Band With Local Ties To Perform In England

A band with local ties is headed for Europe after signing a record deal with European record label Red Skin Records. The band, Halo Down, will be performing at the Red Skin Records Metal Festival in England.

John "Buffer" Hobbs, a 1988 graduate of Van High School, is the band’s lead singer. Other members of the band include Chris Bannon of Tyler and Randy Rainwater and Wolf Madore of Whitehouse.

"We played a few local shows at first then we signed with Joey Hudnall of Breakthrough Entertainment. We started playing bigger shows and opening for some big names. Joey told us he would have us signed in a year and he did it," said Hobbs.

"We opened for RATT which was amazing," said Hobbs.

The band now has a full record deal and will be recording a new CD by the end of the year. Their video "Whiskey Love" will be aired on MTV Europe and Scuzz TV. It can already be seen on YouTube and on the band’s myspace page.

"Everything is in the works. There will be a new commercial website soon but right now you can still go to our myspace page for information," said Bannon.

The guys said that they and their families are excited about the tour but that it really hasn’t hit yet.

"My family was shocked and excited," said Bannon.

"There were tears of joy in my household," said Rainwater, who is also the dolphin sound maker of the group.

"All of the blood, sweat and tears are finally paying off," said Hobbs.

Hobbs said that the band’s goal with their music has been to bring the fun back into listening to rock and roll.

"We want our fans to enjoy what they are hearing. A lot of music these days is just screaming and hollering. That is not appealing. It is just noise," said Hobbs.

"We want people to have fun with our music and be able to dance to it," said Hobbs.

Bannon said that so much music now is dark and depressing.

"Kids hear enough depressing things. We want them to hear songs that are for life not against it. We want them to sincerely enjoy it," said Bannon.

"If you will come to one show, you will be hooked. I guarantee it," said Hobbs.

Hobbs said that he did want to keep one thing straight, they are not rock stars. They are just guys getting to do what they love and get paid for it.

"I don’t like the word rock star. Rock stars seem like untouchable people. We are just husbands, boyfriends and dads," said Hobbs.

"Family support is a must in this industry and we are family guys," said Rainwater.

The band said that they thank everyone for their support along the way.

"We really want to thank Silverfox Drumsticks, Layzie at Firing Line Tattoos in Tyler, Click’s in Tyler, Jim Clayton and Sam Haun," said the group.

"We are really excited and hope to put on a show locally soon," said Hobbs.