Hard Rock Band Candlebox Sailing Down Comeback Trail

Rock star.
You’re on top of the world. You hear your songs on the radio, watch records sell in the millions and play concerts for legions of screaming fans.
That was life as Candlebox knew it circa 1994 and ’95. Note the word was. On the comeback trail since 2005, the Seattle-based band’s road to redemption continues with a show at the Electric Cowboy in Johnson City on June 11 – that’s tonight.
As for yesterday as in 1994, life was a whirling, twirling and disorienting tornado for Candlebox. Success, that’s a good thing. Handling success, now that can be something else. How did Candlebox deal with success?
“Not very well,” said Kevin Martin, lead singer of the hard rock band, by phone from Flint, Mich., on Tuesday. “We were kind of shocked when it happened. It threw us a curveball.”
Candlebox emerged from grunge rock’s hotbed of Seattle, Wash., in the slipstream of Pearl Jam and Nirvana. Signed to Warner Bros. label Maverick Records, they were to be the next great band from the Northwest.
“The first time we heard our first song, ‘Change,’ on the radio, we were riding down the strip in Las Vegas,” Martin said. “We were like, ‘Hey, they’re actually playing our song!’ ”
Their single “You” tanked in the spring of 1994. Then, in late summer, came their breakthrough and biggest hit, “Far Behind.”
“Then, the real shock came when we got our gold record,” Martin said. “We all really realized that we were really doing this. You float.”
Floating, as if in a dream. Candlebox’s dream ride continued with top-dollar tours with rock royalty Metallica. Then came Europe and then came, well, read on, neighbors.
“I remember touring with Metallica and we were like, ‘What the [heck]?’ Then, when we toured Europe with Henry Rollins, it was like a dream state,” Martin said. “The next thing you knew, you’re in Hawaii on vacation.”
Oh yes, life for Candlebox was a dream. Well, that dream did not last forever.
“It lasted for about a year,” Martin said.
Immediately on the heels of their first album, the band’s management insisted they quickly record a follow-up. However, the costs of doing so proved monumental.
“We were offered to tour with Robert Plant and Jimmy Page,” Martin said, “but we didn’t know about it until after the fact. We fired our manager. That was the beginning of the end for us.”
Legal battles between Candlebox, their terminated management and their record label spelled a death knell to the band’s success. Candlebox’s final charted single was the prophetically titled “Simple Lessons,” which charted in September 1995.
They hit bottom when their subsequent album tanked.
“When you see your record sales fade away,” Martin said, “you think you’re not as good as you thought you were.”
A decade later, Candlebox righted course by 2005. They’ve been battling back and uphill ever since.
“I put that in a song,” Martin said. “’It’s all uphill from here …’ It’s a long road that we’re on.”
Now Candlebox has a new album (“Into the Sun”), new single (“Stand”), new management and new approaches to music to accompany them on their road to rock redemption.
“It’s been bumpy as hell,” Martin said. “But it’s now coming back to fruition for us. Reality hit hard. It was a tough lesson.”

IF YOU GO
Who: Candlebox
When: June 11, 8:30 p.m.
Where: Electric Cowboy, 1805 N. Roan St., Suite F-1, Johnson City, Tenn.
Admission: $25
Info: (423) 928-0022
Web: http://www.candleboxrocks.com
Free download: http://www.candleboxrocks.com/news.php (simply scroll down to June 7, 2009 for a link to download audio of Candlebox’s performance from Sandusky, Ohio on June 6, 2009)
Also: http://www.electriccowboy.com

TOM NETHERLAND is a freelance writer. He can be reached at .