Vendetta Red

Vendetta Red is an American alternative rock band from Seattle, Washington, that was formed in 1998.<ref name="AMG"/> They released an EP, 6 Kisses, A Blatant Reminder of Why We Are Alive, in 1999 and two albums, Blackout Analysis in 2000 and White Knuckled Substance in 2001, before signing their first major label deal with Epic Records.

Their first release on Epic, Between the Never and the Now, charted at No. 1 on the Billboard Top Heatseekers and No. 101 on the Billboard 200<ref name="BTNATN Billboard">Template:Cite web</ref> in 2003 with the album's single, "Shatterday", peaking at No. 16 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart.<ref name="Shatterday Billboard">Template:Cite web</ref>

The group's fourth album, Sisters of the Red Death, was released in 2005 and charted at No. 21 on the Top Heatseeker's Chart.<ref name="SOTRD Billboard">Template:Cite web</ref> After a series of lineup changes, the group disbanded in 2006, but announced a reunion four years later.

History

Early career (1998–2002)

The group was formed in 1998 by Erik Chapman, Joseph Childres, Justin Cronk, Zach Davidson, Adam Garcia, and Mike Vermillion in Seattle, Washington and nearly a year later they issued their debut release, the 6 Kisses, A Blatant Reminder of Why We Are Alive EP with a tour of the West Coast following after.<ref name="AMG"/> A year later, they released their first album, Blackout Analysis, with their second album, White Knuckled Substance, being released by Loveless Records in October the next year, which was well received by local radio,<ref name="AMG"/> with the band continuing to tour on the West Coast.<ref name="Vendetta Red Interview">Template:Cite web</ref> During their tour, they gained the attention of a number of labels and eventually signed with Epic Records in 2002.<ref name="Vendetta Red Interview"/>

Major label years (2003–2006)

After finishing recording with the late Jerry Finn,<ref name="AMG"/> the group's first major label album Between the Never and the Now, which was preceded by the EP Cut Your Noose,<ref name="Seattle Weekly">Template:Cite web</ref> was released in June 2003 and charted at No. 1 on the Billboard Top Heatseekers and No. 101 on the Billboard 200.<ref name="BTNATN Billboard"/> The album's single, Shatterday, peaked at No. 16 on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart.<ref name="Shatterday Billboard"/> The album included reworked songs from their previous release, White Knuckled Substance.<ref name="Seattle Weekly"/> The band supported the album with a North American tour,<ref name="AMG"/> which included a stint on the Warped Tour.<ref name="Vendetta Red Interview"/><ref name="Seattle Weekly"/> The song The Long Goodbye, from the album White Knuckled Substance, was included on the Warped Tour 2002 Tour Compilation.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

After opening for AC/DC at the New York Roseland Ballroom,<ref name="Vendetta Red Interview"/><ref name="Seattle Weekly"/> singer Zach Davidson said that the fans during the show were acting "blatantly homophobic":

They continued to tour, playing with the likes of Dashboard Confessional, Brand New and MxPx.<ref name="Vendetta Red Interview"/>

The group entered the studio in 2004 with the producer Howard Benson to record the follow-up to Between the Never and the Now. For the album, Childres switched to keyboards with Burke Thomas added to the group to record drums. The drummer from Street Drum Corps, Bobby Alt, contributed theremin to the album while Phil Perrone contributed backing vocals.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The album, titled Sisters of the Red Death, was released in 2005<ref name="AMG"/> and charted at No. 21 on the Top Heatseeker's Chart.<ref name="SOTRD Billboard"/>

Late in 2004, Chapman and Childres left the group and the guitarist Leif Andersen of Common Heroes and Pris joined the band on lead guitar and keyboards. In late 2005 Vermillion left the band and bass guitarist Jeff Rouse, of Alien Crime Syndicate and Loaded was added to the group.

Breakup (2006)

Vendetta Red announced on MySpace on March 8, 2006, that they were going separate ways to create different styles of music. Davidson later made the following statement:

Vendetta Red played their final show at El Corazon in Seattle, Washington, on April 8, 2006. They ended their set with "A Joyless Euphoria".<ref name="AMG"/>

Post-breakup (2006–2010)

Following the breakup, Davidson, Andersen and Rouse formed Sirens Sister in 2006<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> along with the drummer Ben Libey. They signed to The Control Group and released their first album, Echoes from the Ocean Floor, in September 2006, produced by Martin Feveyear.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2007, Rouse left the group and was replaced by Andersen's brother, Levi Andersen, on bass guitar with the group going on to release Unspeakable Things in 2009 on The Control Group recorded by John Goodmanson and mixed by Martin Feveyear in Seattle.

