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 22FIVE is a riff-driven modern rock and roll band based in Atlanta, GA.  Between
1988 and 1992 Brett, Steve and Sean toured the Southeast United States
in the Christian rock band, REIGN
(along with keyboardist Matthew
Carter and later guitarist Rob Carter). The band played for
churches
at camps, youth events, community events, and at festivals, including
AgapeFest,
Inner Seeds Fest
(IS
Fest) and Atlanta
Fest,
the
Southeast's biggest Christian music festival. During that time we
shared the stage with artists such as The Newsboys,
Jacob's Trouble,
The
Waiting, The Choir, Adam Again, The Throes, Violet Burning,
Guardian,
Freedom of Soul, Dig Hay Zoose, Mad at
the World, Cindy Morgan and
others.
REIGN released one project called i of the storm and began work on a second release, tentatively titled Even in the Dry Season, but the band broke up in 1992 and the guys thought the days of making music together were over and gone.
Stephen became a local hometown hero as a police officer. (He even delivered a baby via telephone during a 911 call! Wow!) He continues to protect and serve to this day and still manages to make time to keep beating the skins and preparing for the concert circuit. Sean joined the praise teams of the churches he's been a part of and eventually settled into a role leading worship at Lakeland Community Church in Cumming, GA, until recently, when he resigned that post to take a background role in the praise team and focus more of his time on 22FIVE. In early 2009, the Brett, Stephen and Sean happened to hook up with each other again through the power of the Internet, and 22FIVE was born. The band is currently scheduling new concert dates and has released a new CD called PAINT A PICTURE. So, that's exactly what happened. Now, Brett Stephen, Sean and Paul are ready to begin the 22FIVE story all over again. FAQ Are you a Christian band? While the folks in the band are Christians, we tend feel the term "Christian band" has become little more than a marketin  g
term in the music industry. We are band of
Christians but not
necessarily a Christian band if you only
mean it in the sense of
pigeonholing us into a market. As a band we want to be able to play our
music in
lots of places for lots of people (anyone with ears to hear, so to
speak), from bars to churches, and we can adjust our sets as
needed without laying our beliefs off to the side. Besides, if we all
went the Chris Tomlin/Casting Crowns route,
where would that leave all the Skillets and Chevelles out there? What kind of band are we? At any given moment we're a worship band, a rock and roll band, an in-your-face concert band, all rolled into one, or sometimes divided out for a specific gig. So we're a band and we're Christians, but don't want to limit our performances to just preaching to the choir, so to speak. There's lots of good, positive, God-centered music out there than can affect people without necessarily preaching at them. How's that for an answer? What does the name 22FIVE mean? It comes from Revelation 22:5, which reads: And there
shall be no night there; and they need no candle,
nor the light of the sun; for the Lord giveth them light, and they shall reign for ever and ever. (KJV) That was the same verse REIGN referenced, so the name is not only a promise that we will one day reign forever with Christ, but also a not so subtle nod to the band that came before and ultimately brought Brett, Stephen and Sean back together again. What kind of music does 22FIVE do? Does the new band sound like REIGN used to? REIGN was what is now called "power pop," I guess you'd say. 22FIVE is definitely a more modern rock outfit. If I had to label the band something specific, I'd have to go with Riff-Driven Progressive Modern Rock. What does Riff-Driven Progressive Modern Rock mean? Listen to the cuts on the music page and find out for yourself. Or try to imagine it in your head when we say that our influences are as varied as Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, Foo Fighters, Rush, Whiteheart, The Choir, Toto, AC/DC, Godsmack, Van Halen, REM, Collective Soul, Lifehouse, U2, Building 429, Third Day, Family Force Five, Superchick, Guardian, Velvet Revolver, Bob Dylan, DC Talk, Toby Mac, The Rolling Stones, The Ramones, Steve Taylor, The 77s, Audioslave, Skillet, Fireflight, Charlie Hall, Hillsong, Passion, etc. What's the real story? How'd Stephen,, Brett and Sean actually hook back up together? Okay, we admit it. It was Facebook. Are you happy now?  I'm a fan
of REIGN from the
"old days." What happened? Why did the band break up?Brett left the group in 1990 for personal reasons (amicably of course, especially after one way-cool going away party), and Rob Carter joined as the new guitarist shortly after that. The new line-up of Matt, Steve, Sean and Rob lasted until 1993, when it became clear that life was splitting all the guys up into different directions -- not just musically but in life with parenthood, marriages, and full-time jobs outside of music making it more and more difficult to maintain the lifestyle of booking gigs and touring. So the group decided together that circumstances were God's way of telling them it was simply time to move on. It's as boring as that. There was no "behind the music" drama in this case. Just life. Trust us... our VH1 special would be a great cure for insomnia. Will either i of the storm or Even in the Dry Season ever become available on CD? Absolutely. We're working on a CD called REIGN RETROSPECTIVE 1988-1993, which will feature all the songs from the two REIGN cassettes. And be sure to listen for new 22FIVE versions of old REIGN favorites in a concert near you soon if you're good little boys and girls. But in the meantime, feel free to listen to those old REIGN projects on our online jukebox. What about Matt and Rob? What are they doing these days? Both are doing well and have families of their own. Matt is currently a worship leader at his home church and still making music with Hickory Road (www.hickoryroad.net). What was it like to perform with... ? It was great. Plain and simple. We had some wonderful times sharing the stage with lots of great bands and lots of great friends alike. I know it's all en vogue to share horror stories about the behind the scenes reality of meeting people, but honestly our experiences were pretty much always good ones. A few highlights do however stand out for us:
Yep. We're not making that up. It was even in the local paper. And we did mention hometown hero earlier, right? I bet if you look hard enough, you might be even be able to find it on Google. Maybe. Back in those days, search engines were still in diapers and sucked on a pacifier. (Ironically the writer who wrote the story was Sean, who was stringing for the local paper at the time. How's that for weird coincidences?) |
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 Brett Allen World Victory Church Electric and Acoustic Guitars, Vocals Email me! Get to know me! (a new window will open)  Stephen Strickland
Stonecreek Church Drums, Vocals Email me! Get to know me! (a new window will open)  Sean Taylor
Lakeland Community Church Bass Guitar, Acoustic Guitar Vocals, Harmonica, Keyboards Email me! Get to know me! (a new window will open) z  |
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