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“Forming as a group of high school friends playing cover songs for school talent shows in the small town of Vermillion, South Dakota, the members of Paradise Fears began by deferring college admission for a year in 2010, instead working full-time jobs to raise money to record their debut album, Yours Truly, with Zack Odom, Kenneth Mount, and Jordan Schmidt. Upon recording, the band set out following other pop rock tours and selling their CD to fans waiting in line. The album sold 24,000 total copies and peaked at number 9 on the Billboard Uncharted Chart.
Following tours also gained the attention of pop rock act All Time Low, who brought Paradise Fears along as the opening act on their 2011 The Rise and Fall of my Pants Tour. The following January, the band supported The Cab and The Summer Set on their Everything’s Fine Symphony Soldier Tour and did a full US tour of intimate show private parties for fans. After fans took over a Seaworld naming competition, Seaworld San Diego named an Olive Ridley Sea after the band.[1]
In the summer of 2012, Paradise Fears headlined the Sanctuary Mini-Tour, following the re-release of “Sanctuary.” Originally released in 2011, the new version contained a speech made by lead singer Sam Miller halfway through.[2]
Later in 2012, the band supported Forever the Sickest Kids and Go Radio, respectively. They also began releasing cover songs on Youtube. Their most popular, a cover of “Payphone” by Maroon 5, amassed over three million views. In 2013, they performed on the Resolution Tour with Action Item, Max Schneider, and Before You Exit.
On June 25, 2013, Paradise Fears released an 8-track EP, Battle Scars. The album peaked at #2 on the US iTunes Alternative Chart and #19 on the Overall Album Chart. Following the release of the album, the band supported Parachute on their 2013 Overnight tour. On October 31, they released an extended edition of Battle Scars, featuring the single, “Who You Are.”
On January 31, 2014, the band released an acoustic version of Battle Scars, featuring a cover of “Landslide” by Fleetwood Mac and a “Battle Scars Sonata”, a piano-only track combining all of the songs from the album. In February 2014, they performed on their own Acoustic & In the Round Tour, where they performed stripped down, intimate versions of the songs on a riser built in the middle of the audience.
April 2014 saw the band’s first trip to the UK, supporting The Summer Set on their UK tour.
In June 2014, drummer Lucas Zimmerman announced he would be leaving the band to return to school to do humanitarian work. In his goodbye post, he expressed continued love and support for the band. Joey Russ, formerly a member of The Role Call, took over as the drummer of the band.
Throughout the summer of 2014, they were participants and eventually finalists in the Macy’s Rising Star contest, placing third.[3]
In July 2014, Paradise Fears announced that they had signed with Nashville label DigSin and released their next single, “You to Believe In”. They supported the single by setting out on their first full US headlining tour, the Live Forever Tour, featuring support from Hollywood Ending, Against the Current, William Beckett, and Nick Thomas of The Spill Canvas.
The band announced they were working on a new album, to be released with DigSin in 2015.”
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