Multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter and producer BRYCE AVARY, known as THE ROCKET SUMMER, is gearing up to release his first independent full-length album LIFE WILL WRITE THE WORDS, available Tuesday, June 5 via his own AVIATE RECORDS. THE ROCKET SUMMER is currently out on the road supporting Switchfoot and playing select headlining dates along the way. Also in the works is a headlining run in support of the album release, with more info to come in the coming weeks.
Following two successful albums on Island/DefJam--2007’s Do You Feel and 2010’s Of Men And Angels--AVARY choose to return to his self-releasing, self-producing roots. As with his debut breakout self-titled EP in 2001 and album Calendar Days in 2003--when he was 16 and 19 years old, respectively--LIFE WILL WRITE THE WORDS draws not only AVARY’s undeniably talents as a songwriter, musician and producer, but adds the heft of a young man with a tremendous pool of experience for someone still in his 20’s.
“I really wanted to push myself musically and lyrically with this album, searching to pull out the stories within and around me,” explains AVARY. “I like to write songs that are an honest reflection of what’s going on in my life and in my mind while I observe and attempt to learn more about myself and this beautiful, intense world we live in."
As with previous albums from THE ROCKET SUMMER, AVARY wrote and performed every note on LIFE WILL WRITE THE WORDS. Between sellout acoustic tour dates in the USA and numerous headlining and festival touring abroad, 2011 saw AVARY experimenting with numerous new sounds in the studio, sounds including mandolin, a banjo, some trashcans and even a typewriter. His songwriting likewise stretched to a broader scope, examining the human existence with the advantage of both a strikingly personal eye experience and the experiential outlook of writers many years older. The result is a 12-track multi-dimensional collection that further establishes AVARY as a modern-day Renaissance man with the engaging outlook embodied in the album’s title LIFE WILL WRITE THE WORDS.
"To me, that phrase in a sense captures a bit of the human experience. I believe there's a song in everything,” AVARY says. “Literally everything you look at, you can pull a song out of it. We all have a song, we all have a story.”
With high-energy, bouncy moments on “Revival” and “Run And Don’t Stop,” sensitive and endearing sentiments felt on “Old Love,” the charming “200,000,” and the album’s emotional bedrocks “Soldiers” and “Just For A Moment Forget Who You Are,” AVARY is ready to share his story with the world.
For those attending THE ROCKET SUMMER/Switchfoot dates, AVARY is offering up a sneak-peek of the LP with an exclusive, free mp3 of the album’s lead-off track, “Run And Don’t Stop.” If that’s not enough, fans awaiting the new music can download a free live acoustic album Bryce Avary, His Instruments and Your Voices, now available at www.therocketsummer.com.
Track listing for LIFE WILL WRITE THE WORDS:
1. Run and Don’t Stop
2. Revival
3. Prove It
4. Old Love
5. 200,000
6. Just for A Moment Forget Who You Are
7. Circa 46
8. Underrated
9. Soldiers
10. The Rescuing Type
11. Scrapbook
12. Ashes Made of Spades
Only a day after wrapping up a successful headlining tour, The Rocket Summer will be opening for major music powerhouse The Goo Goo Dolls.
Bryce Avary, better known as The Rocket Summer, began touring with the multiple GRAMMY ® nominees this past weekend in New York and will tour through May 19, a complete list of tour dates is below.
Up next for Avary will be a headlining tour as well as a string of shows in Europe along with a coveted spot on the 16th Annual Vans Warped Tour to finish out the summer.
The Rocket Summer’s latest Of Men And Angels nabbed the No. 1 spot on iTunes ® Overall Album chart the week of it’s February 23 release. Christian media praised The Rocket Summer front man, songwriter and multi-instrumental Texan Bryce Avary on his latest project, below is a sample of their feedback.
