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Band sets new 'Ordinance' for contemporary rock

Nov. 6, 2009

Courtesy of Marina Chavez Green River Ordinance, finishing its tour this year with David Cook and Kate Voegele, has had its music featured on several television shows, such as "The Hills" and "So You Think You Can Dance."

By Taylor Harris
Contributor

Green River Ordinance is a common law that prohibits door-to-door solicitation. However, any girl would love for the band Green River Ordinance to land on her doorsteps.

GRO, a rocking quintet of Texas boys, is the total package: easy to listen to and easy to look at. And they are really going places.

With songs already featured on hit TV shows "The Hills" and "So You Think You Can Dance" and performances with a multitude of rock stars, GRO may be a household name in the near future.

Having recently completed tours with Gavin Degraw and Kate Voegele, GRO will finish its 2009 tour with "American Idol" season seven winner David Cook.

Its EMI/Virgin Records debut, Out of My Hands, brings full circle the life of an everyday young adult. More or less, it is your life being played out with beautiful resonance. Heartache, struggle, joy -- every emotion imaginable is felt in the 11-track disc. Lead vocalist and front man Josh Jenkins described the sound as "pop rock, a mix between hopefully Tom Petty and U2, with a blast of the '90s."

Basically, all the good music of the world collides when these five musicians come together. The creation is an incredible fusion to be reckoned with.

With each of the members contributing to the writing of the songs, the band's unique creativity is apparent even more with how they picked which of the 60-plus eligible songs made the cut for this record.

"We had a voting system. There were like eight people that got a vote, and you raised your hand whenever you liked the song [after we said the song name]," guitarist Joshua Wilkerson said. "Then we tallied it all out."

Quirky, but successful to say the least, Out of My Hands has the perfect balance for any major debut.

However, one song on the album did not even exist when GRO hit the studio to record. This particular song became the title track "Out of My Hands." Although it was the newest song developed, it is symbolic.

"[The title is about] freedom in the sense that there's a lot that happens in our life, like a lot of variables that lead us and that are out of our hands... And through all the struggle, there's always hope. There's always something bigger, and it's out of our hands," Jenkins said.

"The album title is a lot deeper than our band name," said bassist Geoff Ice. Geoff, with his big brother Jamey Ice, actually founded Green River Ordinance back in high school. Listeners everywhere thank you, Ice Brothers.

To add to its accolades, it has been featured in a CNN.com segment, was named one of the nation's top 20 college bands by MTV Best on Campus and opened for the legendary Bon Jovi.

Unlike a lot of bands, the constantly increasing popularity has done nothing to change who the members of GRO are as people. From an anime lover to a pre-show yodeler, gamers and junk food junkies, these guys are the embodiment of 20-something-year-old best friends.

Geoff enhances this concept when he said what he would tell another band.

"Remember your talent is not something you really earned. It's not really from you. You've always got to pay your dues. You've always got to work. Nothing's ever going to be handed to you on a silver platter," Geoff said. "Always be thankful. Anytime you start to get to a certain place and start moving forward, remember where you've been and the people that have help you get there. Be thankful."

Green River Ordinance will open for David Cook this Sunday at the Palladium in Dallas, and it will surely be back playing in its home state, Texas, after that tour winds down.

They could even make an appearance at Common Grounds as Jenkins is a personal friend with the owner.

Genuine, professional, mind-blowing -- GRO will have a "Light On" them in the near future, a spotlight that will follow them into superstardom for years to come.

Grade: A

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