Mercy Shine has dominated the Tidewater Virginia indie hard rock landscape for more than a decade, working tirelessly to build a large and devoted fan base. With a potent combination of tenacious work ethic built upon a familiar and comfortable foundation of teen hood camaraderie, Mercy Shine has deftly navigated the often-tumultuous dynamics of a competitive music industry with a mixture of innate artistic talent, entrepreneurial sensibilities and good old-fashioned grit. Standing as testame...
Mercy Shine has dominated the Tidewater Virginia indie hard rock landscape for more than a decade, working tirelessly to build a large and devoted fan base. With a potent combination of tenacious work ethic built upon a familiar and comfortable foundation of teen hood camaraderie, Mercy Shine has deftly navigated the often-tumultuous dynamics of a competitive music industry with a mixture of innate artistic talent, entrepreneurial sensibilities and good old-fashioned grit. Standing as testament to their individual talents and creative versatility, front man Matt Barfield’s compelling vocal prowess has even attracted the attention of NASA, who recently invited the hard rock crooner to record an audio spot for NASA’s educational outreach program. Similarly, the other band members are at any given time involved with any number of external creative projects.
The band’s years of perseverance, hard work and passion for, as well as devotion to, their evolving Craft has recently begun to pay dividends in the form of numerous local, regional and national accolades, including recognition in Rolling Stone Magazine (among myriad other publications) and on MTV2, as well as prestigious sponsorships from renown Jim Beam (B.E.A.M. Indie Artist Program) and Halo Guitars. More recently (2007), the band was honored with an invitation to perform at the legendary RockFest with an all-star lineup of national headlining acts. Mercy Shine has been privileged to share the stage with hard rock heavyweights KISS, Godsmack, L.A. Guns, Saliva, Fuel, Lynch Mob, Bullet Boys, Pat Travers, Nonpoint, Stuck Mojo, Beaten Back to Pure, Naked Beggars, The All Knowing, Hinder and Fozzy, just to name a few.
After years of creating and test driving new material and recording demos galore, the band finally recorded their self-titled full-length CD debut in 2008 with veteran producers Paul Cobb at Atlanta’s legendary Rex Trax studios and Todd Washburn (Lure Records and Washburn Mastering Studios). Early tracking efforts revealed the band’s growth, maturity and passion for spawning edgy, pocket-heavy tracks dripping with commercial approachability. By summer of 2007 Mercy Shine was hard at work shooting the video for their first single release “Without You” with heralded Tidewater-based filmmaker Scott Hansen. This pulsating track featured the band’s signature heavy rhythmic groove punctuated by haunting vocal melodies and monstrously saturated power chords. The video was released to heavy rotation and critical acclaim on MTV2.
After what seems like a lifetime of paying dues at the indie level, Mercy Shine has finally come into their own as major players and is now set to break out nationally with a recent personal invitation to showcase for several major US record labels in Nashville in early September. Keep an eye on these guys as they embark upon the final phase of their orchestrated coup de grâce on the status quo of the modern hard rock establishment.
Upon entering the studio this spring with Producer Todd Washburn . The band wanted to push the envelope and progress as songwriters . The new 4 song EP shows off the familiar MERCY SHINE sound with Fell Hard 4 U and Coat Tails ,but also features the progressing of the band with Don't Throw It Away and Its Over Now . With the most successful line up back in full throttle ; Matt Barfield , Sean " Freak " Wade , Jason Clark , and Chris " Bone " Price look to wreck the current stale music genre that we call.....Rock N Roll !!!
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