“The Rocket Summer is one of the few bands finding fans in the secular market without hiding their Christian beliefs, a rare feat in this oversaturated musical landscape.” – ChristianityToday.com/music
"The Rocket Summer's lead singer, Bryce Avary has truly arrived with this release and listeners will be tempted to go and look up his entire discography. This album is that good." - TheChristianManifesto.com
“The beauty of The Rocket Summer is that there's rarely a misstep along the way and this latest release is another fine release in such a promising catalog.” – Crosswalk.com
Texas native Bryce Avary, the singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist mastermind behind The Rocket Summer, has released four albums to date including his latest Of Men and Angels. Musically, Avary is a one-man show though he tours with several longtime friends. Bryce has toured around the world, selling out venues not just in the U.S., but Canada, the U.K. and Japan, while playing such noted events as U.K.’s Glastonbury Festival, Scotland’s T in the Park, Japan’s Summer Sonic Festival, Austin City Limits, SXSW, Bamboozle, Cornerstone and the 2007 Vans Warped Tour. In addition, Avary is very involved with both the Invisible Children and his own charitable organization “CALL IT CAPTIVATE.” In fact, he performed the White House last summer in connection with his support of Invisible Children, an organization dedicated to rescuing children who have been kidnapped and enlisted against their will into the Ugandan army. His own organization “CALL IT CAPTIVATE” is a clothing line that donates 25% of sales to several different charities. From disease research and poverty aid to orphanages, it is up to the buyer to decide which one to the “CIC” Charities they would like to donate to.
The Rocket Summer’s second major label album on Island Records, Of Men And Angels, hits stores today. The new record is currently No. 1 on the iTunes ® Alternative Album chart as well as No. 4 on the iTunes ® Overall Album chart.
The newest release from Bryce Avery has had a brilliant start with an exclusive premiere on MySpace that can still be heard at www.myspace.com/therocketsummer. In addition, the video for track “Hills and Valleys” premiered on www.Ustream.com with a live chat with Bryce, as lead single “Walls” impacts CHR.
Critics of both Christian and general market media are praising The Rocket Summer’s latest efforts saying:
“The Rocket Summer’s Bryce Avary establishes himself as a formidable rock force with Of Men and Angels (Island).”
- Newsday
“The most famous one-man show in Christian music… On Of Men And Angels, Bryce Avary (better known, perhaps, as The Rocket Summer) truly delivers with what could easily be his best record yet… No matter your mood, Of Men And Angels's infectious nature will certainly improve it.”
- JesusFreakHideout.com
“TERRIFIC POP ALBUM MARKED BY STYLE AND SUBSTANCE… The beauty of The Rocket Summer is that there's rarely a misstep along the way and this latest release is another fine release in such a promising catalog.”
- CCMMagazine.com
“I can honestly say that this album will remain in my CD player for a while.”
- ChristianMusicReview.org
“We’re not talking simple acoustic solo stuff here. The music Bryce [Avary] makes as The Rocket Summer is lush, explosively catchy and artful power pop that hints at a new Brian Wilson or Prince in the making. Keep an eye out on this one. “
-Austin City Limits.com
The Rocket Summer front man, songwriter and multi-instrumental Texan Bryce Avary looks ahead to the band’s return to the road starting March 13 with a series of shows with Colorado-based One Republic. (Please see tour dates below.) The Rocket Summer is already confirmed for the 16th annual Vans Warped Tour 2010 this summer, opening in California the last weekend of June, running through August 15.
Before the touring roadwork begins, fans are awaiting the announcement of the winning band in a contest held this month sponsored by The Rocket Summer. The winning band will open for The Rocket Summer at their hometown album release party for Of Men and Angels this Friday night, February 26, at the Granada Theatre in Dallas. The day before (February 25) the Rocket Summer will perform on local FOX-TV morning show, Good Day Dallas. Then March 4, The Rocket Summer will perform on FOX’s Good Day Austin.
On March 20, the closing Saturday of this year’s 10-day SXSW (South By Southwest) Music + Film + Interactive Conference in Austin – the Rocket Summer will play an acoustic set as part of the AP (Alternative Press) all-day “100 Bands (You Need To Know)” concert. The Rocket Summer will join 18 other bands (“in no particular order,” AP advises) who will play on three stages at Emo’s beginning at noon. The AP website http://www.alternativepress.com/news/8509.htm is also streaming Of Men and Angels.
