Saving Abel

All Music Guide:

Formed in 2004 by vocalist Jared Weeks and guitarist Jason Null, Saving Abel combine riff-heavy hard rock with sexually charged lyrics and Southern rock influences. The quintet took root in Corinth, MS, where Weeks and Null cut their teeth in different bands before merging their songwriting talents. In early 2005, the duo attracted attention from producer Skidd Mills, who invited Weeks and Null to record in his Memphis studio. Juggling day jobs and regional gigs, the two began driving back and forth between Corinth and Memphis, sporadically recording their self-titled EP with Mills while putting together a full lineup consisting of guitarist Scott Bartlett, bassist Eric Taylor, and drummer Blake Dixon.

Within a year, the EP had earned Saving Abel a contract with Virgin Records, and Mills returned to produce the group's full-length debut. Combining new material with the EP's best songs, the self-titled album was issued in March 2008. It went gold within a year, with the lead single "Addicted" cracking the Top 40 and nearly topping the modern rock charts. While touring the country in support of the album, Saving Abel began playing new material, most of which appeared on the sophomore album Miss America in 2010.

Wikipedia:

Saving Abel is an American rock music group from Corinth, Mississippi, who were started in 2004 by Jared Weeks and Jason Null. The band title is from the ancient biblical story of Cain and Abel, that is about a brother who killed his own brother. Band member Jason Null thought up the band title saying “I Googled the story of Cain and Abel and found a line about ‘there was no saving Abel,’ which just jumped out at me.”

History

Jared Weeks and Jason Null began forming Saving Abel in the small town of Corinth, Mississippi in 2004. Weeks was learning to play the guitar at his best friend’s house and Null, who was in a competing rock band in the same town, walked in to rehearse. Null and Weeks hit it off, and a couple of days later the two were writing songs together. Early in 2005, their songs caught the ear of noted producer Skidd Mills (12 Stones, ZZ Top, Saliva, and Robert Cray), who brought the two into his 747 Studio in Memphis Tennessee to record some of the songs.

Saving Abel gradually came together with the addition of guitar player Scott Bartlett, bass player Eric Taylor, and Blake Dixon on drums. Weeks would throw Saving Abel demo CDs onto the stages of bigger bands that toured through Corinth. Weeks recalled of the time: "I used to work at a hospital. I’d have to be there at 4:30 in the morning drawing blood. I’d wake people up and stick a needle in their arm. I’d be walking around the hospital, singing ‘Addicted’ in my head, writing down the lyrics on patients’ clipboards and doctor script pads."

In 2006, Saving Abel released a CD under their own record label. After shopping the album around for almost a year, a copy of the song "Addicted" was heard by former Virgin A&R consultant Rick Smith and he e-mailed the song to CEO of Virgin Music Company Jason Flom. Mr. Flom immediately liked what he heard and sent A&R vet Kim Stephens (Collective Soul, Matchbox 20, Edwin McCain) to watch the band perform in Jackson, Tennessee.

Saving Abel released their self-titled, major label debut on March 11, 2008. The CD featured the lead song "Addicted," which rose to #2 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs charts. On January 15, 2009 the CD peaked at #49 on the Billboard 200. The album received the certification of Gold in the week of March 16, 2009, because of the lead single. Some controversy surrounded "Addicted" because of the lyrics' sexual nature, which some radio stations refused to play over the air. However, there was another version of the song that Saving Abel had recorded, changing one of the lines from "going down on me" to "rolling around with me" that radio stations throughout the country would play.

In the summer of 2009, Saving Abel embarked on a tour with Canadian rock band Nickelback during their Dark Horse Tour, along with Hinder and Papa Roach, bringing the band through Live Nation outdoor amphitheaters. In April 2009, the band struck down allegations that there was a rival-hood with fellow tour-mates Hinder. On April 7, 2009, Virgin Music Company released the Saving Abel EP named 18 Days Tour. The EP contained an acoustical version of the song "18 Days" along with two new songs. In the latter part of 2009, Saving Abel headlined a U.S. tour with the bands Red, Pop Evil and Taddy Porter in supporting slots.

It was officially announced on February 22, 2010 that Saving Abel would play at the Rocklahoma 2010 Music Festival in Pryor, Oklahoma. Saving Abel also went on to open for rock band Creed, with We Are the Fallen, American Bang and Taddy Porter playing before them. They also played at several summer music festivals with Filter, Buckcherry, 12 Stones, Drowning Pool, Egypt Central and Hellyeah. The band worked on their second CD Miss America throughout late 2009 and early 2010. During the making of the CD, the song "Sex Is Good" was somehow leaked onto YouTube. The new CD, which offered a download-able only acoustic version of the song "Sex Is Good," was released under Virgin Records on June 8 of 2010. The first single from the CD, Stupid Girl (Only In Hollywood), was released earlier that year on April 8 and hit radio on April 26. The song went to #7 on the Mainstream Rock Song chart. "Sex Is Good" was later issued as the 2nd single, reaching the #1 spot on the same chart in January 2011. The third single, which the CD was named after, was the track "Miss America."

In 2011, Saving Abel embarked on a tour where they played at the Guantanamo Bay Army Prison, as well as many BBQ's, chili cookoffs, motorcycle rallies and State Fairs. Saving Abel also played for the American military in Kuwait (which is where the first gulf war happened in the nineties). The lead singer of the band also sang to sick children at the hospital.

On May 14, 2012, Saving Abel debuted their new single Bringing Down the Giant. Their new album is going to be out in mid June.

Members

Former: