The Stone 11 Story ...
Stone 11 formed in January, 2005 in Parkers Lake, Kentucky and Greeneville, Tennessee. Longtime friends Kevin Holbrook, Todd Adams, and Brian Sumpter (all of Whitesburg, KY) were brought together again by Darrell Newton when he made his decision to pursue music as a career. The addition of Andy Stewart on bass rounded out the group and added the low-end thump that was missing in early practices.
Although playing together as Stone 11 is a recent development, most of the members have been playing music together for the better part of their adult life. Kevin, Todd and Brian all grew in the same "holler" in Eastern Kentucky. Without much of a social scene, there were very few things to turn to for entertainment so music is a very common theme in the area.
Once adult life moved in on the guys, everyone went their seperate ways and Kevin ended up in Parkers Lake, Kentucky where he met Darrell Newton. Brian had landed in Greeneville, TN and met Andy Stewart. Everyone got together once again to play music with Darrell on lead vocals, but after some time life once again caught up and things dwindled down musically.
In 2004, Darrell decided to move to Nashville and get a new start on life. He landed a good job, and met Todd Harrell from 3 Doors Down while working in Nashville. They were in town to record their new album, "17 Days" and after some time Darrell and Todd Harrell became close friends (if you have the album, look for Darrell's name under "Special Thanks" on the inside jacket). With some encouragement from Todd Harrell along with Phin Daly (3DD Manager), Darrell decided to pick up the musical pieces and start writing music once again.
Darrell was invited to open the Better Life Foundation annual dinner auction in Biloxi, Mississippi, where he had the opportunity to perform "Southern Bands" for hundreds of screaming fans and the heros of the song as well -- Lynyrd Skynyrd themselves. It was an emotional performance, and the kind words of encouragement from the Skynyrd members once again assured Darrell that he was on the right path. A couple phone calls is all it took to bring the old band back together again, and the rest as they say, is history.
LATEST MEDIA LINKS:
3 Doors Down Host Dinner Auction for The Better Life Foundation
with a guest performance by Darrell Newton of Stone 11
Tuesday, December 21, 2004
L to R: Brad Arnold & Todd Harrell of 3 Doors
Down, and Darrell Newton of Stone 11.
