Music:
Member Since: 12/20/2007
Band Website: www.myspace.com/aroundtheworldandback
Band Members:When first listening to Around the World and Back, it's easy to see why the band has had such exemplary success in winning over audiences and acquiring fans in its short existence - the catchy choruses, dual vocals and guitar leads will capture the listeners' initial attention while the complex orchestration, deep harmonies, and creative song structure provide a solid substantive element that makes for thought provoking, satisfying music.
Fresh yet mature, Around the World and Back's debut effort – Van.Go., is the type of end product that only comes from experience; not only in singing, songwriting, and performing, but in recording, promoting, and working with band members to turn a song concept into a full, rich, and dynamic recording that allows the listener to experience, in full detail, the songwriters' vision. The music to Van.Go. was recorded live, in a very short period of time, and on a very constrained budget. Overdubs were only done out of necessity, to truly try and capture a moment in time and help the listener "not just hear the songs" says singer/songwriter Bryan Shortell, "but feel the songs". "Some of our favorite records were recorded this way" he adds. "Some because the times didn't allow for other any other means of recording, like our favorite Beatles records, and some due to a desire to put the artist back into the hot seat when it comes to recording, not the engineer, or the producer. What's the Story Morning Glory by Oasis was exactly that type of record, and the record I feel shaped our recording process the most. Sometimes, It's the slight imperfections that a live recording atmosphere creates that can really breathe life into a record, and I think Van.Go. is a great example of this."
Around the World and Back has a particular fascination with not focusing solely on the sounds of past, or the trends of today, but tastefully blending the two. Growing up, singer/songwriter Marco Testa found himself drawn to the sounds of The Beatles. "I feel the white album(s) are great, and I hope that some day the guitar work in "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" will be considered "cool" again." He goes on to stress that when he says "cool", this is not to be confused with "hip". "Trends come and go, I want to create music that can speak to people just as much today, as it can 20 years from now, and The Beatles are king when it comes to timeless songwriting." Van.Go. proves to be an effort grounded in this philosophy. It allows the listener to discover new layers, new sounds, and unique sonic qualities with each and every listen. Van.Go. truly is a record that "grows" on you, and that is what creates staying power, no matter the artistic medium.
Thanks to the band members' extensive experience playing in other ensembles, Around the World and Back is a whole that is much more than the sum of its parts. The members are able to draw on their past individual endeavors while mutually shaping an ever-evolving style of which Van.Go. is but a snapshot of. With extensive touring in the near future as well as a new record already a topic of conversation for 2009, Around the World and Back is excited, driven, and committed to growing and progressing, all the while churning out quality music and shows for their current and future fans.
follow ATWAB at http://twitter.com
APRIL 22, 2009
Wednesday Weekly News Update:
-Alright, lets see, where to start.....OK. First things first. We will be playing a FREE SHOW @ SUNY Canton next Friday May 1st. For most of you, that might not mean anything, because you might be wondering where the hell Canton, NY even is, but if you are from upstate, NY (even further upstate than here in Albany) this will probably be the closest we get to playing near you for awhile, so make the trek if you can. Our good friends in Abbott Hayes will also be playing with us along with Honor Bright, and Turn. All of you up there @ SUNY Potsdam, and SUNY Canton, we expect to see you, and hopefully even some of you from the Plattsburgh are as well.
-Just posted a show that we confirmed yesterday that we are all super excited about! The show will be Friday, May 22nd @ Valentine's w/ Good old War, Straylight Run, and Lovedrug. I don't know about you guys, but we love Good Old War and can't stress how damn tight this band is. Three part harmonies with ease. Enough said. Anyway, hope to see a lot of you there, this is gonna be a hell of a show. With any luck we'll also be showcasing some of our new material at the show as well. This might be your only opportunity to hear anything new before we go into the studio, so come get a sneak peek. We will have new merchandise available @ the show and online as well.
-The writing process is going great. New songs just keep coming, and I think this is going to be the first time for any of us that the hardest part of the process is going to be narrowing down the songs, not writing them. We hope to put out our first full length by the end of summer, but there's a lot of variables at play. We're hoping to actually get full distribution for this record and tour on it as much as possible. We'll be doing some demo-ing and with any luck, we'll find someone as excited about the material as we are to really help push it to the next level.
-The show with the Audrye Sessions @ Valentine's last Tuesday was a huge success. SUCH a great turnout for a Tuesday night (or a Friday night for that matter). Can't thank you all enough. The show was a blast, and we gave a way a whoooole lot of CD's. Hope you first timers are thoroughly enjoying Van.Go.
