KELLY GRAY

In January 1998, Chris DeGarmo announced his departure from the band he co-founded. After several months of discussions, the position was filled by longtime Queensr˙che friend and producer Kelly Gray.  “I’ve known Kelly about 20 years,” Tate says, “he fit right in and really added an important ingredient to the writing chemistry the four of us already had.”  “We were the long-haired outcasts,” says drummer Scott Rockenfield, who attended high school with Gray, “more interested in playing music after school than just hanging out.”  “I like to work interactively with another guitar player,” adds guitarist Michael Wilton. “When I jammed with Kelly for the first time it was like an instant marriage. It was natural and just clicked. We wrote The Right Side Of My Mind that day.”

With Gray now in the mix, the band found themselves re-energized, creating compelling new songs such as the soulful “When the Rain Comes…,” the quirky “Liquid Sky” and the sexy groove of “Sacred Ground.”  “I hadn’t felt like singing in a long time,” says Tate, “but the guys just kept coming up with really inspiring music and I found myself flooded with ideas and working at a feverish pace. Plus the general morale of the band was at an all time high, we hadn’t felt like a band in years.”

With the extraordinary Q2K, the new and improved Queensr˙che took their music to the next plateau Queensr˙che toured for Q2K for a year and Kelly is now part of the family. Still something was missing. They were not getting support they needed from Atlantic and wanted to try a more aggressive and personal label. The choice was made and the band signed with Sanctuary Records in July of 2001. The band felt they wanted to start with Sanctuary by recapping the last 20 years with a live album and the new double live album, “Live Evolution” was recorded at the Moore Theater in Seattle on July 27th and 28th. "We were looking for a way to best describe and define what Queensr˙che has been for the past 20 years," Rockenfield says. "After 20 years of playing in Queensr˙che and having heard numerous live bootlegs that sound like crap, 'Live Evolution' is the answer for those who hold dear the magic that happens at a live Queensr˙che show," says Wilton. . The album was released on September 25th and a DVD and VHS home video is set for release on Oct. 9.

You can also find Kelly Gray featured on the following albums & side projects:

     
BAND: ALBUM: DUTY:

Queensr˙che

Live Evolution (CD and DVD)

Engineer, Audio Engineer

Nevermore

Enemies of Reality

Producer, Engineer, Mixing

Pay the Girl

Pay the Girl

Producer, Engineer, Mixing

The 100th Monkey

The 100th Monkey

Mixing

Queensr˙che

Live Evolution (Japanese Import)

Engineer, Guitar

Queensr˙che

Live Evolution

Engineer, Guitar

Various Artists

ECW Anarchy Rocks Extreme Music, Vol. 2

Mixing

Unwritten Law

Unwritten Law (Australia 2000 Tour Edition)

Mixing

Various Artists

MTV The Return of the Rock, Vol. 2 (Clean)

Mixing

Various Artists

MTV: The Return of the Rock, Vol. 2

Mixing

U.P.O.

No Pleasantries

Mixing

Queensr˙che

Q2k

Mixing

Second Coming

Second Coming (Mercury)

Producer, Engineer, Mixing

Unwritten Law

Unwritten Law

Mixing

Brother Cane

Wishpool

Producer, Engineer, Mixing

Bob Rivers

More Twisted Christmas

Producer, Engineer

Dokken

Shadowlife

Producer, Engineer, Mixing

Sweaty Nipples

Thrill Crazed Space Kids Blasting the Flesh Off Humans

Producer, Engineer

Candlebox

Lucy

Guitar (Rhythm), Producer, Engineer, Guitar

Various Artists

Working Class Hero: A Tribute to John Lennon

Producer, Engineer, Mixing

Redbelly

Redbelly

Producer, Engineer

Sybil Vane

Sybil Vane

Producer, Engineer, Mixing

Candlebox

Far Behind

Producer, Engineer, Mixing

Sweaty Nipples

Bug Harvest

Producer, Mixing

Pride & Glory

Pride & Glory

Mixing

Candlebox

Candlebox

Producer, Engineer, Mixing