original material. Trey Polonsky (guitar), Jason Kyte (drums) and Jim Newton (guitar) eventually met Ron Hess (bass) in 2003, and the four continued crafting their songs and sound, this time working solely on original music. In 2005 the band began rehearsing with Singer Chris Drueke, who also contributed his songwriting and musicianship to the fold. The band produced a homemade 4 song demo in 2008 and then went on hiatus due to various, personal reasons. The two guitarists, Trey and Jim, began meeting again in 2011, working on promising, new material. Soon Ron Hess began helping flesh out the new tunes and Drummer Jason Kyte joined in once again. In 2013, Chris Drueke returned as lead vocalist and The Mission Bell was now a fully-realized, living and breathing entity. The band is currently recording and preparing to perform in front of an audience again.
Sounds Like: Bridging the gap of influences with one foot in Classic Rock and the other in Modern Rock with a heavy dose of 80s and 90s Indie Rock.
Notables:
- In 1999, guest celebrity judge Brian Wilson picked Dead Leaf Echo’s song “Silhouette” to advance in an online song contest entitled “Born On The World Wide Web.
- Also in ’99, Dead Leaf Echo’s song “Let Me Slide” kicked off a compilation of local talent on the Richmond-based label Oasis’ CD “Oasis Alternative Volume 8.
- Jim has a phobia of Razor Scooters.
- Ron goes to Australia a lot (he’s probably there now).
- Singer Chris Drueke (also a songwriter, bassist and guitarist) has played in the Florida-based band The Agency which contained members of Dashboard Confessional and The Avett Brothers. Drueke has shared the stage with such artists as Fishbone, Ben Kweller, the Get Up Kids, Alkaline Trio, AFI, Dashboard Confessional, Midtown, Saves the Day, Samiam, Further Seems Forever, Good Riddance, Kid Dynamite and Rival Schools (among many others).
- Jason can’t concentrate on one thought at a time.
- The Mission Bells’ tune “Harriet Wheeler” (a loving tribute to The Sundays’ lead vocalist) ranked number one on Reverbnation during the summer of 2013 for Williamsburg, Va.
- Skip smells really awesome.
