Hot Chelle Rae
Haven't heard Hot Chelle Rae? Don't miss out on this band - check out the music videos below and read more about the band!
November 1, 2011, 4:13 p.m.
This group of guys from Nashville has something they want you to hear. And that something is pure rock and roll – bold guitar riffs, driving beats, clever lyrics that culminate in power choruses and a swaggering charisma that is impossible to ignore. Hot Chelle Rae front man Ryan Keith Follese admits that the band wanted their sound to be “explosive and new and fun and be better than anything out there.” Seems like they got their wish.
Named after their most avid and devoted MySpace fan, Hot Chelle Rae began taking shape in 2005 when singer-songwriter and future front man Ryan Keith
(R.K.) Follese met up with guitarist Nash Overstreet to try and get some of his lyrics set down to music. Interestingly, the meeting didn’t go so well. Based on appearances alone, the two were polar opposites. But, style preferences aside, Follese and Overstreet eventually got over their differences and formed the first incarnation of Hot Chelle Rae, a start-up called Miracle Drug. They performed their first show in 2006 which went so well that the pair decided to continue making music together.
Before they could go further, both Follese and Overstreet recognized that they needed to nail down some talent in the rhythm department. Overstreet brought in his childhood friend Ian Keaggy, a guitarist who didn’t actually play the bass until he joined the band, but whose latent skills on the instrument have proven to be truly a clutch part of the band’s songwriting process. Follese’s brother Jamie came in on drums to also help round out the sound.
With the line-up of band members complete and an Internet fan base already in place, the next step could only be to sign with a label – in this case Jive Records in 2008. Hot Chelle Rae hit the studios to begin work on their first album, Lovesick Electric, which was released in October 2009. They followed up the release by going on tour with Third Eye Blind, and have continued doing tours and openings with bands like Owl City, Cobra Starship, Boys Like Girls and Parachute.
Hot Chelle Rae's hit single, "Tonight, Tonight," released in March, quickly became a summer anthem, reaching number 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 in July and became a platinum hit.
HCR released their newest single, "I Like It Like That," and the band's newest album, Whatever, is set to be released on November 29. When asked about the sophmore album, Ryan Keith Follese says, "It will be poppy, but there's definitely some very epic, serious songs on the record about being on the road and missing loved ones and stuff like that. It's a healthy balance of all of the fun we've had with a lot of stuff in between."