Biography

With a dark, intense and sometimes psychedelic sound, Cobweb Strange has been compared to a wide variety of bands in many different genres. Founding member Wade Summerlin (bass/vocals) along with drummer Derik Rinehart auditioned over one hundred guitarists between February and April of 1995 before finding Jonathan Burke. By July, the trio had released the EP "Thoughts Under Glass" and was performing around the southeastern United States. The following year, their debut album, "The Temptation of Successive Hours" was released on July 27, 1996. The album began receiving radio airplay around the world. The seven plus minute song 'Astral Projection' became a surprise radio hit in Poland. The band was receiving very positive reviews and quite a bit of fan mail, but just after the album was released, Jonathan departed from the band to attend college.

Finding a guitar player like Burke had been quite a difficult ordeal the first time around and with their debut album now in stores, Cobweb Strange really needed to perform in support of the album. Until a suitable replacement could be found, Derik's brother Keith Rinehart was asked to fill in on guitar for their live concerts. This new lineup performed numerous dates over the following year; the grand finale being a performance at a party hosted by adult film icon, Ron Jeremy which featured 20 of the top adult film stars of the year. Over the course of the year, it became apparent that Keith himself was actually the perfect replacement for Burke, so in 1997, the band headed back into the studio to begin work on their sophomore release, "Sounds From the Gathering."

Prior to the second album's release, their new single, "Taste of Ash", was included on the compilation CD, "A Collection of Curiosities" which was released in April of 1998. In October of 1998, the second full length Cobweb Strange album, "Sounds From the Gathering", was released. Initial sales of the new album were considerably more impressive than the first album. Quite a few radio stations around the world have started playing the songs "Sometimes the Shine Just Fades Away" and "I'd Give Everything." Fans and the music press alike were sending out a favorable response to the new music. "Taste of Ash" was selected for an Oasis CD sampler.

Everything was looking great for Cobweb Strange, but the band members were involved with many side projects that year. In 1998 Wade was performing live with Justin Tyme and Brent Furlong. Also, Wade and Derik were recording with the bands "B-Man & Super Phaze" and "Planet of Playthings". Plus Wade was singing, performing on, and producing an album with the band "Love Like Heaven". In addition, just before the release of "Sounds From the Gathering", Wade went on tour with The Amazing Idiots, Derik went on tour with Muddy Water's son and Keith went back to work as an airplane mechanic. Prospects of a Cobweb Strange tour didn't look good.

Just when it was looking like the end of Cobweb Strange, Wade got a phone call from a drummer named Soumen Talukder who was looking for a new band. When the Amazing Idiots' tour ended, Wade and Soumen, along with fill in guitarist Rusell Taylor, hit the road to tour in support of "Sounds From the Gathering," writing new material along the way.

After the tour, Wade and Soumen went straight into the studio to record the album "The Crystal Mind" with the band Electric Poem. Holly Williams (the guitarist) and Brandi Byrum (the keyboardist) in Electric Poem became interested in Cobweb Strange. With the Rinehart brothers involved in other projects, it was decided that Brandi and Holly would join Cobweb Strange as permanent members. "The Crystal Mind" CD took up the majority of 2000 to record. Almost immediately upon its completion, this new lineup of Cobweb Strange began work on their third studio album, "A Breath of October" in 2001. In the summer of 2002, the band performed at two festivals. To help introduce new listeners to Cobweb Strange, they released the nine-song sampler, “Seamless Selections,” to provide an overview of the band’s two previous albums as well as a preview of “A Breath of October.” At over one hour in length, “Seamless Selections” featured three songs from each of the band’s three albums. Recording for "A Breath of October" was completed in July of 2002 and the album was released on October 1, 2002. Shortly thereafter, the video for the first single, “Currents of Nightshade,” was completed.

In 2003, the song "Pure" was featured on the compilation CD, "Paths Less Traveled." The video for "Currents of Nightshade" was featured on the Genterine Records 2003 Sampler DVD. The band performed a few shows in the southeast, including the 2nd Annual Rogue Independent Music Festival which was recorded and filmed. Several songs from this show have been edited into videos which have not yet been released. However, one of the live tracks from the festival does appear on the 2004 "Ghost Notes" compilation CD along with the studio version of "The Drowning Pulse of the Cold Green Sea" and the video for "Currents of Nightshade." In the summer of 2004, the band performed their only show of the year at the 3rd Annual Rogue Independent Music Festival. The second pressing of the Electric Poem album, "The Crystal Mind," was also released this year.

The members of the Cobweb Strange spent the majority of 2003 & 2004 on tour (performing over 400 shows) with an 80s influenced pop band. In early 2005, Wade and Brandi decided to form a new group which was headed in a slightly different direction. Holly and Soumen wanted to continue touring with the previous pop group, so for the 4th Annual Rogue Independent Music Festival in June of 2005, Cobweb Strange performed with two new members; Jeremy Slotin on Drums and Bill Graham (of the band Unbounded Sky) on Guitar. Each of the members of Cobweb Strange spend most of their time on the road with their other bands each month, but hope to get back into the studio to complete the next Cobweb Strange album soon.