Album Notes

Right on Wagner started in Detroit, MI in 2005, when singer/songwriter Michael McKiddy decided to put to use the over two hundred songs he'd written since he was a teenager. "I'd record these horrible, horrible recordings in my basement, but whenever I played them for people they'd immediately be like 'Can you make me a copy of this?'" says McKiddy. "It took awhile for it to sink in that people actually liked my music, that maybe I should stop sitting on all of these songs I'd written; for example, I'd hear my music blaring from my friend's radio as they pulled up to my house and I'd think to myself 'Oh, they're just trying to be nice.' But I finally said to myself a few years later, 'You know, you should prolly stop being so afraid of failing, and worrying what people think, and just focus on getting these songs out there, cause you're happy with them, and that's the main thing;' so I decided to get a band together and follow my lifelong dream of completing the full length album that was swimming around in my head for so many years. And right away, the second I decided that, a huge weight was lifted off my back. It was the best feeling ever. The journey finally began..."

"The Row EP" is the start of that journey, featuring three songs from ROW's upcoming full length album "Bummer" (which will be released in early 2011). "I hope this EP will be a nice introduction of the band to a bigger audience, and that it will get people excited for the full length album," says McKiddy. "We're gonna start playing shows in the Fall to promote the EP, and we're finishing up 'Bummer' now back in MI. It's the album I've dreamed of making since I was a kid. It's coming along so well. For the first time in a long time I'm excited about the future."

And if "The Row EP" is any inclination, "Bummer" is going to be one of those rare albums that falls into people's "favorite album's of all time list". After just one listen of "The Row EP", you can't help but get hooked right off the bat when "Say Hi" kicks in. "Forever Last" has 'hit song' written all over it ("I'm always forever last; well, some things just forever last."). "Sooner Than Later" could be the anthem for the next generation ("Sooner or later we'll all be alright, sooner than later we'll find it's our time."). "Thinking About Today" gets you instantly tapping your toes, and is a song we can all relate to ("This whole world's out of my hands, and I'm sick of thinking about it. I'm sick of thinking about today."). And the final song "Left" is a heartbreaking ballad about moving on, and far away, from a rocky relationship ("I'm waiting for something to get me far from here, I'm not sure what it is, but when I find it you'll see I'm the one who's left."). There's something about these songs, and even these lyrics, that stick with you, and it's extremely difficult to pinpoint another band out there in the world that sounds like them.

"ROW just has this sound that's so unique in it's own way, they're one of those bands who's music I'll never get bored with, or stop listening to," says Mike Pickard, the designer of ROW's artwork. "I've never played a ROW song for someone who didn't like it. They're a band that's universally awesome."

Keep checking ROW's official website for upcoming news about "Bummer" and future shows: http://www.RightOnWagner.com

-- Otis Webber (EW-CB) - July 21, 2010