FRANK BLAIR
:: Guitars ::
Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest of the USA, Frank was introduced to music at a very early stage through his father, a travelling musician, sitting through practices and even loading and setting up stage gear. This started him on a path to loving music and composing. Influenced by several genres of music from metal and hard rock to even 70’s R&B, music evolved naturally on him.
In his previous endeavors Chlorine Dream and Neverwas he has been the primary songwriter of the bands. Located in Washington State, Frank has enjoyed playing a vast variety of clubs, outdoor festivals and charity events on a national level. Now partnering with highly accomplished musicians, they’re newly founded project Drown Again has sparked a higher level of composition and an enthusiasm of music that will appeal to a wide variety of music lovers around the world.
ERIK LUNDQUIST
:: Bass & Vocals ::
Erik grew up in Tacoma, Washington and started his music journey as a teenager when he heard the Scorpions’ Blackout album for the first time. He picked up his first bass, started playing and singing, and never stopped. Over the last 30 years, Erik has played bass, guitar, and vocals in numerous musical projects, the longest running and most recent being a musical and theatrical tribute to Pink Floyd.
He is a fan of all styles and genres, listening to hours and hours of rock, jazz, classical, rhythm and blues, and progressive rock. He has an obsessive love for collecting and listening to vinyl records. Erik best expresses his ideas, thoughts, and emotions through lyrics. He has always believed the greatest challenge of lyric writing is the balance of articulating something powerful within a short span of a song while also trying to have the words and music compliment each other.
ROB MANCINI
:: Lead Vocals & Guitars ::
Drown Again singer and producer Rob Mancini first made his mark on the European Hard Rock scene involving the German bands Hotwire and Crush. Moving to Ireland in the early part of the 21st Century he turned his interests to production while still keeping his live chops up – and his face in people’s faces – playing an average of 70 shows a year.The end of 2011 saw Mancini release the critically acclaimed and
well received “Rock N Roll Circus”, drawing accolades from sources such as May The Rock Be With You (“If you’re up for an album full of rock then buy a ticket to this circus”),
Paradise Rock (“Verdict 9/10, go buy this album”), Metal Shock (“AOR Anthology – a masterpiece”) and Hardrock Haven (“Clearly deserves the backing of a leading label”), amongst others and 2012 brought the charity single, “United We Stand”, featuring singer / songwriter John Pratt, best known in melodic hard rock circles as the front man for AOR Super group “Firefly” in the late 90’s.
Mancini won the Exposure Music Awards as best international act in 2012
In 2013, Mancini recorded,produced and co-wrote US Band Karson’s debut album “Just in time” and joined Portuguese Metal Band “Scar For Life” as their new singer for their fourth album “Worlds Entwined” in August 2014 including guest musician and former Black Sabbath / Dio drummer Vinnie Appice. The band performed alongside bands like Destruction, Black Label Society, Overkill and Within Temptation.
In November 2015, Mancini started his new band Boneyard Dog, an Irish Classic/Blues Rock Band. Added to the line-up in early 2016 was American rock drummer Ron Wikso, an established artist known for his recording and touring work with some of the best musicians and known entertainers in the world including Cher, Richie Sambora (Bon Jovi), Foreigner, David Lee Roth (Van Halen), The Storm, Gregg Rolie (Santana/Journey), Eddie Money, CCR (Creedence Clearwater Revisited), Player (featuring Ronn Moss & Peter Beckett), Randy Meisner (the Eagles), Denny Laine (Paul McCartney & Wings/The Moody Blues), Dave Amato (REO Speedwagon/Ted Nugent/Jimmy Barnes), Michael Monarch (Steppenwolf), Dave Meniketti (Y&T), George Burns, Sammy Davis Jr., Peggy Lee and many others. Half way through the writing of the debut album, Mancini contacted Tony Carey, former keyboarder of Richie Blackmore’s Rainbow. Carey played on the classic albums ‘Rising’ and ‘On Stage’, in the Rainbow line-up including Ronnie James Dio, Cozy Powell, Jimmy Bain and Ritchie Blackmore, touring the world for 2 years. He has recorded and released over 40 records, and produced records by John Mayall, Chris Norman, David Knopfler, Joe Cocker, and Peter Maffay (Germany’s top-selling rock artist). He has done several film scores and published well over 1,000 songs. Initially planned as a guest keyboarder on one of the tracks, Carey was impressed by the material and offered to fill the slot as keyboarder on the entire album. Staying true to their roots in rock’n’roll music, a style all members are involved in for over a decade, the band also implemented their love and passion for blues into the project. With a lot of experience, compassion and inspiration the foundations are set for a new Classic Rock album that found many new friends and listeners. Boneyard Dog recorded their debut album ‘Bluesbound Train’ between March and September 2016 at Total Control Studio Austin/Texas and GMG Studio ONE in Donegal/Ireland. The album was produced, mixed and mastered by Rob Mancini. In August 2016 the band subsequently signed to German label AOR Heaven on a European Licensing deal. Further guests included Marc Lynn from Swiss Hard Rock band Gotthard, former Firefly and Roxbury Drive vocalist John Pratt on Backing vocals and Ex Whitesnake Bass player Neil Murray.
In August 2017, Mancini announced his intention to join Alex Santos heavy rock collaboration Stagma alongside Vinnie Appice (Black Sabbath/Dio), Patric Johansson (Wasp/Yngwie Malmsteen), Joe Petro (Heaven & Earth), Neil Fraser (Ten/Rage of Angels) and Simon Wright (ACDC/Queensryche) as the band’s front man/lead singer. Stagma confirmed the release of their debut album for April 2018.
Mancini embarked on a live tour in Europe with his band Boneyard Dog which started in the UK in March 2018.
With the start of the Covid pandemic in 2020 and the drastic decrease in live availability, Mancini focused on production work, mainly the follow up album “Sociophobia” for Scar For Life, but also on other songwriting collaborations – two of which resulted in reaching the final of a European Songwriting Competition out of 6,500 songs. These two songs, “This Life” and “Cage of my own skin”, co-written with Paul Gaughan, will also be featured on Drown Again’s debut album “Evolve” – to be released August, 31st 2022.
JASON BLESSING
:: Drums & Percussion ::
Born and raised in Kennewick, WA, Jason started playing drums at the age of 10 years and has played in bands around the Tri-Cities area throughout his life (Neverwas, Simpleminded, & Chlorine Dream). Jason first learned to play drums by using an electronic toy drum kit, using a base for a globe as a “hi hat” and mimicking what he heard from old cassettes of Queen and Led Zeppelin. After he filled in for his father’s drummer once at a practice session, he was gifted his first 5-piece kit that year for Christmas.
He also plays guitar and bass with drums being his focus. Jason’s influences are rooted in the classic rock and classic metal genres with bands such as Queen, Judas Priest, Dio, & Kiss. He has enjoyed recording and playing various clubs in eastern WA and opening for numerous national touring bands.