Halestorm

All Music Guide:

Siblings Elizabeth and Arejay Hale, the core members of the hard rock band Halestorm, began the group in late 1997 near York, PA, with Arejay on drums and Elizabeth on vocals and keyboard. Wanting to expand their sound, the duo invited their father, Roger, to play bass for Halestorm. Soon after their first professional gig in 1998, at the Blue Mountain Coffee House in Hershey, PA, the band added various guitar players and released an album, 2000's (Don't Mess with The) Time Man. More lineup changes occurred, but Halestorm finally solidified with Elizabeth (who was by then going by Lzzy) on vocals and guitar, Josh Smith on bass, Arejay on drums, and Joe Hottinger on guitar. The band caught the attention of producer David Ivory as well as Atlantic Records, both of whom were involved in the band's major-label debut, One and Done, the five-song EP recorded live at a show in Philadelphia.

Wikipedia:

Halestorm is an American rock band from Red Lion, Pennsylvania. The group's self-titled debut album was released on April 28, 2009 through Atlantic Records. Their second album The Strange Case of... was released on April 10, 2012.

History

Siblings Arejay and Elizabeth "Lzzy" Hale have been actively writing and performing original music since 1997 when they were 10 and 13 years old, respectively. Both brother and sister started learning piano at the age of 5; Lzzy later progressed to a keytar and Arejay to the drums. Lzzy took guitar lessons at 16. The teen siblings released an EP titled Don't Mess With the Time Man in 2000. In Halestorm's earliest incarnation, Lzzy and Arejay's father Roger Hale played bass before Josh Smith joined the group in 2004. Guitarist Joe Hottinger joined in 2003.

The group signed a recording contract with Atlantic Records on June 28, 2005 and released a live EP titled One and Done. The EP, now out of print, featured an early live version of "It's Not You." Their self-titled debut album was released on April 28, 2009. The song "I Get Off" served as the album's lead single and has gained heavy radio play. Both the song and video for their second single, "It's Not You", were released in late November 2009. Singles and videos for "Love/Hate Heartbreak" and "Familiar Taste of Poison" were released in 2010.

Halestorm is well known for their near non-stop touring, often performing as many as 250 shows a year. Since 2006 they have toured with many hard rock and heavy metal acts including Chevelle, Seether, Staind, Papa Roach, Trapt, Three Days Grace, Theory of a Deadman, Buckcherry, Disturbed, Shinedown, Avenged Sevenfold, Hellyeah, and Heaven & Hell. Halestorm appeared on the first annual Rockstar Energy drink Uproar Festival,, and in October 2010 the band traveled to Japan to participate in the Loud Park Festival. Halestorm also appeared on the 2010 Taste of Chaos tour.

On November 16, 2010 Halestorm released a live CD/DVD entitled Live in Philly 2010, which was recorded at The TLA in Philadelphia in early 2010. On March 22, 2011, Halestorm released an EP called ReAnimate containing covers of songs of different genres, including "Out Ta Get Me" by Guns N' Roses, "Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga, and the first single "Slave to the Grind" by Skid Row.

On January 24, 2012, Halestorm released the EP Hello, It's Mz. Hyde, a sneak preview of four songs from their upcoming studio album. Their second full length album, The Strange Case Of... was released on April 10, 2012 in the US, April 9 in the UK, and April 17 in Italy. In May 2012, Halestorm made a history by becoming the first female-fronted band to top the Billboard rock chart with their song "Love Bites...(So Do I)."[1] In the same month, Gibson Guitars created a signature series guitar for Lzzy Hale. [2]

Appearances

Halestorm was the featured artist on the cover of Origivation magazine in October 2006 and appeared on the cover of Pennsylvania Musician magazine three times (August 1999, March 2000, and February 2003). Lzzy Hale appeared on the cover of Revolver magazine along with Grace Perry from Landmine Marathon in their December 2009 edition of the "Hottest Chicks in Metal". Lzzy Hale has also been noted for her use of Gibson Guitars. Arejay Hale was featured in the June 2010 issue of Modern Drummer magazine, and is endorsed by Ludwig Drums, Zildjian Cymbals and Pro-Mark Drumsticks.

Lzzy Hale lent her vocals to a reworked version of the Shinedown song "Shed Some Light" from the album Us and Them, although this version was never officially released and only saw a small amount of play on a few radio stations located within the band's home state of Pennsylvania and WRIF out of Detroit. The song received significant airplay in Chicago on radio station WIIL. Lzzy and Brent Smith have since performed the song LIVE only one time since the recording of the song on May 21, 2009 at a club called The Brat Stop in Kenosha, Wisconsin. She also lent her vocals to the Shinedown song "Breaking Inside" which was released with the song and music video "Diamond Eyes (Boom-Lay Boom-Lay Boom)" on iTunes.

On September 5, 2007, Halestorm appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno as part of the Jaywalking segment. On July 21, 2010 they appeared on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon as the musical guest, performing "Familiar Taste of Poison".

Lzzy Hale appeared on Black Stone Cherry's album Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea as a backup vocalist on the songs "Such a Shame" and "Won't Let Go".

On February 21, 2012 Halestorm's song "Here's to Us" was performed on the "On My Way" episode of Glee during the regionals competition portion of the show. The song was performed by Lea Michele, who plays Rachel Berry, and the other female members of New Directions.

Lzzy Hale appeared on Adrenaline Mob's album Omertá singing on their cover of Duran Duran's "Come Undone".