Flickerstick

Flickerstick is an American alternative rock band from Fort Worth, Texas, formed in 1997¹. The band rose to national attention in 2001 by winning VH1's reality competition series Bands on the Run, after which it signed with Epic Records and reissued its album Welcoming Home the Astronauts. Flickerstick disbanded in 2009 before reuniting in 2022.

Flickerstick is an American alternative rock band from Fort Worth, Texas, formed in 1997. The band rose to national attention in 2001 by winning VH1's reality competition series Bands on the Run, after which it signed with Epic Records and reissued its album Welcoming Home the Astronauts. Flickerstick disbanded in 2009 before reuniting in 2022.

Band history

Band formation and early years

Flickerstick was formed in Fort Worth, Texas, by high school friends Brandin Lea (lead singer, guitarist) and Cory Kreig (guitarist, keyboardist). The two, who were guitarists in another local band, decided to put a band together and picked some friends to join them, including drummer Jeff Lowe. Brandin's brother, Fletcher (bassist) joined later and the band started doing local gigs. In 1997, the band self-produced and recorded their first album titled Chloroform The One You Love. The band played clubs in Dallas, adding Dallas-based drummer Dominic Weir in 1998, who started playing shows. The band borrowed $10,000 and made their second album titled Welcoming Home the Astronauts. The album sold in the Dallas area and at shows, and the band received local airplay. In early 1999, guitarist Rex James Ewing joined the band. Founding member Kreig has said that that's when they "hit [their] stride" thinking, "Hey, we have something here."

VH1's Bands on the Run

During this time, VH1 invited them to audition for the Bands on the Run television show, after initial interest in them for a show about bands that include relatives. After auditioning among over 2,000 bands, Flickerstick was chosen to be one of the four in the series. The winner was to be the band that made the most money at the door and from merchandise sales, with a "battle of the bands" before each elimination of the lowest-earning band, with the winner (chosen by audience vote) protected from elimination. Flickerstick won the first two "battle of the bands" to avoid elimination, and was lagging in sales by well over $3,000.00 in the final episode, when it was announced that Guitar Center was offering a purse of $5,000.00 for the winner of the final "battle." The votes for the winner were cast by audience members each worth one point, then a private group of music insiders each voted with a worth of 5 points each. It was announced that Flickerstick won that final "battle" and the grand prize for the series.

Post-show

After six months of shows, the band was signed by Epic Records. In November 2001, Epic re-released Welcoming Home the Astronauts which received reviews in Rolling Stone (3.5 out of 5 stars) along with moderate to well received reviews in other music publications. The album was re-worked with the help of veteran producer Rick Beato and was remixed by Tom Lord-Alge. The reissued album debuted at #2 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart and #150 on the Billboard Top 200. Flickerstick was in New York City on September 11, 2001, for a sold-out show at the famed Irving Plaza. In an interview with Rock Eyez a local New Jersey music blog, Brandin Lea stated that being in New York on 9/11 was "horrific" and that would be the one thing he would change from the band's career. In other interviews, members of the band have cited the change in the record industry and economy in general (resulting in Epic's lackluster promotion of the album) after the 9/11 terrorist attacks as reasons for their departure with Epic. A year later their Epic contract was canceled out for an undisclosed amount, and the band bought ownership of the album from the label. They then signed with What Are Records and released a live album titled Causing a Catastrophe that same year. After the album's release drummer Dominic Weir was fired from the band for personality conflicts. After his dismissal he continued to play with another project, Mermaid Purse, before eventually joining Smile Empty Soul. He was replaced in Flickerstick by ex-Doosu drummer Todd Harwell. On October 14, 2003, Flickerstick self-released an EP/DVD combo entitled To Madagascar and Back.

Band members

Current members

Brandin Lea – vocals, guitar (1997-2009, 2022-present) Rex Ewing – rhythm and lead guitar, vocals (1999-2009, 2022-present) Todd Harwell – drums, percussion (2002-2009, 2022-present) Beau Wagener – lead and rhythm guitar, vocals (2022-present) Fatima Thomas – bass guitar, vocals (2022-present)

Former members

Jeff Lowe – drums, percussion (1997-1998) Dominic Weir – drums, percussion (1998-2002, 2022) Cory Kreig – lead and rhythm guitar, keyboards, vocals (1997-2005, 2022) Fletcher Lea – bass guitar (1997-2009, 2022) Tim Locke – lead and rhythm guitar, vocals (2005-2009)

Timeline

Discography

Studio Chloroform the One You Love (1997) Welcoming Home the Astronauts (2001) Tarantula (2004) Superluminal (2025) EP To Madagascar and Back (2003) Contract Killers (2023) Live Causing a Catastrophe (2002) Live from Atlanta: Two Nights at Sound Tree Studios (2007) Compilation When We Were Young: Singles, B-Sides & Rarities, 1997–2004 (2021) Singles Shine On (2022)

References

Text derived from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1365481216 under CC BY-SA 4.0; modifications have been made.