Victory by Revenge CD Release Concert This Saturday

By Leslie Bauer
Posted: October 30, 2008

We all hear stories of students who form bands in high school, with dreams of making it big one day. For one local group, they are well on their way, and many in the area will be able to look back and say we knew them when.

I recently had the opportunity to sit down and talk with Rick Butler, a member of the local band Victory by Revenge. Rick plays synthesized piano and sings backup vocals for the band, who is celebrating the release of their first CD. Other band members include Sam Everett, who sings lead vocals and plays guitar; John Rossomondo, bass player and back-up vocals; Greg Friedman on the guitar; and James Ennis on the drums. The band has been playing together for about 2 1/2 years, although their love of music goes back to middle school, at least. Greg and James originally played music together, as did Rick and friend Brian Frost. The four eventually joined forces, adding Sam and John along the way, and Victory by Revenge was formed.

Brian has since left the band, but the music goes on. Popular with local youth, the band has played at parties, the lakefront in Columbia, the RHHStival and the Coffee House in River Hill, but has also had the opportunity to take their music on the road – to Baltimore and places such as Fletchers, the Recher Theatre and the Powerhouse, the Park Rock Festival and Room with a Brew in Southern Maryland as well as Tuesday Tunes in Pennsylvania.

This past spring, the band competed in Courtesy on the Road’s Live Twelve Battle of the Bands, winning the competition and earning the honor of putting together a music video, used by local police to promote courtesy on the road for teenage drivers.

With a music video under the belt, the band has gone on to produce their first CD, “First Date Mistakes,” which will makes its debut at a CD release concert at the Glenwood Community Center on Saturday, Nov. 1 from 7-10 p.m. Admission is free and the music will start at 7:30. In addition to Victory by Revenge, several other bands will be performing, including Drop Out Year.

The new CD will be available for purchase, as will Victory by Revenge T-shirts. The CD features 6 songs. Lyrics are written mostly by Sam, and the band writes the music together. Rick says they songs are about life experiences of the band members. One of the songs on the CD, entitled “A Heart for Faith” is about a young girl named Faith at Johns Hopkins who is in need of a heart transplant.

The band would like to thank their many fans and families who have supported their musical aspirations. In addition, they would like to thank their manager, Joe Patanella, and Ferrell McCollough who did the album photography, as well as a promotional photo shoot for the band. These days the band members’ schedules are pretty full with school — Greg, James and Sam are all seniors this year at Glenelg High School. Rick and John both graduated from Glenelg last year.

John currently attends Howard Community College, and Rick is attending the Art Institute of Washington. All of these young men want to continue to play music professionally. Let’s see where this gig will take them!

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