Bio
L to R: Andy Book guitar Mark Higgins keyboard, vocals Jake Crawford vocals, guitar
John Ritchey drums Jason Leidich bass, vocals
“Rock and roll is an insatiable bitch goddess, but I love her. I’m just looking for that one woman in my life to participate in that threesome.” –Bret Michaels, POISON
Under normal circumstances, quoting Bret Michaels about anything is highly inadvisable. However, as ineloquent as it may be, this particular gem actually has some poignancy, at least when it comes to Hershey, PA’s THE APRIL SKIES. These Chocolate-town based rockers are less capable of not making music than anyone you’re likely to come across. They are rock and roll lifers, married to their music for better or worse, for richer or poorer, ‘til death does them part. Amen.
For singer/songwriter/guitarist Jake Crawford, it’s simply a matter of not having a shut-off valve. “I’m always writing songs. There’s never a moment where there is not some riff or melody or some lyrics playing in my head,” he says. “I simply couldn’t stop writing if I tried.” With the exception of the occasional hiatus, THE APRIL SKIES have been steadily making music since 1988. They ruled PA back in the early ’90s alongside the big guns like LIVE, THE OCEAN BLUE and SUDDENLY, TAMMY!, packing out clubs and in general enjoying the many perks, sketchy and otherwise, that come with semi-national stardom. When the aforementioned bands went on to major-label deals, THE SKIES chose a different path. Coincidentally or not, those bands also lost their relevancy years ago, whereas THE APRIL SKIES still stand atop the East Coast rock and roll mountain, and with more acclaim heaped upon them than ever. The band’s latest full-length, How It All Played Out, is a how-to guide on gigantic, atmospheric arena-rock. THE SKIES have the uncanny ability to make music that is at once cuttingly personal, yet capable of filling up every last inch of the world’s biggest stadiums. Crawford spits out lyrics full of equal parts romance and regret that make you feel like you’re secretly paging through his diary; meanwhile, the band’s reverbdrenched guitars and towering keyboard lines are blasting off into the stratosphere. In short, it’s the exact sound that half the bands on planet earth are currently falling all over themselves to recreate here in 2007. (Read: THE KILLERS, THE BRAVERY, ANGELS & AIRWAVES, et al.). Had How It All Played Out been released by one of those major-label idol-worshippers instead of an indie band, you can bet it would be on top of the charts as you read this. But unlike those sound-of-the-moment artists, THE APRIL SKIES deliver the goods not by imitation, but by a simple understanding of what it was that made bands like U2, ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN, and THE CURE so fresh and exciting in the first place, and folding those elements into their own sound.
“That music is what we all grew up on and it’s truly ingrained in us. That’s why I think it’s so easy for us to sound like this,” Crawford shrugs. “It’s really who we are and what we do. We don’t purposely try to sound like anything. That would be fake.” The early response to the album is in complete agreement. Pop Matters describes the album as “Rock gold. It’s an album that you will most likely play out or wear out,” while Smother exclaims, “Watching this band mature into the juggernaut of pop-rock that they are now has been a joy. The April Skies soar as high as U2. This is a damn good and daring album filled to the brim with pop hooks and crafty songwriting.” And the praise hasn’t stopped there.
“The stuff that some of these critics are writing is just way beyond anything I would have expected,” says bassist Jason Leidich. “How It All Played Out is pretty much getting amazing reviews across the board. It’s blowing us away.” “It’s been exciting,” Crawford agrees. “The reviews have been flattering as hell. It’s all you can really ask for without sounding like a greedy pig.” “I’ve thought many times, ‘We just had our 15 minutes of fame,’ and then something else bigger happens. So at this point, I’m starting to raise the bar and holding out for something really big,” he continues, adding mischievously, “We’d love the type of buzz to hit that would make us famous rock stars, or even famous on the indie circuit – but that might ruin the fun for the next CD, huh?” THE APRIL SKIES’ motivation is intact: they write music, and will continue to write music, because there simply isn’t any other option. Like contemporaries DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS and THE HOLD STEADY (with whom THE SKIES opened for in 2007), they’re musicians for life, signed, sealed and delivered. And rest assured – the best is yet to come.
Photo Credit: Steve Stoltzfus
Jason | 
April 26, 2009 1:13 am
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