Ellen Jaskol © News The band Rose Hill Drive has jammed together since high school and includes, from left, Nate Barnes, Jake Sproul and Daniel Sproul.
So there the band was, recording its debut album at the legendary Southern Tracks studios in Atlanta, and it didn't feel right - so they scrapped the recording session. Though they'd been playing together for years, the band members realized they weren't ready to make their first album.
"Brendan is a really cool guy. It was a really cool thing to hang out with him in this niche environment in Atlanta and see how Stone Temple Pilots did their stuff," says Jake Sproul, the main songwriter for Rose Hill Drive.
But as they recorded songs between tour dates, the rock band came to realize they just weren't ready. It takes incredible courage to walk away from an opportunity most bands would kill for.
"Of course you want to see something like that work out," Sproul says. "And of course, it's a (gutsy) move. But we were just following our hearts. 'This doesn't feel right, so let's not do it.' It can be a tough decision, but you gotta follow that."
There were no hard feelings. In fact, Rose Hill Drive returned to Southern Tracks in January, this time with O'Brien associate Nick DiDia producing.
"We figured, let's develop a little more, write some more tunes," Sproul says. "That was the right thing to do. The record we've got that's coming out, it captures us at the right point. A perfect time to start out what I perceive to be and want to be a long-lasting career of making music."
Comprised of brothers Jacob (bass) and Daniel Sproul (guitar) and Nate Barnes (drums), the Boulder trio has jammed since the early days of high school in the house on the street that gave the band its name. Their melodic rock is heavily influenced by bands such as Led Zeppelin, Cream and ZZ Top.
While the new album doesn't have a name yet, the band is touring in anticipation of its summer release. They've got shows Friday and Saturday at the Fox Theatre in Boulder.
And they didn't just re-record the songs from the first album – they scrapped it and started anew.
"We write so much and we changed so much," he says. "I think that signaled a band still in its growth period. That's a problem these days. A lot of bands that have a lot of promising talent get blown up really quickly. They get exploited for this one great song that they have or one great thing they do."
As for the first abandoned album: "It was a learning experience. I don't write it off as 'the record that got canned.' It really wasn't; it didn't feel like a record. It was behind-the-scenes - us learning how to make a great record."
Many musicians and producers feel that a three-piece lineup has to listen more to what each other is playing than larger bands.
"I do know that we do do that. When we do it's really special," he says. "It's kinda like feeling, it's like putting your hand on a wall and following the grooves with your fingers."
After long hauls on the road, most bands find themselves burned out. Rose Hill Drive works the opposite way. After getting off the road, the band has creative bursts.
"It's crazy. When we come off the road . . . we just start playing. It's like this crazy, crazy explosion of really good feelings and good energy. Riffs start coming out. We just start playing together and something just grooves," Sproul says.
"We've been playing together for so long and listening to the same stuff in the van and in our iPods, all of that collectively makes us find new ways to express what we want to hear from ourselves.
While there's not a firm release date for the disc yet, a new song from the band's Web site, called Brain Novocaine, is available for free download and is getting airplay on KTCL-FM (93.3) and KBCO-FM (97.3). It's a bit of a departure, featuring more acoustic guitar.
"Some of my friends were like 'What the . . . ? Did you just write that thing for the radio?' We try to support everything that comes out musically. That just happened to be one of those things. On the record there'll be a fuller dose of that style," Sproul says.
The band has been able to work full time on music, in part because manager Brian Schwartz and other support people (including Madison House, the booking firm owned by String Cheese Incident) are working on long-term success.
"Those guys have worked so hard for us and took a great leap of faith," Sproul says. "They aren't looking to collect right after we get off the road. With that, we're able to get on the road and come back with some money. It's not much, but it's enough."
Brownm@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-892-2674