MelodicRock Records is very excited to be able to announce the signing of new Swedish band S.A.Y., featuring two veteran artists under the new band name, reflecting their decision to record a melodic hard rock album together.
S.A.Y. is guitarist Jan Åkesson and singer Peter Grundström, musical partners since 1984 and teamed in StoneLake for six studio albums from 2006-2013.
Deciding to record an album with power and finesse, but in a more commercial melodic vein, Jan and Peter settled upon a new name for the project – S.A.Y.
The album contains 11 tracks of polished and powerful melodic rock and features the distinctive vocals of Peter Grundstrom and the hard edged guitar work of Jan Akesson; which will immediately bring comparisons to TNT, Westworld and Final Frontier.
S.A.Y. are:
Peter Grundstrom – Vocals
Jan Akesson – Guitars, Keyboards, Bass, Backing Vocals
With: Jens Westberg – Drums
“Orion” is set to be one of the noted debut albums of 2015.
Time to check out one of the tracks from 'Orion', the anthemic "Broken Wings":
History:
The duo got to know each other after performing at the same show in different bands; Jan was lead guitar in Ravage and Peter was fronting Whitelight. Their meeting led to the conclusion of Jan’s work with Ravage and he became a new member in Whitelight in the fall of the same year.
Whitelight’s focus was melodic hard rock, initially influenced by Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin and Bad Company and then by a “new wave” of English, American and Canadian bands such as Whitesnake, Van Halen, Journey, Toto, Riot, Wrabit and Dokken. Whitelight played many gigs and produced many demos in search of that elusive record deal.
After 3 years with Whitelight, in 1987, Jan decided to leave the band and went his own way to spread his wings with tougher, more guitar-oriented hard rock. Peter stayed in Whitelight, who changed their name to Kee Avenue.
Jan went on to form new bands Why Not, Perfect Stranger and Dr. Blue, playing many very successful gigs and making several acclaimed recordings.
Kee Avenue split up in 1991 after the bass player and the keyboard player left the band. After this final breakup Peter went on to play and sing with several different, mostly cover bands, though he kept on writing songs, always looking for the right project to showcase his talent.
In 1994 Jan decided to step back from live performance to concentrate on writing and producing songs in his new studio on the emerging digital recording platforms that would soon come to dominate the music industry.
Finally, 15 years after the two first played together, Jan decided to give Peter a call, thinking that it was time for a “reunion”. A good meal and a few beers was the spark that lit a new beginning. Their reunion became the band StoneLake with 6 albums released to date.
Now the guys have set themselves a fresh new challenge with S.A.Y. and their stunning debut “Orion”, Out May 22.
