THE FRAY

'The Fray' is a four-piece piano rock band from Denver, Colorado. Formed in 2002 by schoolmates Isaac Slade and Joe King, the band released their debut album ''How to Save a Life'' in 2005. The band is best known for the song "How to Save a Life", which charted in the top three of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and was also a top 5 single in Canada, Australia, Ireland, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. The Fray also found national success with the song "Over My Head (Cable Car)", which became a top ten hit in the United States and Canada. ''How to Save a Life'' was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America and was also certified platinum in New Zealand and Australia.

Contents

Composition

Emergence (2002–early 2005)

''How to Save a Life''

Discography

Albums & EPs

Singles

Samples

References

External links

Composition

The Fray was formed in 2002, and currently consists of Isaac Slade, the lead vocalist and pianist, Joe King on guitar and vocals, Dave Welsh on guitar, and Ben Wysocki on drums and percussion. They have no official bassist, but recently have been touring with bassist Jimmy Stofer, also a member of the bands Dualistics and The Commentary. He has made the decision to leave The Fray shortly to concentrate on his other work. While many critics compare the band to Coldplay,^[1][2] the band lists its main influences as U2, Better Than Ezra and Counting Crows.^[3] Although the band draws comparisons to Christian rock groups, they state that they "don't call [themselves] a Christian band."

Emergence (2002–early 2005)

Isaac Slade (front) and Ben Wysocki (back) performing in Chicago.

In the spring of 2002, schoolmates Isaac Slade and Joe King met up in a local Guitar Center. They soon began regular two-man jam sessions that led to writing songs and devising a style pitched between the arena-friendly style of U2 and the Triple-A rock of bands like Coldplay. Slade and King later added Zach Johnson and Slade's brother Caleb to the band who was the band's first (and only) bass player and was eventually asked to leave because of his poor bass-playing skills. Caleb's departure from the band would, as a result, cause a rift in his relation with him and Issac and would later become the inspiration for "Over My Head (Cable Car)", which is about the brothers wanting relationship. Meanwhile, Johnson eventually left the band as well to attend an art school in New York.^[4]
Wysocki, a former bandmate of Isaac Slade, then became the drummer for The Fray. Since Caleb's departure, The Fray has not used a bassist on a permanent basis. Later, Welsh, who was another former bandmate of Slade and Wysocki, was added to the band.
The band chose their name "The Fray" from a suggestion bowl that was placed at a graduation party for Caleb Slade. The members of the band first claimed that they found the name suitable because they frequently quarreled over the composition of the lyrics in their songs. However, they have since stated that the band is usually on good terms while composing music, and acknowledges contributions from all of its members.^[5]
In 2002, the band released Movement EP, a collection of four songs. Very few copies were pressed, and it is currently unavailable for purchase. The next year, they released Reason EP to some local critical acclaim, particularly by Denver's ''Westword'' alternative newsweekly.^[6][7]
Despite these rave reviews, the band struggled to launch a single. Denver radio station KTCL rejected eight of their songs before the band decided to submit "Cable Car". The song found airplay on a KTCL radio show highlighting local bands, and the radio station received a large number of requests for it soon thereafter.^[8] "Cable Car" eventually became one of the stations top thirty most played songs of 2004, helping the band's popularity to grow locally.
Later that year, the band was voted "Best New Band" by Denver readers of ''Westword'', a popular alternative publication. Epic records found out about the band through Westword's original article, which had the interest of A&R man Daniel Davis.^[9] Epic Records officially signed the band on December 17, 2004, and released their debut album, ''How to Save a Life'', in September 2005. The band changed the name of "Cable Car" to "Over My Head (Cable Car)", and by the end of 2005, it had become KTCL's most played song of the year. Adding even more fame to the song it was included on the soundtrack for the film ''Stealth''.
In July 2005, The Fray opened for Weezer for ten concerts. At the conclusion of the Weezer tour, the band opened for Ben Folds for twelve shows. The Fray headlined their own tour in January 2006, playing with Mat Kearney and Cary Brothers.^[10]

''How to Save a Life''

Main articles: How to Save a Life

Cover of the album ''How to Save a Life''

