Sister Hazel will play ‘All for You’
January 16, 2003
This kind of story happens often in the music industry but is all too rarely told. Often times a band parts with their label for one reason or another and fades into obscurity. It happens all the time.
This has happened to Sister Hazel, but the details of the separation aren’t important. What matters is that Sister Hazel doesn’t plan to disappear anytime soon, and plans to do whatever it takes to make sure that plan comes to fruition.
The band, formerly signed to mammoth-label Universal Records, released two records to national recognition: 1997’s “Somewhere More Familiar” and 2000’s “Fortress.” “All For You,” the single off their first album, had the distinction of being the most played song on the radio the year of its release.
Sister Hazel has struck out on their own, recording and releasing their latest, “Chasing Daylight,” on their own label. The group has set out on a cross-country trek that will take them all over in a quest to get their music heard by those with open ears. On Thursday night , the trail leads through People’s Bar & Grill, 2428 Lincoln Way.
Trojanowski says the group is comfortable in their current situation.
“It’s a good feeling to be back in there,” he says. “People out there are in our corner. I think the whole music scene is about ready to change. Most of the labels are struggling as it is.”
Even with the aforementioned separation, drummer Mark Trojanowski believes the proverbial ball will continue rolling the same way it always has, perhaps even more efficiently this time.
“From a radio and promotional side, we’ve basically hired all the people that Universal would have hired independently and put together our own little independent team,” he said. “Except we’re on the philosophy of building something and growing it and not just spending $300,000 to get most added record of the week and two weeks later every radio station drops it because you didn’t pay them any more money.”
The band is doing its part to cater to the needs and desires of its existing devotees, but what of the task of converting newly found faithful? Trojanowski believes the new record will help in that area; one he says is their “best to date.”
Trojanowski, although excited about the possibilities for “Chasing Daylight,” doesn’t think the album will mean a return to the mainstream for Sister Hazel. They plan on operating within their niche regardless of what’s currently popular.
“I don’t think there’s really going to be a mainstream,” he says. “I think the thing we feel confident about now is every time we’ve put a record out in the past there’s been an overriding musical genre everybody plays — whether it was the Backstreet/Christina/Britney kind of thing or the really heavy Limp Bizkit/Tool kind of stuff. Now, there’s really nothing out there that’s controlling the overall majority of the people. We’re just not going to be one of those bands that are going to chase that down. Either people are going to like our stuff or they’re not going to like it.”
Who: Sister Hazel
Where: People’s Bar & Grill, 2428 Lincoln Way
When: 9 p.m. Thursday
Price: $15