Bethany Tomkins: Smile Empty Soul
Smile Empty Soul started out in 1999 as a trio of like-minded, musically-inclined high-school kids. Sean helmed the band with vocals and guitar; Ryan Martin was on bass; and drums were courtesy of Derek Gledhil. Although two of the three original members are long-since gone, they were present for the making of the band's self-titled debut album on the Lava Records label.
Since that initial album, Smile Empty Soul has soldiered through a sandstorm of line-up changes, label drama, and controversy. Sean tells the story like this...
"There's a lyric in our song, Holes, that says 'take your bibles and go home.' Once the song was out, the label [Lava] got over 30,000 emails from The Christian Coalition in one weekend, protesting release of the song as a single. So there was that, and then the release date for the second album kept getting pushed back."
Clearly, that's the direction they needed to take. Since December 2006, their CD Vultures, released on their current label, Bieler Bros. Records, had sold over 13,000 copies. No small feat for a band floating on the finances of its lead singer/guitarist. These days, Smile Empty Soul is on tour, making their way around the U.S. They'll be stopping in Knoxville this Sunday, April 29, at Blue Cats, supported by fellow City of Angels rockers, The Exies, and St. Louis band, Autovein. Check it out!
