Dropout Year started out in June 2004, when ex-singer Adam Henderson, Brandon Reter, and ex-drummer Justin Childers (playing as a 3-piece originally known as Far From Home) asked Adam Goodman (a high school friend) to join the band after he witnessed them perform a concert at the Recher Theatre in Towson, Maryland. The band, with manager (and future singer) Steve Reter, completed and released two demo CD’s over the next two years. Their first studio EP was titled Seven Unreturned Phone Calls (a quote from the movie “Say Anything”) . The EP was recorded with Paul Leavitt (All Time Low, Over It) and the sold-out CD release party was held at the Recher Theatre on August 4, 2006. In the summer of 2007, they parted ways with their original drummer Justin. Jordan Young was asked to audition after he sent them a video of him drumming, and was officially chosen a few weeks later. Later that year they won national exposure by being selected as a Taco Bell Feed The Beat winner, along with A Day To Remember, Blameshift, and Mayday Parade. Two months later, they were featured as an AP&R band in the October ‘07 issue of Alternative Press Magazine. From the article: “Everything they touch is currently turning to harmonic gold. They won DJ Rossstar’s first national unsigned band contest and this year’s Comcast On Demand Music Video Contest and were featured as one of the top unsigned bands in the country by TheDailyChorus.com.” In January of 2008, they parted ways with their singer Adam Henderson. Soon after, it was announced that long-time manager and friend Steve Reter would be the new lead singer and Dan Ciarrocchi would be added on bass (formerly of Bravo Romeo Bravo). In October, they spent three weeks in the studio recording their forthcoming album with producer and ex-Hidden In Plain View member Rob Freeman. The album, titled The Way We Play, was released on April 7, 2009. Dropout Year has recently won the Ernie Ball contest, playing the Vans Warped Tour 2009. They also won the contest in 2007 and were featured that year on the Warped Tour. The band continued to tour throughout the summer of 2009, including a Hot Topic-sponsored Mall Tour through the Northeast states. In the Fall of 2009, the band parted ways with drummer Jordan Young and bassist Dan Ciarrocchi, for amicable reasons. Jordan Young joined the band Rookie of the Year for 2 months and is currently pursuing new opportunities. Dan is going back to school, and working on solo material. Steve, Brandon and Adam recorded a free Holiday album with former drummer Justin Childers in the Winter of 2009, called The Seven Levels of the Candy Cane Forest. The EP was posted for free download to the public on December 22, 2009. Dropout Year is continuing as a 3-piece band, and is currently working on new material to record in 2010. |
