, the music video itself premiered on the VH1 Top 20 Video Countdown at the number 20 position. The song spent 20 weeks inside the Billboard Hot 100 and peaked at #32. The song was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals, becoming the band's third song to receive a Grammy nomination, after "Over My Head (Cable Car)" and "How to Save a Life".[33]

On Twitter, the band announced that 'Syndicate' was their next single from the album. The song will be released on 12 January, 2010.[34][35] On 10 November, 2009, the band released a Deluxe edition of 'The Fray' which contained a second disc of never before released songs.[36]

Indicative of the growing practice of musicians using the Internet to spur music sales, several videos from The Fray's new album, directed by Rod Blackhurst, were given to Comcast.net's Music page before they became available to television. Among them were acoustic versions of "You Found Me," "Say When," and "Enough for Now," and live versions of "You Found Me," "Never Say Never" and "Absolute."

In February, The Fray wrote a song called "Be the One". The demo version of the song was released on 11 November, 2009.[37] [38] The band also covered Kanye West's song "Heartless".[39] The cover managed to chart at number seventy-nine on the Billboard Hot 100. A video for the cover was released worldwide on iTunes on August 11, 2009. Both songs were included in the deluxe edition of the album.[40]

The Fray is also featured on the new album, Shock Value 2, from superstar producer Timbaland. They are featured on the song "Undertow", which, despite not being released as a single, entered the Billboard Hot 100 at #100, the week ending November 28, 2009. [41]

On December 21, 2009, The Fray released five acoustic Christmas songs for free download from the band's official website. The Christmas EP contained the songs "Away in a Manger", "O Come All Ye Faithful", "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel", "Silent Night" and "The First Noel".[42]

[edit] Band members

[edit] Current members

[edit] Former members

  • Dan Battenhouse – bass guitar, backing vocals (2002–2004)
  • Zach Johnson – drums, percussion (2002–2003)
  • Caleb Slade – bass guitar, backing vocals (2002)
  • Mike Ayars – lead guitar (2002–2003)

[edit] Touring members

[edit] Discography

Main article: The Fray discography

[edit] Studio albums

Year Album Chart positions Certifications
US UK AUS
2005 How to Save a Life
  • Released: September 13, 2005
  • Label: Epic
 14 4 1 US: 2× Multi-Platinum
CAN: Platinum

UK:Platinum
ARIA:Platinum
2009 The Fray
  • Released: February 3, 2009
  • Label: Epic
 1 8 3 US: Gold
ARIA:Gold
CAN: Gold
"—" denotes the album failed to chart, not released, or not certified

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.grammy.com/grammy_awards/52nd_show/list.aspx
  2. ^ http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/081020/ny40245.html?.v=1
  3. ^ Gitlin, Lauren (August 10, 2006). "Enter the Fray". Rolling Stone. 
  4. ^ "Fray Away The Edges". http://www.frayawaytheedges.net/.  "About the Guys: The Lost Members", Accessed October 1, 2006.
  5. ^ Tomlinson, Sarah (February 24, 2006). "'Life less ordinary'". Boston Globe. http://www.boston.com/ae/music/articles/2006/02/24/life_less_ordinary/. 
  6. ^ Herrera, Dave (December 25, 2003). "All Mixed Up". Westword Magazine. http://www.westword.com/issues/2003-12-25/music/music.html. 
  7. ^ Heller, Jason (February 19, 2004). "The Fray: Reason EP (self-released)". Westword Magazine. http://www.westword.com/issues/2004-02-19/music/playlist.html. 
  8. ^ Smith, Dane (March 30, 2006). "The Fray Live the High "Life"". Rolling Stone. http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/9550361/the_fray_live_the_high_life. 
  9. ^ "Completely Frayed". Longmont Daily Times-Call. May 12, 2006. 
  10. ^ "Modern Rock Tracks". Billboard. October 22, 2005. 
  11. ^ "Billboard Hot 100". Billboard. October 7, 2006. 
  12. ^ "Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks". Billboard. October 7, 2006. 
  13. ^ "First half sales: Downloads up; CDs, revenues down". USA Today. July 13, 2006. http://blogs.usatoday.com/listenup/2006/07/first_half_sale.html. 
  14. ^ "NBC.com Scrubs: Music Guide". http://scrubs-tv.com/music.html. 
  15. ^ Albiniak, Paige (September 24, 2006). "How 'Grey's' got that catchy new "theme" song". New York Post. 
  16. ^ "The Fray - How to Save a Life: Charts". http://www.musicsquare.net/charts/song/8231.  Last accessed May 12, 2007
  17. ^ "The Fray - their story to date". http://www.prezenceuk.co.uk/proof/thefraymusic/news/index.php?NewsID=40.  Last accessed May 12, 2007
  18. ^ CRIA Gold & Platinum certifications for January 2007. Retrieved July 25, 2007.
  19. ^ "The Fray at IMDB". http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2119171/. Retrieved September 28, 2006. 
  20. ^ a b "The Fray: Official Website". http://www.thefray.net. Retrieved September 28, 2006. 
  21. ^ http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/chart_watch/33561/week-ending-may-3-2009-age-is-just-a-number/
  22. ^ "49th Grammy Awards - 2007". Rock on the Net. http://www.rockonthenet.com/archive/2007/grammys.htm.  Last accessed February 22, 2007.
  23. ^ REVERB
  24. ^ "The Fray In Studio Performance at AOL Sessions". AOL Sessions. http://sessions.aol.ca/video/you-found-me/the-fray/691/. 
  25. ^ http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/television/news/e3i418dddc577c320a4d9521eee81bef69d
  26. ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2060444/bio
  27. ^ http://rodblackhurst.blogspot.com/2008/11/assorted-documentary-trivia.html
  28. ^ http://www.denvermagazine.com/culture/2008/10/fray-take-2
  29. ^ a b http://www.rodblackhurst.com/main.html
  30. ^ http://www.videostatic.com/vs/epic/index.html
  31. ^ http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2009/02/11/on-the-charts-springsteen-slips-to-second-as-the-fray-lock-up-number-one/
  32. ^ http://www.grammy.com/grammy_awards/52nd_show/list.aspx
  33. ^ http://www.grammy.com/grammy_awards/52nd_show/list.aspx
  34. ^ http://fmqb.com/Article.asp?id=16691
  35. ^ http://twitter.com/TheFray/status/5804811727
  36. ^ http://blog.thefray.net/us/news/deluxe-edition-ithe-frayi-out-now
  37. ^ http://blog.thefray.net/us/news
  38. ^ http://news.q4music.com/2009/01/hear_the_frays_exclusive_q_cha.html
  39. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOX8j4HBFAk
  40. ^ Trust, Gary (2009-05-21). "Chart Beat". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/chart-beat-bonus/chart-beat-kris-allen-swv-green-day-al-b-1003975810.story. Retrieved 2009-05-23. 
  41. ^ http://www.billboard.com/#/charts/hot-100?begin=91&order=position
  42. ^ http://blog.thefray.net/us/news/happy-holidays-fray

[edit] External links

v • d • e
The Fray
Isaac Slade · Joe King · Dave Welsh · Ben Wysocki
Studio albums
Live albums
EPs
Singles
Other songs
Related articles
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fray"