Vermillion enjoyed a solo career now playing his own folk and American roots songs as well as covering many classic but perhaps lesser-known American country artists such as Townes Van Zandt, Merle Haggard and Jim Croce. He plays shows frequently in the Seattle area and also DJs under the name "Sad Bastard", usually playing country, Motown, folk and soul. His first official full-length solo album was released on May 21, 2008.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Cronk is nowTemplate:When playing drums for With Friends Like These.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The band includes fellow Bakersfield native Matthew Shaw, local producer Tyler Coffey and Brian Pake. Cronk owns a recording studio with bandmate Coffey in Seattle called The Toy Box.<ref>http://toyboxrecording.com Template:Webarchive</ref>

Chapman has been enjoying life outside of the music industry as a bar tender at a Seattle area up-scale bar. He was married in 2006 to Andrea and they currentlyTemplate:When reside in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle.

Their song "Silhouette Serenade" is used in the video game Saints Row.

Childres was playing for Blood Hot Beat. He was reported dead on June 3, 2020.

Thomas formed a band called Megasapien with Lian Light (formerly of Magneto). Their second album was expected to be released at the end of March 2011.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Reunion (2010–present)

In December 2010, it was announced that Vendetta Red would reunite for a one-off show at El Corazon in Seattle on March 5, 2011.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> This turned out to be an extended reunion. The band members later announced they had also begun working on new material and had enlisted the noted rock/metal producer Terry Date to produce what would be their first album in six years.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Vendetta Red performed some of this new material at Bumbershoot 2011, as well as material from their previous studio albums, a Sirens Sister song, and a solo (Davidson) acoustic version of Seconds Away. A new song called Blank Screens was released on January 15, 2012<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> as a single on various digital music services including iTunes, and the album title Scripture was announced.

On January 24, 2017, Vendetta Red announced on their Facebook page that they had signed with Cleopatra Records and were in the process of recording the new album. The album, titled Quinceañera, was released on April 13, 2018.

Band members

Current members

• Zach Davidson – lead vocals, guitars, piano, organ, tambourine, glockenspiel, percussion (since 1998)
• Leif Andersen – lead guitar, lap steel, mandolin, violin, keyboards, programming, synthesizers, backing vocals (since 2005)
• Jonah Bergman - bass guitar (since 2010)
• Burke Thomas – drums, percussion (since 2004)

Past members

• Eric Chapman – guitar (1998–2004)
• Justin Cronk – guitar (2000–2006; died 2022)
• Michael Vermillion – bass guitar (2000–2005)
• Joseph Childres – drums, percussion, keyboards (1998–2004; died 2020)
• Jeff Rouse – bass guitar (2005–2006)
• Adam Garcia - drums (1998-1999)

Timeline

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 id:Drums       value:orange     legend:Drums
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 id:lines       value:black      legend:Studio_album

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 at:03/03/2000 color:lines layer:back
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 at:04/18/2018 color:lines layer:back

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 bar:Cronk      text:Justin Cronk
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 bar:Rouse      text:Jeff Rouse
 bar:Bergman    text:Jonah Bergman
 bar:Garcia     text:Adam Garcia
 bar:Childres   text:Joseph Childres
 bar:Thomas     text:Burke Thomas

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 bar:Davidson   from:start      till:04/08/2006 color:Vocals
 bar:Davidson   from:12/01/2010 till:end        color:Vocals
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 bar:Cronk      from:01/01/2000 till:04/08/2006 color:Guitar
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 bar:Andersen   from:12/01/2010 till:end        color:Keyboards  width:3
 bar:Vermillion from:01/01/2000 till:01/01/2005 color:Bass
 bar:Rouse      from:01/01/2005 till:04/08/2006 color:Bass
 bar:Bergman    from:12/01/2010 till:end        color:Bass
 bar:Garcia     from:start      till:01/01/1999 color:Drums
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 bar:Childres   from:01/01/2004 till:01/01/2005 color:Keyboards
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 bar:Thomas     from:12/01/2010 till:end        color:Drums

</timeline>

Discography

Studio album

• Blackout Analysis (2000)
• White Knuckled Substance (2001)
• Between the Never and the Now (2003)
• Sisters of the Red Death (2005)
• Quinceañera (2018)

EPs

• 6 Kisses, A Blatant Reminder of Why We Are Alive (1999)
• Cut Your Noose EP (2002)
• Shatterday EP (2003)
• Scripture (2013)
• Light Year Anniversary (2013)

Singles

Year	Title	Chart positions	Album
		Alternative Songs
2003	"Shatterday"	16	Between the Never and the Now
2005	"Silhouette Serenade"	—	Sisters of the Red Death
2012	"Close to Me"	—	Scripture

See also

• List of Warped Tour lineups by year

External links

• Template:Allmusic
• Template:Discogs artist
• Vendetta Red Facebook
• Michael Vermillion interview on MyNorthwest.com