Turn It Up

House of Melody, an Arkansas based southern rock band composed of Steve "Kish" Moody, Nick Carter, Steve Shatzer and James "Lynn" Burke, have come together to record and promote a new album to generate scholarships for music education.

The guys in the band cut their teeth performing and mastering their instruments over the past 30 plus years, but this project all started with the relentless support and encouragement of fans. Burke summed it up this way: "Fans have always asked for a recording so they could buy something, but we just didn't want to put something out for the sake of putting something out. We talked with the fans, they came up with the idea of doing it to help raise money and letting them pick their favorite tunes. The ball started rolling and here we are."

Appropriately titled "Turn It Up," the band has assembled a collection of Lynyrd Skynyrd tunes that resonate throughout America's heartland. The song selection is carefully crafted to include select tracks such as "The Needle and the Spoon," "Tuesday's Gone," "Saturday Night Special" and "Simple Man". The band is quick to point out they are not a tribute band. These songs simply mean something to the guys and they feel the songs will mean something new, to a whole different audience. "Lynyrd Skynyrd defines southern rock and that's what we are; a southern rock band. Those guys inspired us to learn how to play and that�s what we want to achieve with this new recording," states Burke. One quick play of these tunes and the listener will know a tremendous amount of respect went into recording these songs.

Burke, a FedEx 777 Captain/Check Airman by day and guitar player by night, is also the owner of Blues City Music in Memphis, Tennessee. This shop is a high-end boutique store catering to elite tone fanatics around the world. Kish is the founder of House of Melody Education, a 501(c)(3) organization focused on providing a positive, safe drug free environment for children and youth in central Arkansas. Joined by Carter and Shatzer, the four teamed up at the House of Melody recording studio in Gravel Ridge, Arkansas to cut three tracks. But for the fourth track, the band wanted something even more special and sought famed engineer, producer and friend, Pete Matthews of Ardent Studios in Memphis, Tennessee to lay down "The Needle and the Spoon."

The band means serious business. Matthews is more than just a friend, his credits are endless. He is often cited for his involvement in the discovery and success of multi-platinum selling artist, Evanescence. As if that weren't enough, mastering on the album was done by none other than mastering engineer Brad Blackwood at Euphonic Mastering, the 2012 GRAMMY� winner with Alison Kraus and Union Station's Paper Airplane. The band pulled no punches on equipment, time, personnel or quality knowing full well these virtues will shine through when audiences turn it up.