Best known as the singer/songwriter/guitarist of Cinderella, TOM KEIFER and his bandmates #keiferband–Savannah Keifer (Vocals, Percussion, Piano), Tony Higbee (Lead & Rhythm Guitars, Vocals), Billy Mercer (Bass, Vocals), Kendra Chantelle (Vocals, Percussion), Jarred Pope (Drums), Kory Myers (Keyboards, Vocals)–are ready to RISE to yet another peak in their ongoing music journey with the September 13 release of KEIFER’s second solo album on Cleopatra Records. Pre-orders of the album are available now at TomKeifer.com/Preorder on all formats, including CD (digipak), vinyl (in your choice of red, blue, or green) and digital, which will include an instant download of the first single, “The Death Of Me.”
The trek lands in Warrendale, PA on Thursday, October 17 at Jergel’s Rhythm Grille.
Timing, as the saying goes, is everything. And when you’re a career artist like TOM KEIFER, you know exactly what it takes to get to the pinnacle and just how precarious it can be once you reach the top. After years of touring and growing with his solo band, KEIFER feels the timing is right for a new record with #keiferband.
A video for “The Death Of Me”—written by KEIFER and his wife Savannah, and directed by Vicente Cordero–was released today. Though TOM KEIFER has faced many ups and downs all throughout his storied career, his unyielding resilience can be found well within the grooves and lyrics of the song. “We created ‘The Death of Me’ to inspire people not to give in to or be defeated by the seemingly insurmountable lows that we all sometimes face, but rather to Rise and overcome them,” he says.
His creative renaissance is fully on display via the eleven tough ’n’ tender tracks that comprise RISE. Produced by TOM KEIFER, Savannah Keifer, and Kyle O’Connor, RISE scales renewed sonic heights. From the tasty slide work that stamps “Touching the Divine,” the nontraditionally arranged, heavy, dark jam of “Untitled,” the breakneck thrust of “All Amped Up” to the tender coda of “You Believe in Me,” RISE signifies the ongoing evolution of the former Cinderella frontman as a person, songwriter, and bandleader. It’s the aural portrait of an artist who, to borrow a phrase, is still climbing
“When this band came together, we all felt a bit like broken souls, each with our own unique story,” he explains. “If you ask anyone in the band, they would all say this band came along at just the right time. Every human who walks this planet faces challenges and extreme adversity they have to overcome. As a band, we feel fortunate to be able to face those things together. There is a piece of every band member in the ‘The Death of Me’ as well as throughout the entire RISE album.”
The common thread to each song on RISE is the intuitive interplay between each member of #keiferband, a tight but loose collective that’s spent the last six-plus years on the road honing their live craft together in support of KEIFER’s critically acclaimed 2013 solo debut, THE WAY LIFE GOES. RISE is the studio-bred equivalent of a band just now realizing the full scope of its powers. “We were trying to capture the feeling of what people have witnessed live with this band,” KEIFER explains. “There’s an off-the-rails, real live feel to RISE — and that’s what we were going for. It shows a real kind of angst and reckless abandon that we tried not to polish too much. And when we pull it back on the ballads, it’s more about the emotion, the soul, and making people feel something in a different way.”
“To me, the perfect rock and roll record is perfectly fucked up,” KEIFER says with a hearty laugh. “You try to make each record interesting and different. I don’t ever want to make the same record twice, even though there’s a common thread between them. Everything doesn’t have to be perfectly in place, but there is a balance you try to strike. Sometimes there may be something about it that’s technically not ‘right,’ but there’s a vibe, an energy and an attitude to it that I always try to preserve.”
THE WAY LIFE GOES – DELUXE EDITION was released October 20, 2017 on Cleopatra Records, which is an expanded compilation of his debut album chocked full of special artwork and bonus content, including the long-awaited studio recording of The Beatles’ “With A Little Help From My Friends,” which KEIFER performs at all of his concerts, plus a powerful new take on the Cinderella classic “Nobody’s Fool,” newly recorded as a duet with Lzzy Hale of Halestorm.
RISE has already been racking up rave reviews:
“…each of the eleven new numbers exudes the authentic classic rock charm of role models such as Aerosmith, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Rolling Stones or Bad Company. Keifer & Co. also manages to give the good old blues/hard rock a predatory update and the sound overall a harder, darker and beautifully rusty vibe. From the bubbling opener ‘Touching The Divine’ to the scratchy ‘hype’, from the eerie voodoo garage gospel ‘Untitled’ to the Keith Knusper-Groover ‘All Amped Up’ to the acoustic-unfiltered goosebumps ‘You Believe In Me’, which – next to ‘Taste The Pain’ – – probably best, because the most immediate of the exquisite, classic Keifer ballads gathered here, there is the full range.”
–Metal Hammer Germany
“…a return to form for KEIFER and company. RISE features a cross section of tunes that cull inspiration from NIGHT SONGS and LONG COLD WINTER with a potent, modern age punch that will please diehard and casual fans alike. There’s riffs a plenty, gritty, powerful vocals, and well crafted ballads, making for a well balanced listening experience…On RISE KEIFER is showing the kids and his contemporaries how it’s done. Well done KEIFER BAND. 5.0 Out Of 5.0”
–KNAC.com,
“… RISE is an album full of passion and determination. At eleven tracks long RISE has variety too and runs the gamut of gritty blues and rock to tender ballads, stopping at all points in between and even visiting the odd blue highway or two. It’s also a record that six years in the making shows a huge amount of growth that you could argue even outweighs the 16 years it took to create the first solo record. Part of that seems to come down to spending so much time with his collaborators, including wife Savannah, and the rest of his band on the road.… This is one to savor. Hit the repeat!”
–Therockpit.net
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