Often known as the band behind the Washington Capitals' goal song "Rock The Red," The Sandbox Kings' career has been quite a journey. After years of dedicating themselves to finding the right lineup, the right sound and even the right time to release their music, they finally scored big after radio station DC101 selected their song as the Caps' goal song.
"The reaction people have when they find out it was us who created the song is phenomenal," said frontman Branko Hodzic, who penned the song with drummer Brian Mulroney. "Everyone has been very supportive and they are very intrigued by the band. It's validation for us as musicians." This "validation" not only spurred the band to start writing and recording but actually resulted in a new record entitled "Secrets," which was recently released in the summer of 2012 on iTunes and select online retail sites. Referring to the album as "a tribute to those who serve our country, love, awakening, and just realizations that life is passing by" by Hodzic, the band's sophomore effort certainly delves deeper into more serious issues than the group's debut release "Wonderfall," which was critically-acclaimed by the press. In fact, hailed by The Washington Post as "demonstrating "plenty of versatility -- on guitar, keyboards and other instruments," The Sandbox Kings' debut release essentially put them on the Washington DC music map. Now, several years since their first album, the band is ready to "rock" once again with a regional tour planned in support of "Secrets" and many special engagement performances planned to celebrate the release of their sophomore album. However to Hodzic, his focus is still on the fans, "we knew that we had to continue to keep our fans happy with more than just new materials but with new ideas and sounds that would take us and our listeners to a whole new level," he said. With an impressive new album, plans for upcoming shows and a sincere dedication to the people and places that brought them to where they are now, it seems that the "secret" to The Sandbox Kings' success won't be a mystery for long.
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THE OK CORRAL
The OK Corral began in the summer of 2007 as high school friends Brett Nickley and Mike Matthews finished their freshman year of college. The pair went to concerts together around the DC area and realized they wanted to give the band thing a legitimate shot before school flew by and the real world swallowed them whole. The OK Corral originated as an acoustic duo, and Brett and Mike spent the summer writing 5 originals, and following a plethora of makeshift and legitimate shows, these 5 original songs later became an EP in January 2008. While the duo was eager to play their music to anyone who was willing to listen, they also desired to form a full band. After getting their EP done, various musicians temporarily got involved; practicing, playing shows, but ultimately, not fitting into the bigger picture the two had envisioned. In October 2011, The OK Corral's lineup currently consists of Brett Nickley on lead vocals and guitar, Mike Matthews on lead guitar and vocals, Jose Flores on bass guitarand vocals , and Michael Burbrink on the drums. The new lineup got off to a fast start selling out Jammin' Java in Vienna, VA in January 2012. Since the show the band has been working on a new album which is in the process of being recorded.
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