New Band To Burn One To: 365 and Counting!

Back in the developmental stages I was looking for a name for an article I was wanting to post that would promote new unsigned and independent bands, I asked my friend Barry if he had any suggestions and the words "New Band To Burn One To" poured out of his mouth. The rest is history.

Since February 26, 2008 there have been 365 bands featured as a "New Band To Burn One To". The first band featured was Stone Rider. Have you ever wondered, "where in the hell do they find these bands?". Well, 100% of these bands have contacted me over the last three years with demos, CDs, download links, etc. I would say that most of the submissions I receive fulfill the criteria for inclusion on Heavy Planet. When I first started out, it was me and only me. I was later contacted by Toby and asked if he could post Concert reviews, I said sure why not. Toby is an outstanding writer and I am grateful he is a part of Heavy Planet.  Toby joined the staff on 12/9/2009. He most recently wrote the Flashback Friday articles but now does reviews exclusively. Every now and then you will see an interview that Toby has conducted. Even though we have never actually met in person, it feels like we have known each other for quite some time.

As I was getting overwhelmed with submissions and thought there was no way I could keep up, I put the word out for another writer. Along came this guy with the moniker Bufftbone aka Bill Goodman. Bill is a writer for the fine Stoner/Doom site The Soda Shop. If you haven't visited that site I suggest you do now. Bill offered his help with the "NBTBOT" and on July 21, 2010 Bill joined Heavy Planet with his first post being the band Goliathon. Bill still occasionally helps out, but has his hands full with The Soda Shop. Bill also had a great idea this past March for a tournament in which 64 past NBTBOT bands would matchup against each other. He called the tournament March Bandness. It was a huge success as the sites visitor count more than tripled and the bands gained more exposure. In case you missed it, the winner was Threefold Law and the runner-up was Switchblade Jesus.

After an influx of bands came in wanting their CDs reviewed I put the word out for another writer. I didn't have to look very far as Zac is a friend of the family. We were sitting by the pool swigging some beers and talking music. Zac was enamoured by bands such as Baroness, Bison BC, Black Tusk, etc. Zac was the novice of the bunch and had a growing knowledge of the genre so I asked him if he would be interested in writing some reviews. Zac's first review was Crystal Caravan-"Against the Rising Tide" on 9/30/2010.

We were still looking for help, and although The Klepto no longer writes for us, he contributed a lot of fine reviews. Check out The Klepto's Guide to Awesome Music for some insightful reviews.

And finally, a great writer and long time follower of Heavy Planet decided to bestow his talents upon us. Seth came on board 5/29/2011 with his review of Orange Goblin-"Coup de Grace".

First and foremost I would like to thank each and every band for submitting your music to Heavy Planet. Without your music we wouldn't be here. Hopefully we have been able to get your band that little extra "push" it needs. And hopefully others have found a great new band to listen to that they otherwise would have had not.

Secondly, I would like to extend my gratitude to all the individuals indicated above for making Heavy Planet the success it is today. Your time and dedication is greatly appreciated.

If you want to be a part of what Heavy Planet is today, you can start off by submitting your band to this location.

Doom On!

\m/~Reg