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The Punk-Rock trio Tiger Army came together in early 1996, when lead
singer+guitarist & songwriter Nick 13, bassist Rob Peltier and drummer
Adam Carson played their first show at the legendary 924 Gilman in Berkeley,
California USA, the Punk collective where bands such as Green
Day, AFI and Rancid
got their start, opening for longtime hometown friends AFI
and in fact borrowing their drummer. Local gigging on a variety of musically
mixed bills and recording demos, later released as the Early Years EP,
the band quickly came to the attention of Rancid
frontman and Hellcat Records co-founder Tim
Armstrong, who contacted Nick 13 and asked him to record an album.
The eventual result was the band's self-titled debut, released in October
1999; it was an album that was to announce the long-overdue arrival of
the psychobilly subculture, born in early '80s England, to the North American
continent, introducing countless fans to the style that had gone unnoticed
here for so long. In 2000, Nick 13 moved to Los Angeles, intent on finding
a touring line-up for the band.
With the release of the band's second full-length, "Tiger Army II:
Power Of Moonlite", in the summer of 2001, the band began a relentless
period of touring that lasted eighteen months, taking the group across
the States several times and over the oceans to Japan and Europe. Now
consisting of stand-up bass player Geoff Kresge and drummer Fred Hell
in addition to 13, Tiger Army cut its teeth on the road, touring with
several Punk outfits in addition to various festivals and headlining dates.
In early 2003 as the band rehearsed material for the album that was to
become "Tiger Army III: Ghost Tigers Rise", tragedy struck as
Fred Hell was shot four times in a home-invasion robbery; despite waiting
several months for his recovery, he was ultimately unable to record with
the band and friend and longtime drum tech Mike Fasano stepped in to handle
drum duties in the studio. Despite a seemingly miraculous recovery and
a return to the road with the band for a tour supporting Rancid
and some regional headlining dates, lingering health issues sadly prevented
Hell from continuing on with the band.
After two sold-out record release shows at the House of Blues Sunset Strip
in July 2004 to mark the arrival of the band's third LP, which hit the
top 10 of the U.S. Independent Albums chart and reached the #146 position
of The Billboard 200, Mike Fasano once again returned to fill the drummer's
seat as the band embarked on the second month of the Vans Warped Tour,
playing 28 shows on the main stage. Kresge announced his departure from
the band after returning home from that tour, he was replaced by stand-up
bassist Jeff Roffredo. Tiger Army then hired drummer James Meza and embarked
on their longest tour yet with, a nine-and-a-half week, 46 show odyssey
supporting Social Distortion
on a full U.S. tour.
Released in June 2007, Tiger Army's fourth album, "Music From Regions
Beyond", is the trio's most diverse and commercial-sounding record
to date; the 11-track set, which included the alt-Rock radio single "Forever
Fades Away", debuted in the top 50 of The Billboard 200 Albums chart.
Tiger Army biography is an exclusive of 100xr.com
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