The first definable "Ivy Rock" Musician hits hard with a variety of rock and roll based music from the beautiful ballad "Tongue Tied" to the hard rocking "Youth", whose melodies you'll all be singing along with by the end of the song.

14 MP3 Songs
ROCK: 90's Rock, ROCK: Modern Rock



Details:
A decade recording, seven years performing, and after four Rock Bands, BEEJAE is finally on his own. At 23, born and raised in Pittsburgh, Beejae has played all over the Northeast, seen college radio success, commercial radio airplay, raised eyebrows of several labels, and won a local Songwriter of the Year award at nineteen. And although an âindieâ musician, his closest fans fears that wonât last after hearing his latest batch of infectious melodies and memorable lyrics.

While there is little known about his childhood, friends and former band mates have offered interesting tidbits and stories. For instance, a former guitar player recalls that when Beejae was eighteen, he was to a debut gig with his band that was sold out well in advance for the 1200-seat venue. No one could find Beejae the entire evening of the gig after soundcheck. âFive minute before the set was to begin, they found him⦠he said âIâm ready⦠I just finished.ââ, recalls Colin Wirick, âI asked him what he finished, and he said he wanted to personally thank every person for coming. He also watched our opening acts from the audience while everyone else played rockstar and hid backstage.â At nineteen he survived a near-fatal car accident, at twenty Beejae was pulled from his friendâs burning apartment by his ex-girlfriend, and at twenty-one went missing for twenty-four hours when thrown off a horse in a patch of woods in Center County Pennsylvania.

At the end of 2006, Beejae has played nearly five hundred gigs, mostly in the northeast, but also in St. Louis, Kansas City, Denver, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles. While he has not toured regionally or nationally since the summer of 2005, he says he plans to get on the road by the Spring of 2006 in support of his debut album, âIt Was What It Wasâ¦â which is out online now and hits stores in February of 2007.

On his first solo LP, with backing band "& Co.", consisting of Melle Mel Robinson on drums and Samuel Grumet on bass, Beejae has quite possibly accomplished making an album that will be considered one of the most important of the decade. "It Was What It Was"... Starting out with the almost Britpop-like âAlrightâ, and the Blue Traveler-reminiscent âGreenerâ, the fourteen track album goes full steam ahead with âTruthâ with crushes out blunt lyrics and smart guitar riffs. From here on out, itâs hard not to fall more and more in love with the album as it continues to âYouthâ, a Green Day-met-Nirvana grind of struggle to stay young and get to where youâre going at the same time. Maybe no one will know what âFuck Californiaâ is about, but it doesnât give you a chance to breathe⦠with its catchy choruses and soulful verses. âTongue Tiedâ is the hidden gem on the album⦠the only song without a hint of sarcasm in the lyrics is a straightforward love song complete with harmonica solo that sounds like itâs already been a staple in modern music. The Cure-like âEchoesâ, and country-twang of âEye For An Eyeâ will both have you singing along by the end of the songs. What no one can be prepared for is the first topical song anyone has written in years that could turn some heads⦠âHate Crimesâ mentions Mathew Sheppard, Martin Luther King, Jr., and even Terri Shchivo in such a satirical way that it is bound to get attention. And although the anti-hate anthem is an acoustic song⦠the album doesnât start to sputter out. âMy Bottleâ rips through witty one-liners that compares the first person the person who the song is about, with inferences to addiction, slander, and betrayal. And as melodic and beautiful as âFake At Bestâ starts out, Beejae proclaims âyou wouldnât know real if it f***ed your brains out every nightâ ruining any chance of a group hug. âShakespeareâ keeps the tempo up as well as âPeople Like Youâ offers closure before the album ends with a though of what if there was âRock & Roll In Heavenâ? We can only hope itâs all as good as this albumâ¦

While the album comes from an artist who ran from home after graduating high school to live out of his car for a summer, and has had more near death experiences than Mick Jaggar, the songs are down-to-Earth. This is the first time in a while that I have been O.K. with a musician calling himself an âartistâ. But Beejae is just thatâan artist. His performances are unique and innovative, his album actually speaks. He nixed the lyrics in the CD booklet to tell a story⦠and who knows if the story in the CD is true⦠and who cares? And thatâs what makes a great artist⦠He isnât pretentious. He makes are and lets the viewer, the listener, the subjectâtake whatever they want from it. Whether itâs cranking a song on his album at full volume just to drive fast and feel alive for three and a half minutes, or if itâs to listen to his entire album and read the story inside⦠and analyze what the cover art means. Itâs ear-pleasing, itâs eye pleasing. I could metaphorically hang this album in someoneâs kitchen just to smile when the pass it, or it could be the life-changing work that opens up their mind to a new way of thinking.

My editor things Iâm overrating this a bitâI think he listens to too much Metallica and Pantera. --Jonathon Frost / P.U. / (Pittsburgh Underground)