The Dear Hunter

Infobox musical artist
Name = The Dear Hunter


Img_capt = Lead vocalist Casey Crescenzo at Soundwave in Melbourne 2008.
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Background = group_or_band
Origin = Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Genre = Indie rock
Post-hardcore
Progressive rock
Years_active = 2005 - Present
Label = Triple Crown
Associated_acts = The Receiving End of Sirens
URL = [http://www.thedearhunter.com/ TheDearHunter.com]
Current_members = Casey Crescenzo
Erick Serna
Sagan Jacobson
Andy Wildrick
Nick Crescenzo
Past_members = Luke Dent
Sam Dent
Josh Rheault

The Dear Hunter is a self-dubbed indie, now full-time project of Casey Crescenzo, formerly of post-hardcore band The Receiving End of Sirens. The band's sound is not unlike that of Casey's former band, but with more alternative and progressive rock tendencies and a wider variety of instrumentation.

History

The band began as a side project of Casey Crescenzo when he was full time member of Boston band The Receiving End of Sirens. It was originally intended as a vehicle for music Casey had written that didn't fit with the heavier sound of The Receiving End of Sirens. In the winter of 2005 Casey recorded the "Dear Ms. Leading" demos. He created 10 copies of the demos on burned CDs intended for the ears of friends, and they began circulation. At the time he did not plan to pursue The Dear Hunter full time and allowed the demos to be placed online for download. On February 2, 2006, The Dear Hunter played its first show with The Receiving End of Sirens as the backing band.

In May 2006, Casey left The Receiving End of Sirens and began work on The Dear Hunter's first studio album. He expanded the scope of the project to a six-album [http://www.absolutepunk.net/showthread.php?t=245455 Interview with Absolutepunk.net] . April 28, 2007.] story set at the dawn of the 20th century about the birth, life, and abrupt death of a boy, known only in the story as "The Dear Hunter." [ [http://www.triplecrownrecords.com/artist_dear_hunter.php Band Bio] , Triple Crown Records website. Retrieved June 18, 2007.] In a 2007 interview with music website Absolutepunk.net, Casey stated that he already has the overall story of The Dear Hunter mapped out, with each act in 1-3 page treatments. Casey produced and recorded the EP by himself with only of the help of his brother on drums and mother on backing vocals. "" was released in September 2006 on Triple Crown Records.

Shortly after the EP's release, Casey recruited Luke Dent of the recently split band Faraway for vocals and keyboards and Erick Serna as a second guitarist. Luke brought in his brother Sam on drums and Erick brought long-time friend Josh Rheault in to play bass. The complete band entered the studio in late 2006 to record the follow-up to "Act I". Recording finished in early 2007, during which time, the band was featured in Alternative Press' "100 Bands You Need to Know in 2007." ["100 Bands You Need to Know in 2007," Alternative Press, Issue #225, April 2007.]

"" was released May 22, 2007, only eight months after the band's previous release. Originally, the band had written almost 2 hours of music for the album, but managed to trim the run time down to 80 minutes, the maximum allowed on a compact disc. Since the album's release, the band has toured with As Tall As Lions, Saves the Day, Say Anything, Chris Conley, The Format, Scary Kids Scaring Kids and Boys Night Out along with some headlining dates. In November 2007, the band embarked on a tour with Circa Survive, Ours, and Fear Before the March of Flames.

The band recently finished filming a music video for the song "The Church and the Dime". They have also announced that they are currently working on nine albums, each of which is inspired by a different color of the visible spectrum (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet), with black and white added as bookends. [ [http://www.absolutepunk.net/showthread.php?t=267355 "The Dear Hunter to Release Nine Color-Based Albums"] . Absolutepunk.net. September 20, 2007.] They will include many guest appearances, and will span many different genres of music. Casey has said that the band's main focus will still be the "Act" albums and music, but that each of the color albums will be from 30 to 60 minutes in length.Fact|date=July 2008

A book based on the story of "Act II" is currently in the works. Artist Kent St. John was selected to do the illustrations, the progress of which can be seen on his blog. [ [http://www.kentstjohn.com/tdh_art_blog/ The Dear Hunter Art Blog] . Kentstjohn.com. Retrieved October 1, 2007.]

Prior to a string of dates with Circa Survive, Josh Rheault and brothers Sam and Luke Dent all left the band. [ [http://www.punknews.org/article/26092 "The Dear Hunter lose 60 percent of their members."] Punknews.org. October 19, 2007.] Temporary replacements for the November tour dates included Cliff Sarcona and Julio Tavarez of As Tall As Lions and Andy Wildrick of The Junior Varsity. Wildrick would later join the band as a permanent member, along with Sagan Jacobsen of Crown Atlantic on bass and Casey's brother Nick on drums.

The band embarked on their first headlining tour in mid-2008 with Lydia, Eye Alaska, and You, Me, and Everyone We Know. After the tour, the band plans to enter the studio to record "Act III", which they hope to release in early 2009. [http://www.absolutepunk.net/showthread.php?t=490571 "Act III On The Way."] Absolutepunk.net. August 20, 2008.]

Members

* Casey Crescenzo - Vocals, Rhodes piano, Guitar
* Erick Serna - Guitar, Vocals
* Sagan Jacobson - Bass, Vocals
* Andy Wildrick - Guitar, Keyboard, Vocals
* Nick Crescenzo - Drums, Vocals

Former Members

* Josh Rheault - Bass, Vocals
* Sam Dent - Drums
* Luke Dent - Keyboard, Vocals, Guitar, Auxiliary Percussion

Discography

* "Dear Ms. Leading" (2005, misc. demos)
* "" (2006)
* "" (2007)
* "Random EP #1" (2007)
* "Random EP #2" (2008)
* "Act III" (early 2009)

References

External links

* [http://www.thedearhunter.com/ The Dear Hunter's Official Website]
* [http://www.thegrixer.com/thedearhunter.html The Dear Hunter Story and Pics at The Grixer]
* [http://www.purevolume.com/thedearhunter The Dear Hunter on Purevolume]
* [http://www.myspace.com/thedearhunter The Dear Hunter on MySpace]
* [http://www.lakeandtheriver.com The Dear Hunter Fansite]
* [http://www.decoymusic.com/vb/showthread.php?t=25135 Interview with Casey and Luke of The Dear Hunter]