Every national band was once a local band. That being said each time I go to a local Long Island club I am use to seeing local bands and national bands that have not yet been discovered. One such act just lacking discovery is J Rad.
J Rad began in 1997 when Jerry Cannata father of Jared (Guitar, Vocals) and Jordan (Drums, Vocals) realized his sons aged 10 and 8 respectively, were not as interested as they once were in their main hobby of mini-bikes. Music was quickly gripping his two sons. Jerry outfitted his boys with the best of everything and got ready to support their music wherever it may take them.
By the time Jordan and Jared were 11 and 13 they were...

opening for the likes of Long Island legends Zebra. This is when the band first came to my attention. Fingers came to me one night raving about these “kids” he had seen at the Zebra show. I checked them out and have been a fan ever since.
The band has been through some changes since then. There have been six members that have entered and left the band. Their sound changed from a sort of Metal sound with Progressive elements into the more modern melodic hard rock it is today. The last personnel changed happened in 2006. It was this change that left them as the quartet they are now, the brothers Cannata along with Gino Rudolph (Vocals) and Jimi Cactus (Bass, Vocals).
Last year just before sending Jared off to his freshman year at the Berklee College Of Music in Boston the band had a going away party with full concert sound and lighting in the families front yard. I heard them play songs that were just days old but already showed where the band was headed. Two tracks stood out to me that night “You’ll Never Leave Me Again” and “The Truth”. These songs are radio ready! Those songs along with others written during that same time make up the backbone of their new album for Storm Dog Records “Lonely Winter” (which was just released on July 24th). The change in style resulted from a change in the songwriting process from writing a great riff and asking Gino to sing over to writing not only to his vocal strength but also to the instrumental strengths of the other members.
The band has certainly been raised on the arena rock thunder of the late 70’s and early 80’s but believe me they are not dated. You ask them about influences and at first no two members give the same answer. Jimi, the bands elder statesman, says everything from Woodstock and the British invasion. Jordan will tell you Neil Peart of Rush and Mike Mangini from Extreme and Steve Vai’s band, while his brother Jared says Alice In Chains and Buckcherry. Gino the last to answer wants to know if I mean singing or songwriting influences. I say both and he tells me two bands whose songs knock him out are Nickelback and Sevendust. When it comes to singing he says his biggest influence is Geoff Tate of Queensryche fame. He is quick to add though that he works hard to make sure he is a vocalist on his own and not just a knock off of Geoff. I will say, when you hear the album you will hear Tate’s influence, but let me tell you, Gino has great range and you know his emotions are all his when he sings.
With those influences you might not know what to expect. Well what you get with “Lonely Winter” is an album that has hard rock with soaring vocals, melodic acoustic songs and virtuosity from all four members. Recording this album required the band to overcome some hurdles. First was their guitarist living in Boston and commuting home each weekend for rehearsals and recording sessions while still making the dean’s list at Berklee. Then there was sharing a studio with Twisted Sister while they were recording their successful “Twisted Christmas” album (which members of J Rad guest on). They occasionally let Twisted who had much more of a deadline take session time they had booked at Audio Magick studio with engineer George Marshall.
As good as the album is though you still need to see J Rad live. Recently while opening for Zebra at B.B. King’s in Manhattan the band got a near standing ovation from a sold out crowd of strangers and that was just from the opening number, the albums title track “Lonely Winter”. Mid set they pull out the acoustic and show you they can impress without all that volume. Go see the band and you may catch them on a bill with some great rockers like, Johnny Winter, Joe Bonamassa, Mountain, Living Colour, Twisted Sister and Bret Michaels. All acts that the band has opened for and/or jammed with. Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame member and labelmate Artimus Pyle, whom the band has also opened for and jammed with, has said this band will be the next big thing even if they don’t know it yet.
Don’t take my word for it though get the album at I-Tunes, Napster, Sony Connect and more. Take in a live show too. Remember if you wander into a club and see the name J Rad over the drums, stick around. See this national act in a smaller venue now before its too late!!!

HYPERLINK "http://www.JradRocks.com" www.JradRocks.com
HYPERLINK "http://www.StormDogRecords.com" www.StormDogRecords.com