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Formed in February 1997, northeastern Maryland rock band Bleech still includes their original four members. Danny Briones - Lead Guitar/Lead Vocals, Chuck Briones - Bass/Vocals, Mark Ham - Rhythm Guitar/Vocals, and Keith Dempsey - Drums. This fact has remained a solid theme amongst the band's twelve-year career, as anyone who has been in a band for a period of time will tell you that a commitment of this length is practically unheard of. The band's mission has always been a easy one - be true to the art of music. While this may sound like a broad statement, the band has always prided itself on performing on their own terms. Bleech has never been a band of followers, and throughout the late nineties and into the new millennium, this can be seen through their unique choice of cover material. Anyone familiar with the band's history will know that Bleech is far from a "Top 40" popular culture band. Catchy B-sides of passionate artists and reworked classic rock tunes were commonly found on Bleech's set lists. This unique style of performing was completely unheard of in the regional music scene. Bleech carried on throughout the early 2000's under this mantra. The band's schedules quickly filled up, and Bleech found themselves playing before record crowds in some of the best venues of the mid-Atlantic area, including several visits to the famous Hard Rock Cafe in Baltimore, among others. Keeping to their own individuality, Bleech has always been self-managed and self-promoted, ensuring that the integrity of the band's mission was not impacted by what was to become a degradation of quality music being performed in their surrounding areas. While this made it more difficult to manage things as the band grew older and more settled, it still provided the freedom needed to focus on bringing great music to the people. While not as common in the early days of Bleech’s performances, original rock material had always been on the forefront of the bands overall vision of their collective futures. With the changing musical climate in the area and a whole host of pop cover bands entering the local and regional music scene, the band chose to step back from its regimented cover show schedule and focus on collaborating on their first original album of their career. Danny Briones took charge of writing the songs, and throughout 2007 and 2008, the band pressed forward with rehearsals. During this time, guitarist Mark Ham was diligently studying professional recording in hopes that he and the band could have total control of the recording process. Equipment was purchased, and countless hours between 2007 and 2008 were spent in his home studio with the band creating what is to become the Bleech album, “Appellation”. Due out in April 2009, the band’s only wish is that Appellation accurately depicts the excitement that they have enjoyed over their years together in music.
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