How it all began... meltdown morning is originally the dream of long

time Lubbock musical duo Scott and Amy Faris. They had the idea for

a brand new project which would consist of a bona fide rock band and

completely new, original music. Scott, the sonic guitar wizard and

tone freak, along with Amy, keyboardist extraordinaire and song-

writing poet, would find a vocalist, bassist, and drummer to complete

the ensemble...not an easy task. The first connection turned out to

bassist Shane Shepherd, who had been a member of several

Lubbock bands. Shane lent his talent to an early demo of some of the

new Faris tunes, and so began his journey with meltdown morning. By

a stroke of sheer coincidence, or fate, Shane ran into drummer Brian

Tate who had moved away from Lubbock after graduation and now

had recently returned. Shane immediately thought of Scott and Amy's

band and an exchange of phone numbers took place. After an

introduction (which to this day, Scott and Brian will contend was

fate) and an audition, Tate became the first member to sign on. Not

yet a committed member of the group, Shepherd was just "filling in"

until another bass player could be found. Ironically, it was Shane who

also introduced the group to Stephen Stroope, the powerhouse

vocalist from Galveston, TX who was a vocal major at Texas Tech at

the time. Stroope showed up for an audition and the decision was

unanimous--this was the guy for the gig. The only thing left was for

the rest of the band to convince Shane that he himself needed to be

a permanent fixture in the group. Eventually, the music and the

commitment of the others won him over and the personnel was

solidified.

It was only after about six months that the band began recording,

most of the songs having been written by Scott and Amy before the

band was formed. The majority of the material was born in the

mountains of Gunnison, Colorado on a summer song writing retreat.

February of 2000 saw the release of "Throb", the band's first record.

Two solid years of touring the South Plains, Texas, and beyond

followed, taking the band even as far as North Carolina in the hot

summer of 2001 in "Lewtina," the band's motor home. The next phase

saw major changes for meltdown morning. A new record had begun,

with tracks recorded in December of 2001. The material was not

finished, and there were more songs to be written. However, a new

opportunity presented itself--the chance to work with Tom Jackson, a

live performance coach from Nashville, Tennessee, and highly

respected name in the music industry. Tom came to Texas to work

with meltdown morning, and work they did, on their live show. The

subject? How to communicate with their audience. The shows have

never been the same since, not the least of which was their

performance at the Warner Bros. Rock-U Showcase held in June of

2002, which held one their largest and most receptive audience. After

a summer spent revamping the live act, it was time to get back in the

studio to finish the second recording. This one would be different from

the first in two ways; more collaborative, with more of the members

contributing to the writing process, and yet more unified overall, the

band having woven a common thread throughout, knit through their

last two and a half years on the road, in rehearsals, at shows, and

just being good friends.