Loud guitars and powerful gritty vocals are the fuel for Rearview Ghost, a modern hard rock band led by female chanteuse Josia and comprised of guitarist Craig Shadix and bassist Flip Cooper. This North Alabama band has been bucking trends and pushing boundaries, bringing back an old flair with a raw new energy sound.
The story of Rearview Ghost sounds like something you would see in the movies yet their true story proves that they have the guts and strength to persevere through it all.
Rearview Ghost was founded in 2006 by singer Josia and bassist Flip Cooper. After writing and recording demos for a year and a half, they envisioned a rock sound that needed a new guitarist and writing partner - enter in Craig Shadix. Introduced to them by drummer Tim Humlicek, whom has written and recorded with RVG throughout the years, Craig joined the band in 2008 and the writing partnership felt complete. Josia, Craig and Flip immediately began working hard to create a sound that reflected their personalities while always pushing the edge of their abilities in search of their own new unique sound. Rearview Ghost spent the next eighteen months sharpening their writing skills and performing their new songs to audiences all over the south.
In September of 2010 they were ready to record their first full length album and decided to record with a young up and coming engineer/producer named Brian Hood at 456 Recording Studios. During the process of recording their new album RVG learned that their singer Josia was not going to be able to sing for the next six to eight months due to a fourth, and hopefully final, sinus surgery as a result of reoccurring sinus issues. She had hoped with her new doctors and the experts at the voice center at Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville, TN that she would be able to finally resolve her sinus issues - although recovery would take some time. So with all of the recorded music for the new album completed, RVG was on hold until Josia fully recovered. Move forward to early April of 2011, Rearview Ghost is in full rehearsal mode and Josia is singing at 110% preparing to go back to the studio to finish their debut album - then the unthinkable happened. April 27th 2011 is a day that so many people in the United States will never forget: people lost loved ones, their homes, pets and their possessions to an outbreak of tornadoes that swept across the country. Unfortunately for RVG, their rehearsal studio was directly in the path of an F5 tornado that traveled from Mississippi to Tennessee by way of Alabama. The F5 tornado literally picked up the building and threw it over fifty
yards destroying all of the musical equipment they owned. After months of working with insurance companies, along with the help and support from fellow musicians, friends and family, they were finally able to get enough equipment together and go back to rehearsing in order to finish their album.
After recovering from the tornados, new equipment in hand and Josia fully recovered, Rearview Ghost was set to return to the studio in July 2011. Unbelievably, something happened that almost matched the shock of the tornados and would set them back yet AGAIN. On the way to the first day of returning back to the studio to record vocal tracks, Flip got a call from Brian Hood with some terrible news. An intern, working for the studio, had accidentally deleted ALL of the files of their new album. Everything that they had recorded was forever gone – permanently. Shocked, Flip called the rest of the band and told them the bad news. Josia said, "It was like the tornadoes all over again, everything we had worked for was gone." Brian Hood, being ever the professional, generously offered them their money back or to rerecord the album again and with extra time due to what had happened. Quitting never entered anyone’s mind and having had a great experience working with him, RVG decided to go back and record with Brian in the fall of 2011 determined to make an even better album than before. This time, however, they would add two additional songs to the album in which one, Black Rabid Dream, reflected the disheartening events that they had all been through together over the last year.
In May 2012, Rearview Ghost was finally able to release their self–titled debut album through their dogged determination and every song establishes its own identity truly showing the versatility of their creative styles within their music. Rearview Ghost cranks it up for an edgy “balls-out” hard rock sound yet they have the unusual ability to shift and evoke the sensitivity of their bluesy side from days gone by - simultaneously sounding like the same unique band and always staying true to themselves.
Less than six months after its release, Rearview Ghost’s debut album caught the attention of world famous producer Michael Wagener whom has sold almost 100 million records world-wide and has worked with artists such as Ozzy Osbourne, Metallica, Skid Row, Motley Crue, Lordi and so many more. In search for a band to record during his workshop in January 2013, Michael Wagener came across Rearview Ghost’s album and immediately knew RVG was the band that he wanted for his workshop. RVG’s new single, Devils Backbone was the result of that week long class. Rearview Ghost and Michael Wagener quickly began to realize that they had great chemistry together. Wasting no time, they swiftly began making plans to get back into the studio and record an EP.
What defines Rearview Ghost is their music, energetic shows and their ability to overcome 2011 - The Lost Year: surgeries, F5 tornados and an erased album. Through rack and ruin, where most would have given up, these obstacles could not stop nor bring down this hard working band.
Rearview Ghost is currently in pre-production with Michael Wagener with plans of entering into the studio in May 2013.
For Rearview Ghost, through it all - the music never stops and the spirit never dies.