-We're gonna try to get the ball rolling with some video updates and other cool stuff in the near future. If you guys have any other suggestions, or things you'd like to see, let us know, we're up for anything. Thinkin about maybe documenting the writing process a bit so you guys can follow a few of the songs from just an acoustic guitar all the way to the finished product, let me know if that sounds like something you guys would be interested in. I know I always love to see the writing/recording process, so shoot us a message or whatever if you'd like Around the World and Back to do something similar.
-We are working on putting together a tour beginning in the end of July. There is a chance we will go as far south as Florida on the East Coast, but we are still leaning towards two weeks of mostly northeastern dates. If any of you down south think this is a bad idea, let us know! We are looking for bands to take out with us (or to take us out) on the road, so if you have any suggestions, or think you might be able to help us out with that, or anything else like booking a venue, a place to crash, etc, it's all helpful!
That about covers it.
Support the music you love. You're the only thing that can keep them going. Remember that.
Much Love,-AROUND THE WORLD AND BACK-
Currently listening to (check out) : The Audrye Sessions, Good Old War, Abbott Hayes, Band of Horses, Nada Surf.
APRIL 8, 2009
Wednesday Weekly News Update:
So it's officially been over a month since we've updated you guys, and we appologize for all of the pain and suffering it undoubtedly has caused you, BUT a lot has been going on on our end of things, so lets get started, shall we?
-We have a show THIS coming TUESDAY night at Valentine's with a band by the name of The Audrye Sessions. If you haven't gotten a chance to check these guys out, go to their myspace page, or even better, youtube some live performances. We played with them at Valentine's for our CD release show back in November and they blew my mind, honestly, they are well worth the few bucks it costs to get your ass in the door.
-At the show we will be giving away a FREE COPY of our EP "Van.Go." to anyone and everyone who can make it out. It's our way of saying thanks to those of you who continuously come out and support us locally, and always seem to bring more and more of your friends along with you every show. We really want to make this show bigger than any of the others we've done here, which can be some big shoes to fill on a Tuesday night, but I have full faith we'll pull it off. If you need tickets, GET AHOLD OF US. Pre-Sale tikets are $8, but we will barter, trade, haggle, whatever. If you want in, we'll make it happen, so just shoot us a message!
-Around the World and Back is hard at work writing our new record which we hope to put out this summer. It's going to be our first full length, with around 11 or 12 songs. We already have well over 20 song ideas worth of material, and we've been working on narrowing it down to the best of best. As of this past weekend we have already got four songs started as a group, and maaaan are we excited. We are tossing around ideas for a possible producer, and we will be demoing songs in the very near future. Who knows, maaaybe a sneak preview will make it's way online ;-)-With that said about the new record, we will be taking a step back from playing shows (if you haven't noticed, we already have haha) for a little while to focus on the writing process. That doesn't mean we won't be playing at all, just not every weekend as we have been in the past. But if you've got an offer, make sure to shoot us an e-mail and we'll let ya know if we can make it happen!
-I'll be adding one more show to our "shows" section today. It's a free show in Canton, NY on May 1st with Honor Bright, Abbott Hayes, and Turn. Gonna be tweet.
-New Merch designs will be available shortly.
-If you've heard "Up and Down" on any of the local radio stations down here, PLEASE let them know how much you love it, and let them know you want to hear more of it! It really helps us out!
-If you've made it this far, you deserve something. The first five people to shoot us a message with the subject "Tickets" and your address in the body will get a FREE TICKET to our Valentine's show this Tuesday!
We won't disappear for so long ever again, I promise. Hopefully we'll be seeing you all in less than week! I know I've said it, but I'm gonna say it again; this show is seriously going to be one of the best local shows of this genre in a long while. Every band on the bill is legit. Come out and support all the bands, and get ready to see The Audrye Sessions.
Much Love,
-AROUND THE WORLD AND BACK-
March 4th, 2009
Wednesday Weekly News Update:
Hello hello. I can't believe it's already Wednesday again. But you know what that means....it's ALMOST Friday. We've had a pretty awesome week. Let's recap some news:
We want to formally thank everyone who made it out to The Red Square in Albany this past Saturday. The place was absolutely packed, and everyone there was SO great. Honestly, one of the best shows we've ever played locally. We should have some pictures up very soon, and if anyone else out there has any pics of the shows this weekend, or ANY shows for that matter, send them our way!
That brings me to our next hometown show. This one is going to be the biggest and best we've had yet, we have no doubt. It is April 14th, and it will be presented by Step up Presents and 102.7 EQX We are playing with The Audrye Sessions who are literally one of the top three best live acts I have ever had the pleasure of seeing, let alone sharing the stage with. Do yourself a favor and go check them out at www.myspace.com/AudryeSessions. Our good friends Travis Gray, and Saving Atlantis will also be there.