Texas native Bryce Avary, the singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist mastermind behind The Rocket Summer, has released four albums to date including his latest Of Men and Angels. Musically, Avary is a one-man show though he tours with several longtime friends. Bryce has toured around the world, selling out venues not just in the U.S., but Canada, the U.K. and Japan, while playing such noted events as U.K.’s Glastonbury Festival, Scotland’s T in the Park, Japan’s Summer Sonic Festival, Austin City Limits, SXSW, Bamboozle, Cornerstone and the 2007 Vans Warped Tour. In addition, Avary is very involved with both the Invisible Children and his own charitable organization “CALL IT CAPTIVATE.” In fact, he performed the White House last summer in connection with his support of Invisible Children, an organization dedicated to rescuing children who have been kidnapped and enlisted against their will into the Ugandan army. His own organization “CALL IT CAPTIVATE” is a clothing line that donates 25% of sales to several different charities. From disease research and poverty aid to orphanages, it is up to the buyer to decide which one to the “CIC” Charities they would like to donate to.
Nashville, Tenn. February 9, 2010… After successful runs on such major tours as the U.S. Warped tour and the Alternative Press tour, Bryce Avary, the front man, songwriter and multi-instrumental mastermind behind The Rocket Summer will release his second major label project release on Island Records, Of Men and of Angels, on February 23, 2010 with EMI CMG distribution.
Avary produced the 15 track CD with co-producer CJ Eiriksson. Speaking into the self-proclaimed “spiritually-charged” album, Avary says “I wanted to make an album of genuine and honest songs written from my heart and personal experiences that musically and lyrically would be better than anything I had done yet and above all would be an album that would hopefully, truly move and affect people. I'm grateful to be doing this and I want to do this for the right reasons."
For someone as spiritually motivated as Avary, he focuses on the struggles and victories of life’s often-challenging journey in Of Men and Angels. There’s the fervent post-emo power-pop punk riffs propelling “You Gotta Believe,” the autobiographical tale of romance and surviving the bad times in the hint of a hip-hop groove in “Hills and Valleys” and the quiet-to-loud, mud-below-to-ground-above contrast of “Light.” “Nothing Matters” is a paean to altruism and selflessness, and “Pull Myself Together” is about accepting grace and allowing yourself to move on while learning from your mistakes. And if his songs often tackle serious topics, Avary isn’t above concocting something more tongue-in-cheek, like “Japanese Exchange Student,” which compares his social life as an up-and-coming artist to that of a student's experience in a foreign land, and “I Need a Break (But I’d Rather Have a Breakthrough),” his own sly acknowledgement of the role of luck in pop success. “Walls,” a hymn-like ballad on battling depression, will be the first song released to CHR radio.
Of Men and Angels follows last October’s release of the four-song You Gotta Believe EP, which debuted at #1 on iTunes alternative chart and #5 overall. Three of the songs, including the title track, “Hills and Valleys” and “Light,” were part of a “Complete Your Album” iTunes promotion, and are all included in the new release.
Texas native Bryce Avary, the singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist mastermind behind The Rocket Summer, has released four albums to date including his latest Of Men and Angels. Musically, Avary is a one-man show though he tours with several longtime friends. Bryce has toured around the world, selling out venues not just in the U.S., but Canada, the U.K. and Japan, while playing such noted events as U.K.’s Glastonbury Festival, Scotland’s T in the Park, Japan’s Summer Sonic Festival, Austin City Limits, SXSW, Bamboozle, Cornerstone and the 2007 Vans Warped Tour. In addition, Avary is very involved with both the Invisible Children and his own charitable organization “CALL IT CAPTIVATE.” In fact, he performed the White House last summer in connection with his support of Invisible Children, an organization dedicated to rescuing children who have been kidnapped and enlisted against their will into the Ugandan army. His own organization “CALL IT CAPTIVATE” is a clothing line that donates 25% of sales to several different charities. From disease research and poverty aid to orphanages, it is up to the buyer to decide which one to the “CIC” Charities they would like to donate to.