"Over My Head (Cable Car)" became a top 40 hit on the Modern Rock Tracks chart in late 2005. It lasted three weeks on the chart and peaked at position #37.^[11] The single gained airplay nationally, entering the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 charts on the issue marked February 25, 2006. Fourteen weeks later it reached its peak position at #8 on the Hot 100 chart.^[12] The song found success on the ''Billboard'' Adult Top 40 chart, where it reached the #2 position.^[13] The single also saw airplay on some Christian radio stations and spent several weeks on the R&R Christian charts, where it peaked at #27.
While "Cable Car" was rising on the charts the song "How to Save a Life" was first featured during a fifth season episode of ''Scrubs'',^[14] and then on a second season episode of ''Grey's Anatomy''. Both "How to Save a Life" and "Look After You" have been featured on the teen drama show ''One Tree Hill''. It was also played at the end of ''Cold Case''. Despite not having been originally released as a single, "How to Save a Life" entered the Hot 100 chart on the issue marked April 15, 2006. The song was promptly released as the band's second single. On August 18, 2006, ABC announced that the song would be used for the main advertising promotion for the season premiere of Grey's Anatomy.^[15] Only weeks after this promotion started, the song became The Fray's second top forty hit in the United States. The song reached the top three of the Hot 100 chart, surpassing the peak position of "Over My Head (Cable Car)", and has sold over one million downloads. "How to Save a Life" became a major hit internationally, topping the singles chart in Bulgaria, Ireland, and Canada.^[16][17] It also was the band's first hit in the United Kingdom, peaking in the top 5 in the UK Singles Chart and selling over 200,000 downloads.^[18]
To promote the album, The Fray have performed on several popular TV shows including ''The Tonight Show'', ''The Late Show with David Letterman'' and ''Rove Live'' in Australia.^[19] They also released a live album, ''Live at the Electric Factory'', on July 18, 2006. The concert was recorded on May 21, 2006 at the Electric Factory in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The digital download of the album is available on iTunes, Napster, and orders for a CD version of the album are available through the band's official website as well as select indie stores. On September 19, they re-released ''How to Save a Life'' as a CD/DVD set with exclusive content including a documentary on the making of the album. The Fray: Official Website Accessed September 28 2006 On April 28th, 2007, The Fray closed off Grad Nite for graduating high school seniors at Disney's The Magic Kingdom.
As of January 8, 2007, their debut album has sold over 2,000,000 copies in the United States, and has been certified Double Platinum by the RIAA. The single "Over My Head (Cable Car)" has sold 1.3 million digital tracks, and the single "How to Save a Life" has sold over 1.2.^[20] The Fray won all three awards in the digital category at the 2006 Billboard Music Awards, including digital album and digital songs artist of the year. They also performed "How to Save a Life" at the event. On December 7, 2006, the band was nominated for two Grammy Awards: Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal ("Over My Head (Cable Car)") and Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal ("How to Save a Life").^[21]
The band released a live cover of John Lennon and Yoko Ono's Happy Xmas (War Is Over) to iTunes as a 2006 Christmas single. The song debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at #50, due to a large number of digital downloads. This marks the first time this song has charted on the Hot 100. "Look After You" was released as the band's third official single, but it wasn't nearly as successful on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 charts as the previous two singles, peaking at position 59. In 2007, The Fray's popularity in the U.K. and Ireland was evident by the sale of 150,000 units of their latest album and single ("How To Save A Life") in one month.^[22]
They are working with Reverb, a non-profit environmental organization, for their 2007 summer tour.^[23]
Several live concert video recordings of new songs from the upcoming untitled second album have surfaced on YouTube: "Dixie", "Absolute", "Uncertainty", "Happiness", and a track tentatively titled "Fail".
And on September 4, 2007, the band released another live album, Acoustic in Nashville: Bootleg No. 2, which was recorded late 2006. The Bootleg can only be purchased with the original CD at this time from Target.

Discography

Albums & EPs

'Date of Release'	'Title'	'Label'	'US Billboard Peak '	'UK Top 75 Peak'	'Australian ARIA Peak'
2002	''Movement EP''	Independent
2003	''Reason EP''	Independent
September 13, 2005	''How to Save a Life''	Epic Records	#14'2x Platinum'	#4	#1'Platinum'
July 18, 2006	''	Epic Records
2008	''Untitled TBA''	Epic Records

Singles

Year	Title	Chart Positions											Album
		US Hot 100	US Pop 100	US Modern Rock	US Hot AC	Hot Adult Top 40	Hot Digital Songs	Hot Ringtones	UK Singles	Canadian Singles	New Zealand Singles	Australian Singles
2005	"Over My Head (Cable Car)"[24]	#8	#8	#37	#3	#2	#6	#20	#19	#11	#25	#22	''How to Save a Life''
2006	"How to Save a Life"	#3	#4	#31	#1	#1	#1	#22	#4	#1	#7	#2
	"Happy Xmas (War Is Over)"	#50	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	''Happy Xmas (War Is Over) Single''
2007	"Look After You"	#59	#49	-	#11	#12	#58	-	-	-	-	-	''How to Save a Life''
	"All At Once"	-	-	-	#27	#20	-	-	-	-	-	-

Samples

References

1. Debut 'How to Save a Life' takes on a life of its own Elysa Gardner
2. The Fray Sound Like Coldplay Tara Bennett
3. Enter the Fray Lauren Gitlin
4. Fray Away The Edges "About the Guys: The Lost Members", Accessed October 1 2006.
5. 'Life less ordinary' Sarah Tomlinson
6. All Mixed Up Dave Herrera
7. The Fray: Reason EP (self-released) Jason Heller
8. The Fray Live the High "Life" Dane Smith
9. Completely Frayed The Ear
10. The Fray Official Website accessed August 21 2006. See Dates: Archive
11. Modern Rock Tracks
12. ''Billboard'' Hot 100
13. Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks
14. NBC.com Scrubs: Music Guide
15. How 'Grey's' got that catchy new "theme" song Paige Albiniak
16. Новини Last accessed May 12, 2007
17. The Fray - How to Save a Life: Charts Last accessed May 12, 2007
18. The Fray - their story to date Last accessed May 12, 2007
19. The Fray at IMDB Accessed September 28 2006
20. http://www.ukmix.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=40930 Accessed December 16th 2006
21. 49th Grammy Awards - 2007 Last accessed February 22, 2007.
22. The Fray announce shows in Ireland and the UK - Accessed May 15th 2007
23. http://www.reverbrock.org/site/
24. In the United Kingdom, "How to Save a Life" was released in early 2007 as the band's debut single, followed by "Over My Head (Cable Car) a few months later.

External links

★ Official band website

★ UK Official band website