Cherry Suede

Cherry Suede: Biography

The first day that guitarist/vocalist Randy Young met fellow singer/guitarist Randy Scott, at Young’s Montreal studio in 1999, they recorded a version of their song “Since You’ve Been Gone.”

It was a sign of things to come because today, after over seven years of developing their songwriting partnership, “Since You’ve Been Gone has reemerged as one of the stand-out tracks on Cherry Suede’s self-titled debut album.

They’re established as one of Canada’s most exciting live shows. They bring eminently talented musicians into their projects. What’s next? Young and Scott are taking their music to the people—and the people are going to have fun.

Cherry Suede is all about having a good time. Their poignant songs are fueled by high-impact instrumentation that captures the pure joy of music and pulls the listeners into the song. At a time when most rock music is either heavy or somber, Cherry Suede has found a unique niche by combining the sincerity of rock with the glamour of pop.

Scott and Young recorded a five-song demo and headed to Los Angeles to play the clubs and to distribute their demo to LA radio. Among other venues, Cherry Suede played the Mint, The Whiskey, and took part in the Panasonic Shockwave Core Tour in Santa Monica. Critics were amazed with the band’s energy and their ability to rally the crowd.

Following an appearance at the NEMO festival in Boston Mass, they met audio engineer and producer Rick Slater, who helped to further define their sound. Cherry Suede returned to Ottawa, Canada where they hit the concert circuit, playing sold-out shows across the city. When the Canadian music press caught Cherry Suede in action, the response was enthusiastic. Marc Lalonde of the Montreal Chronicle predicted; “It won’t be long before Scott and Young are household names.”

Cherry Suede’s debut album is a cross-continental effort: L.A. artists including bassist Eric Holden (Josh Groban, Bodeans, Five for Fighting), drummer Craig MacIntyre (Josh Groban, Vertical Horizon), and pianist Zachary Provost (Josh Groban) joined Young and Scott who later added guitars and vocals. The result is a collection that sounds polished and fresh, with air-tight instrumentation and uplifting, “intoxicating” vocals and harmonies.

Since the release of their CD, Cherry Suede finds themselves working harder than ever, and scoring more radio airplay, too. Montreal’s Mix96 and CHOM FM continue to provide airplay, while KOOL-FM in Kitchener, Ontario is the newest station to get on-board. Festival dates are coming fast and furious, with dates in Canada; Clarksburg, WV (a crowd as large as 25,000 are expected to be on hand; Delaware; Pennsylvania; and New York.

There’s also a new live DVD with four new songs that will also be included in the third pressing of the CD. The band’s first single, “Not a Day Goes By” has been licensed for international TV, as well as finding a home on countless podcasts, webcasts and websites from countries like Japan, Germany, England and Australia .

Critics, radio and friends of the band find Cherry Suede both fun and refreshing . Randi Plante, evenings at Mix 96 in Montreal: “Album is fantastic! Vocals are very fresh and new! Guitar is great! Overall the album is fun, new and unlike anything else out there right now! The world needs to hear about Cherry Suede!”