About the Artists

Headlining Artist

I Prevail

Self-made, self-defined and walking a path that’s entirely their own, I Prevail are ready to embrace their True Power.

Since first joining forces in the Metro Detroit area back in the summer of 2013, key songwriters Brian Burkheiser (vocals), Eric Vanlerberghe (vocals) and Steve Menoian (guitar) have made an immense impact on the world of alternative music. Involved in every aspect of their band from day one, they built a grassroots fanbase through DIY touring, as well as reaching out directly to listeners across the globe, before launching into the kind of meteoric rise that few artists ever experience.

“We were just these three kids wanting to write songs and live out our dream,” laughs Brian. “I was working at Dominos, Eric worked at IHOP, and initially we were in our rehearsal space for a year and a half getting this thing together while still working those jobs.“

From the hard-hitting, genre-defying introduction that was 2014’s “Heart vs. Mind EP” to 2016’s powerful debut album “Lifelines”, I Prevail quickly became one of rock’s biggest breakthrough bands. Then, 2019’s “Trauma” took things to a whole new level. Born from incredibly challenging and dark times, it was both a cathartic work of art and an unmistakable statement of intent – showing that no matter what, they’d be playing by their own rules.

“Trauma was a very reflective record,” Brian notes. “I’d struggled with a major vocal injury and had been wondering whether I wanted to continue doing this thing at all. Eric had also lost his best friend over that same time, so there was a lot of heartache behind it. After taking that trauma and figuring out how to channel it, you find this sense of newfound confidence and an ability to grow as a person: to become truly yourself.”

Rising to an arena level and receiving two Grammy Nominations - Best Rock Album for Trauma, and Best Metal Performance for their single, Bow Down - I Prevail proved that they were built to last. To date they’ve racked up more than 1.5 billion streams in the United States, drawn upwards of 350 million YouTube views, and saw their single, Hurricane, top Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart in 2020: officially the top song on US rock radio at the time. A number of their song have now been certified Gold and Platinum. Meanwhile in the live realm they’ve become an ever-greater draw, launching major worldwide tours.

With the new full-length album, True Power, they’re running with that energy: revealing an album designed to stand the test of time and empower their fans like never before.

“We’ve been grinding non-stop on this record since the summer of 2020, and it really shows us as the band we want to be,” smiles Brian. “We took a ‘no rules’ mentality to songwriting, the songs are as diverse as they’ve ever been. The first song on the record is called There’s Fear In Letting Go, and that became a huge mantra for us. Yeah, it can be scary letting go of things, but it can also help you take back everything that’s yours: which is exactly what we’ve done on this album.”

With Trauma producer Tyler Smyth behind the desk once again and Jon Eberhard collaborating on songwriting elements, they’re showcasing their true selves over these songs.

“This band was created by us, but for years we had a lot of snakes trying to get their hands in and mess with our process. This time around, we took over and did things the way we wanted. With the help of our label president, Andy Serrao, and our manager Dominic Mackie, the recording process has never been this smooth. We’ve been empowered, and we want to empower our fans to go, ‘I can accomplish whatever I want to.’ We’ve gone from day jobs to playing huge shows, we’ve released our trauma and turned it into true power both personally and musically, so we’re out here showing that it’s possible.”

“This album is us going all-out, embracing a no-fucks-given approach, and I think it’s going to transcend what we’ve done before, to put us in a whole new space.”

Also Featuring

Hollywood Undead

Formed in 2005, Hollywood Undead inched towards mainstream dominance under the radar with unprecedented success for a modern band. Preceding the current playlist-hopping genre-less boom, they defied stylistic boundaries from day one integrating rap, rock, and electronic. The band will be heading back out on the road in the Fall of 2023 with hip hop legend Tech N9ne co-head lining the HOLLYWOOD & N9NE Tour in support of their 8th studio album, Hotel Kalifornia.

Also Featuring

Fit for a King

Trauma and tragedy transfer from one generation to the next. As difficult as it may be, we still possess the power to break the cycle and start anew. Fit For A King ponder the pain of these cycles and the possibility to end them on their seventh full-length offering, The Hell We Create [Solid State]. The Texas quintet—Ryan Kirby [vocals], Bobby Lynge [guitar], Daniel Gailey [guitar], Ryan “Tuck” O’Leary [bass], and Trey Celaya [drums]—explore this ebb and flow with a deft, yet delicate balance of sharp metallic intensity and soaring melodic energy.

