The Starting Line

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• Genre: Pop Punk
• Hometown: Churchville,
• The Starting Line Website

About

It used to be that bands met by placing an ad in the local music paper, but these days, more and more people meet via cyberspace. That certainly was the case with the Starting Line, who in 1999, found their singer via an email post whose subject heading was: Jamming And Sh*t. At the time, soon-to-be singer Ken Vasoli was 14 years old. But the age difference didn't bother the rest of the band members as much as it bothered Vasoli's parents, who insisted he stay and finish school rather than hit the road. So Vasoli doubled up on classes and worked hard to graduate early. Around this time, the folks at We The People Records set the quartet up in a studio to record a batch of demos; coincidentally, the gang at Drive-Thru Records also saw the potential of this young band, and talked their way into the recording session. The sly move paid off. Eventually, With the Hope of Starting Over EP came out in 2001 via Drive-Thru and a slew of tours followed. The band released their debut album, Say It Like You Mean It, the following year and headed out on the road once again, participating in the successful Drive-Thru Records tour. The experience helped the band develop their sound and gave them an entirely new set of experiences on which to draw. And if 2005's Based On a True Story is anything to go by, the Starting Line used those experiences to expertly create an album featuring anthemic tales of heartbreak and longing.

- Linda Ryan