Engine #9 Bio
In the fall of 1997 Chris Myers and Eric Eden were members of the Philadelphia based band Strange As Angels. They began to spend a lot of time writing original music and made the tough decision to leave one of the area's most popular groups and venture out on their own. Their vision of a groove oriented band with an edge seemed appealing to Rick Green, of Midnight Sun Management (who had handled Strange As Angels) and with his support they began to assemble a band. Eric and Chris contacted Dave Simmons, formerly of Mike Hines and The Look (another Midnight Sun group that had recently disbanded) and soon began to record at a studio in which Dave was a partner. The studio was called KNAPPY*s BASSment Recording. With Knappy engineering the tracks and side musicians being brought in when needed a three-song demo was completed. As the studio relationship evolved Knappy began to play a major role in the writing and recording process and was asked to join the group. The band then began the arduous task of finding a bass player with the right combination of feel and creativity that would add to the current lineup. The player that fit the project perfectly was Jude of the Philadelphia based band “Fuzzy Bunny Slippers”. Jude joined and the lineup was complete.
A meeting was set at Midnight Sun to decide the name of the group and after a lot of interesting suggestions Engine #9 seemed the obvious choice. The idea originated from a song that the band had been kicking around while rehearsing, "The Choice Is Yours" by a rap group called Black Sheep. This seemed to convey the groove/hip hop side of the band and the performance of the song with a rock edge exemplified what Engine #9 was attempting to do with their original music.
In May of 1998 Engine #9 made their debut in Beach Haven, NJ and began playing in the tri-state area performing covers and original music. By the fall of 1998 Engine #9 was headlining shows as far north as Boston, MA and Vermont. Engine #9 continued to perform for the next two years up and down the North Eastern part of the country. In 2001 Engine #9 made the difficult decision to focus on writing and recording original music so they took a break from performing. A close friend, guitarist Billy Neill (Flip Like Wilson) was added after several fruitful recording sessions. Billy's signature guitar sound gave E9 the edge that they were seeking. With Billy in the fold, Engine began the recording sessions for their debut release "Enjoy The Buffet".
"Enjoy The Buffet" was released in the winter of 2003 and for the next three years the band performed and headlined original music festivals throughout the tri-state area. The band also began adding a few cover shows to keep them sharp. In February of 2006, the winds of change blew into camp E9 again and Eric Eden made the difficult decision to move on and the band split with Midnight Sun, their longtime management company. Change has always been kind to the core members of Engine #9 and it was no different this time around. Jude, who had been on hiatus from E9 writing and recording with his band "Pretty Alien" rejoined in early 2007 and the band began working on their untitled second release.
Engine #9 is currently booking cover shows and putting the finishing touches on the next original release.
Please check back for show dates near you...