The Evolution of Under The Son
The band formed during the Summer of 2020. George, Daniel, and Mike Owens (the band’s previous drummer) were close friends. Mike asked George to bring his guitar over one day to strum along while Mike played on his drum kit.
George had an extensive library of original guitar riffs and song ideas he had accumulated over 10 years. “I’ve always been fascinated and deeply impressed with the song writing process”, says George. I’ve pondered for years about what really makes an amazing guitar riff so great. Think about it, great guitar riffs are what sell albums. Bands like the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin are at the top of album sales because of great song writing. AC/DC has the second best selling album of all time (in all genres) for a reason. It’s not because Angus Young is such an amazing guitar player. It’s because of the great guitar riffs he and his brother are able to write.”
During 2022, Mike and George started playing through the original guitar parts George had accumulated over the years. Daniel Wrentz was originally an acoustic guitar player. They asked Daniel to come over and plunk on a bass to fill out the sound. Daniel had excellent timing and musical aptitude, which is so important on the bass guitar. Once Daniel joined in, they knew they had something special.
The trio stared auditioning singers, a lot of singers! “Finding the right vocalist took a long time”, says George. “Musicians can be an odd sort, undependable, eccentric, and unstable personalities.”
After auditioning no less than 12 different vocalists, in walked Randy Dickey. “I think the first song Randy sang that day was Just Got Paid by ZZ-Top. As soon as he sang the first line, I knew his voice was world-class. Randy has a great ear and is not pitchy. He knows music. The tone and color of his voice are rich and full sounding. His vocal range and the raw power of his voice are absolutely incredible”, says George.
The 4 member band solidified their first album of songs and recorded their debut self-titled album during the Spring of 2022. They began booking live shows immediately.
Sadly, Under The Son’s drummer Mike Owens had to depart the band. The band still continues a close friendship with Mike. Moe Aburto stepped in to fill Mike’s role on percussion. “We could tell right away that Moe was well versed on the kit”, explains George. He has great timing, amazing intuition, and musical feel. Moe can always anticipate what’s coming in a song and how a song should swing. He has great song ideas and fits perfectly with our vision. His recent contributions to the band’s second album, “Damned Zombies” have been nothing less than superb”.
Under The Son continues their mission to write and perform great music. Although they have finished recording 2 albums so far, they currently have enough song material for 2 additional albums in the vault. The band looks forward to many years of saluting the great rock and blues sounds of the era.