We've decided that since we think this show is going to be such a success, that it would be the least we could do for our local fans to make this particular show a FREE CD GIVEWAY EVERYONE who comes through the door will get a FREE COPY of our debut EP Van.Go.!
Consider it a token of our appreciation for the endless support we have been getting from you guys throughout our short life as a group so far. Things are picking up more and more, and it's because of people like you letting people know about that "new group" you found. Word of mouth still works as good as ever.
102.7 EQX has been playing our single "Up and Down" every Sunday, so make sure to call in and let them know you want to hear more of it!
We have New Promo Pictures up! Click on any of the pictures in our "Media" section, and check them out!
Don't forget to go to our YouTube channel (www.YouTube.com/ATWABmusic) and check out some of the videos we have up!
We wont be playing out too much in March due to vacation schedules, so we will make sure that we keep busy in a lot of other ways, some of which you will looove.
That's about it for this week!
Much Love,
-Around the World and Back-
FEBRUARY 25, 2009
Wednesday Weekly News Update:
-Hope everyone is having a good week so far. Things are definitely going well on our end of things, and hopefully we'll be able to catch up with a lot of you this weekend.
We have two shows, one on Friday in Brooklyn and one on Saturday in Albany, NY. This will be our first time down in the city, so any of you who have been asking us to come down, this is as good a time as any to come out and see what Around the World and Back is all about live. Albany, this will most likely be our last time in town until the Audrye Sessions show @ Valentine's April, 14th, so come out and have a good time with us @ the Red Square Saturday night. We go on a 9, so get there early!
-We posted a new video for "Up and Down" of some live footage from our CD release show w/ Person L, Audrye Sessions, and Mock Orange in our media section. You can also find it at www.youtube.com/ATWABMusic. Very cool.
-As you know, we recruited a new drummer, and things couldn't be going better. Our live show just went up another notch, and anyone who can make it out this weekend will definitely see what we mean. We took new promo pictures that will be up very very shortly.-We've got some exciting things in the works, most of it being free stuff for you guys like music, shows, merchandise, etc.
-If you're from the Albany area keep your ears peeled for our music on local radio stations in the coming couple of weeks. Next weeks news will have a list of all of the local stations that will be playing our music, so you can call in and let them know you want MORE of it! With that being said, if you think you can help Around the World and Back get our music played at your school, radio station, podcast or whatever, by all means, let us know! If you think you can even help us promote in ANY way, again, let us know!
-We will begin putting together a tentative summer tour schedule over the next couple of weeks, so if you want Around the World and Back to come to your town this summer, make SURE to message us! If you know of a venue, promoter, band, or whatever that you think can help us out in your town, make sure to include it in the message!
That's all for this week. Hopefully see a lot of you this weekend!
Much Love,
-Around the World and Back-
FEBRUARY 23, 2009
FEBRUARY 11, 2009
Hello hello. So we've decided that since the middle of the week is usually completely uneventful and sometimes downright depressing, every wednesday we will be posting our Weekly News Updates. Obviously if there's some news in between that just can't wait, it'll be up that day, but for the most part, we'll be doing updates in this news section every Wednesday. Ok, so now on to the news:
-We would officially like to announce and welcome our good friend Jared Bashant as the new drummer for Around the World and Back. We have been good friends with Jared for a long time, and even played music in the past with him. We couldn't be more excited about his being apart of this group, and we feel he has a LOT to offer Around the World and Back, both as a drummer, and as a friend. We will have new promo pictures up shortly with the four of us!
-NEW Merchandise will be up shortly! T-shirts, bags, and more oh my.
-We will be playing the Bug Jar in Rochester, NY this SUNDAY with our good friends Prima, and These Green Eyes. If you live in the area, come on out, it'll be our first time in the area, and would love to meet a lot of you who have been messaging us about finally getting out there!
-We are teaming up with a new local company that you will no doubt be hearing all about over the next couple weeks. There is going to be a very big and very FREE local show announced by next week that is going to help this company start off with a big bang locally. Think the music scene is dead or dying around here? Think again. This is going to be for those of you that are ready for something real and different in the area. I think it's going to be a real eye opener to the music scene as a whole around here.
-We will be touring as much as we possibly can this summer. With that said, if you are a promoter, a band, work for a radio station, etc, etc, etc get ahold of us if you think you can help us out in anyway! Also, if you want Around the World and Back to play your city shoot us a message and let us know! We really take those things to heart.
That's all for now, and remember you can still pick up a copy of Van.Go. digitally through and you can pick up a physical copy as well as any of our Merchandise through:
Store
Thanks a lot. We'll be seeing you soon.
