wordplay by Brian Kenney
image courtesy LiveNation.com
The Fray are anything but the loose ends that their name suggests. Quite the opposite, they are a tight knit circuit that dotes heavily on their hometown of Denver. Personal and personable, they seem to live for the existence of putting America's Mile High City on the map.
Recent examples of their local adoration and their regional influence are seen in their honorable appearances. In early May, they were the entertainment of the evening at the Boulder High School prom. Earlier in the day, lead singer Isaac Slade sang the national anthem at KBCO's Kinetics at the Boulder Reservoir. And a mid-March tour break found the boys close to home singing for their breakfast at Area 93.3's St. Patty's "Kegs and Eggs" at Lodo's Bar and Grill.
As the hottest act to exit out of Denver in recent years (and possibly ever), they have not forgotten where they came from. Even before the success of their debut release How to Save a Life found the band on every talk show from Jay Leno to Conan O'Brien to Craig Ferguson; even before every station in the Front Range, nee, the entire nation featured The Fray in heavy rotation; even before the band won Triple A Radio's Most Promising Artist of 2005 (kind of like winning a Golden Globe in the month before the Oscars) and even before a Grammy Award was a possibility, guitarist Joe King focused on his local roots.
What seems like an eon ago in the life of a band, it was December of 2004 that the Fray were being signed to Epic--the ink being put to paper on stage at Boulder's Fox Theatre. Their dedicated fan base watched and cheered. "It was very important that the fans be part of this experience for us," said King at the time. "It was very important to have everyone who has been part of this process to see this happen. We wanted to make it very personable."
King, along with Isaac Slade (vocals, piano) David Welsh (lead guitar) and Ben Wysocki (drums) at that time considered the Fox gig a highlight of their career. They also considered playing the Gothic Theatre a "dream come true." Those dreams have come true tenfold. At a velocity no one in the band could have dreamed of.
These days a measure of success comes from a now very well-known source: Myspace.com has put grass roots bands on the map in a big way. The Fray are no different. On the band's MySpace page, born in January 2005, it took 14 months to get a million song plays. In subsequent weeks, specifically after lead single "Over My Head (Cable Car)" hit heavy rotation; it took three weeks to reach 2 million. And it took 11 days to reach 3 million. And counting…The song is now No. 1 on the Billboard Heatseekers Chart.
While they all come from humble beginnings (band members attended classes together at Ralston Valley High School and Faith Christian Academy), success came relatively quickly for this outfit. Elected “Best New Band” by the Westword at the beginning of 2004 and winners of the Rock Category at the Westword’s showcase by mid 2004, by the end of 2004, the demos of "Cable Car" (as hit single "Over My Head" was then being called) and "Vienna" were in heavy rotation not only on Channel 93.3 (where one would expect unsigned indie rock) but also on KBCO 97.3 and even Top 40 Alice 106 (KALC 105.9).
“[Winning the Westword Showcase] was important for us,” King recalls, "because it was voted by the readers and the fans.” Local adoration has fueled the Fray's success. The video for "Over My Head (Cable Car)" was shot at Denver East High School with splices of live shots of the band filmed at the Gothic Theatre.
You can tell how dedicated they are to their roots when their tours are announced. They have tried to end their tour here time and time again; first on their early summer jaunt with shows at the Gothic, then their late winter/ early spring leg ended at the Paramount, only to have them booked again on another extensive leg, with this tour ending at the Universal Lending Pavilion on June 24th. (At press time, another set of dates has the band ending their tour with two sold out nights at Chicago's House of Blues.) But each subsequent outing garnered its own momentum, with each tour leg ending at larger and larger local venues.
With a unique sound of piano-driven soft-spoken songs (read Ben Folds) and emotionally charged lyrics (see also Ben Kweller), The Fray have notched a spot in a genre primarily occupied by a British hierarchy. Recent additions to this exclusive hierarchy are most notably James Blunt (with whom The Fray tour with in early summer) and Belle & Sebastian. King calls his band an "American version of Radiohead, Snow Patrol, or Coldplay."
Supporting slots with Weezer, The Pixies, Ben Folds, and David Gray have matured the band to the point of eloquence. Primed to headline shows of their own, The Fray bring it all home on June 24th with Seattle singer/songwriter Brandi Carlile. We welcome them home…with open arms.
June 24th @ City Lights Pavilion
www.ChuckMorrisPresents.com for further concert info
www.TheFray.net