Drawing on real-life experiences, the band members collectively rallied around Ryan and his family as they endured seemingly unending turbulence…

“The album is a reflection of the events that happened throughout the pandemic,” recalls Ryan. “In short, my wife and I adopted children and had to homeschool them. She almost died from a stroke. The Hell We Create is by far the deepest and most personal record we’ve ever written.”

In 2011, Fit For A King emerged out of Texas with a searing signature style rooted in metal and hardcore and uplifted by hypnotic hooks. Following the breakout LP Creation/Destruction [2013], they earned four consecutive Top 5 debuts on both the Billboard Top Christian Albums Chart and the Top Hard Rock Albums Chart with Slave to Nothing [2014], Deathgrip [2016], Dark Skies [2018], and The Path [2020]. The latter marked their first #1 on the Top Christian Albums Chart and Top 10 on the Billboard Top Album Sales Chart. Plus, the band collaborated with fellow heavy-hitters such as August Burns Red and We Came As Romans. They’ve generated nearly 312 million streams on a catalog highlighted by “The Price of Agony,” “When Everything Means Nothing,” “Breaking The Mirror,” and “Locked (In My Head),” to name a few. Of The Path, KERRANG! raved, “This is overall a sharper, bolder, more offering from a band who might just succeed in using it as a launch pad to bigger things,” and Rock Sound hailed it as “brilliant.”

Just before the pandemic shutdown, Ryan and his wife adopted her niece and nephew. Not long after, she suffered her stroke, and the frontman stared down darkness.

“The record talks about the hell these children went through because of their abusive family,” he notes. “They went to multiple shelters and seventeen different foster homes before we were able to start fostering and later adopt them. Since they’re family, we know their story deeply. Their hell is completely created by others—like their parents and the system. After my wife’s stroke, I was ultra-paranoid. I wasn’t eating. There were these mental health phases of creating hell for myself. I’ve learned Hell is passed down.”

In order to capture that sentiment, they reteamed with longtime producer WZRD BLD [Lil Wayne, Motionless In White, Highly Suspect], recording The Hell We Create over the course of six weeks in Los Angeles. Setting the stage for the next era, the band teased the record with “Reaper.”

Now, the single “End” kicks down the door with a barrage of rapid-fire riffing offset by squealing leads, pinch harmonics, and double bass. It crashes right into the instantly unshakable refrain, “Will you stay with me? I can’t do this without you.”

“It’s about my wife,” he says. “She had a 95% blockage in the jugular vein inside of her head caused by birth control. If one day passed, she would’ve died. It was the first time I was close to an unexpected death. I wasn’t mentally or physically ready to do this, because I had never dealt with it.”

Then, there’s “Falling Through The Sky.” It hinges on a hard-hitting harmonic groove as clean vocals echo. The momentum builds towards the observation, “They say Heaven’s above, and Hell is below, so why do they feel so close?”

“It was about me coping with the idea of losing her,” he goes on. “I grew up in church. I’m still a Christian. Everything made me realize how ill-equipped I was to deal with true tragedy even with all of the scripture I’d read. Once I looked the beast in the eye, it fell apart. I needed to use those tools to deal with these demons instead of ignoring them.”

Ryan and Jonathan Vigil of The Ghost Inside trade vocals on the chaotically catchy “Times Like This” underlined by a gang chant.

“Getting a guest spot from Jonathan was surreal because I’ve listened to him since high school,” adds Ryan. “When you’re divided, you don’t fight together—you just fight each other. We are whatever the media or politicians tell us, and we’re okay hating half the country. In reality, we have way more in common than not, but it’s been orchestrated for us to stay at each other’s throats.”

The album culminates with might be the band’s deepest cut “What You Left Behind.” He reveals. “The quiet singing is my point of view. The chorus is the kids speaking to their dad who they were taken away from. The last breakdown is me speaking to their dad, ‘This is the damage you did to them. This is what you left behind when you left them’.”

In the end, Fit For A King delivers an important message on the record.

“I want to raise self-awareness,” he leaves off. “It’s not just important to fight for ourselves, but we’re fighting for others. You can reach out for help even if you’re scared. I know I was. I hope we can all reflect on not only what we put ourselves through, but what we put others through.”