Much Love,
-AROUND THE WORLD AND BACK-
FEBRUARY 6, 2009
Our friend JP Clark was nice enough to do a remix of our song "Lalan", and we thought it was a great take on the song, so we decided to give it away for a limited time as a FREE DOWNLOAD to those of you who have gotten to know Around the World and Back so early on. Things have been picking up faster and faster, and we hope the trend continues. Thanks again. Hope this helps to spice up your weekend a bit. Get your free download by clicking here:
FEBRUARY 2, 2009
We have SO much news coming in the next two weeks. Some of it completely unexpected, that's for sure. I'll start with a few things that we think are very, very cool.
We will be posting a FREE DOWNLOAD of a never before heard version of one of our songs THIS FRIDAY 2.06.09. Make sure you come by this weekend and download it! Just a simple way to say thank you for those of us who have gotten on board with Around the World and Back as early as you have. Our debut EP, Van.Go., has been out for only about two months now, and we have gotten an overwhelming amount of support and kind words from all of you, so thank you so much. I know it's been said a million times before, by a million different people, but we really do mean it, so seriously, thanks.
If you haven't picked up Van.Go. yet you can get it on NOW!
Around the World and Back have teamed up with our friends at 12fruits.com and will be featured on a compilation CD that will be sold at every warped tour date, as well at select Hot Topic, and Newberry Comics locations! More details on that as we get them!
NEW Merchandise will be available shortly, but for now you can get a physical copy of Van.Go., as well as the merchandise featured on our page in our Store
That's all for now. Next Week at this time we will be posting another news update with some very cool stuff. Hope all is going well. We'll be posting New Shows in the coming week, hope to see you out soon!
-Much Love-
AROUND THE WORLD AND BACK-
JANUARY 20, 2009
We love facebook, and so do you, so go ahead and add us, will ya?
Click HERE:
JANUARY 08, 2009
As you can see, the new layout is up and running! Thanks so much to Clark at Mammoth for hooking us up (myspace.com/mammoth_clothing)! We have LOTS of new shows coming up, as well as some other cool stuff:
-Van.Go. is now up on I-tunes, Amazon, Napster, and Rhapsody If you end up liking what you hear, and decide to take the big $5.00 dive and get the record, make sure to leave a few comments on I-tunes or wherever, it's definitely helpful!
-We will be posting the final track "Everything's Fine" for streaming tomorrow. Van.Go. will officially be able to be streamed in it's entirety tomorrow!
-We started LOTS of new pages, and you can find their respective links above our player, some of them aren't quite finished yet, but we're working on it!
Our Merch Now store will be up in a day or two with physical copies of Van.Go., and some T-shirts and other cool stuff!
-New Promos will be up in the picture section tonight Check it!
-We are going to be updating SO much more now that we finally have the new space up and running, what do you all think?
NOVEMBER 24, 2008
Another new song off of "Van.Go." going up tomorrow. One you haven't heard. New merch up in the coming week. Whole new layout. Itunes/Amazon/moremoremore. LOTS of shows. Full speed ahead.
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SEPTEMBER 11, 2008
OK..so here's what we are doing. If you live in a major city, preferably (but not completely limited to) the northeast we want to buy you a ticket to a show of your choice.
Here's what we're going to do. Send us your name, address, phone number, the location of the show you'd like to attend, and the bands on the roster for that night. If it seems like a show that would attract an audience that might be into our sound, we will buy you a ticket, and you have to do very little in return to make that happen.
We will send you a box (at our own expense) with CD samplers, stickers, and some other goodies to hand out to the people in line or inside the venue. Maybe say a few kind words about the music when you do this, and hand them out until they are gone (which really shouldn't take too long...people love free stuff) This would be extremely helpful to us. It's sort of like a street team, but a little better.
Now you may be asking..."how will they know if I hand the stuff out?" The answer...we wont...and we are ok with that. This is on the honor system, and we believe for the most part, people will be willing to help us out if we are willing to help them out. Crazy concept right? haha.
We will start accepting applicants right away, and we will accept a few, but when the CD is done in about a month we will really roll this out in high gear.
Let us know what you think, or if you have any questions. Thanks a lot guys.
MUCH LOVE
-Around The World And Back-
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Rochester, NY: 2.15.09
BOOKING: [email protected]
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Influences: Around the World and Back is influenced by artists of the past and present such as: As Tall As Lions, Coldplay, Oasis, Manchester Orchestra, Bon Iver, The Beatles, The Snake The Cross The Crown, and many many more.
Sounds Like: ******************DO NOT EDIT BENEATH HERE******************
Record Label: Unsigned