6PM DOORS ✖ Hall ✖ $20 ✖ 16+
IN THE BEGINNING…
The RJA story goes back to 2003, actually much further back to when brothers Ronnie and Randy Winter first started playing on acoustic guitars their grandfather gave them, but we’ll skip the ‘they learned to play and formed a bunch of spiritually rooted punk/metal bands that ultimately lead them down the path to glory’ bit and jump in where they were making so much noise that it attracted Virgin Records who snapped them up & released the bands RIAA platinum debut record “Don’t You Fake It” in 2006.
VIRGIN RECORDS…
Roughly a year later the debut album was RIAA certified Gold in the US. Noted globally charted the singles were (but not all) “Guardian Angel” and their most known song “Face Down” (anti-domestic violence focused anthem). Face Down was also featured in several video games and spawned four music videos. A deluxe edition was later released in early 2007 featuring the track “Disconnected” (which initially was only available to Australian fans).
Second album Lonely Road followed in 2008 but the collapse of Virgin Records soon after left the band out on a limb with no team. They became fully independent in early 2010. Being independent from a record label gave them full creative control but also meant they were independently financed. RJA’s original vision & sound was now cable of being restored & grow as intended.
AFTER VIRGIN RECORDS…
Since then it’s being done “the Red Jumpsuit way”. “Am I The Enemy” was released in 2011, EP “ET TU, BRUTE?” 2013, “4” July 4th, 2014 and “The Awakening” in 2018. Each album has had one or more certified Billboard #1 singles.
Known for their spirituality, the band’s lyrics cover an array of emotions. The darkness and the light, the struggles and the wins. The RJA message is ultimately one of hope and a reminder that ‘Even on the worst day that you’re alive you’re still surrounded by so many awesome things that you should be grateful for if you choose to look at them.’ Ronnie Winter
Originating from the small town of Cedarville Ohio, the men of Wolves at the Gate never saw themselves ending up here. Forming in 2008, each member was on a completely different track in life. While all attending college in Cedarville, music was a passion for each individual but wasn’t where they saw their lives going. “I got my degree in History Education.” says Cobucci “Jeremy got his degree in communications, Ben got his degree in marketing and I actually taught high school history for a year” However, as it turned out, there was more in the cards for the hopeful college students than looking for a job after graduation. “I was always going to shows and seeing bands perform. I always loved being the listener. Listening to it so much though, I really wanted to create my own version of all the music I liked. Just to combine all the things I really appreciate about music.” This drive led Cobucci to join with vocalist Colin Jones, bassist Ben Summers, guitarist Jeremy Steckel, and drummer Ben Millhouse to form… Goodnight Doctor? Cobucci explains: “The first few shows we ever played we were called “Goodnight Doctor” That was a phrase my dad would say when he would stub his toe or bang his head on something and we thought that was hilarious, but when we realized we wanted to start trying to be a real band we wanted something that had a real meaning to it.” And meaning they got. The origins of the name “Wolves at the Gate” are explained by Cobucci: “The name comes from the Bible in Acts 20 24-32.” He continues to explain the verse which is spoken in whole on the first track of the band’s EP- “Toward the end of that passage Paul says that there will be a time that savage wolves will try to come in and try to distort the truth, and that’s just what we see today. People not giving a clear depiction of the gospel, so as it says in our album, we aren’t the wolves at the gate, we are the ones who face them.”
From that point on, the band had a unified mindset, started writing better songs and set out to put their ideas on tape. The group jumped into recording their EP with impassioned fervor. “It was pretty grueling.” reminisces Cobucci, “We all worked full-time jobs, so basically for about a month we would go to work, then be at the studio until 3 in the morning, then back to work at 7:30 in the morning.” The result of this diligent schedule would become the exceptional “We Are The Ones” EP. An intense and equally moving piece of work, We Are The Ones is an exciting look at a band with creativity completely flowing out of them and striving to give it a proper outlet. The first track/intro does an exceptional job of setting the tone of what’s to come while at the same time making the clearest statement possible about the hearts of the men playing the instruments. Next is Vapors- a high-energy assault right out of the gate before turning the corner with an ending of soaring vocal melodies and equally big guitar playing. The tracks following do an uncanny job of carrying the listener from one peak to an equally impressive and dynamic valley, all leading up to the closer Oh The Depths. This lead single from the EP holds a special place in the band’s heart… as well as the hearts of some lucky fans as well. Cobucci explains: “I remember once we got the gang vocals done at the end of Oh The Depths, that was really special. We wanted to build a sense of community within the sound of it, so we posted on our Twitter and Facebook that if anyone wanted to come sing on our record to come on down. We posted it only about an hour before we wanted to track it, but there were over 30 people that showed up to sing. It was really special.” This moment tops off a piece of work filled with an amount of urgency and feeling so big, that it can’t help but shine through.
Looking forward to the future, Cobucci says the band is anticipating going different directions with their craft. “We are extremely proud of our EP, but we are all about our music progressing. It’s not fair for the listener for us to keep doing the same thing with different chords. We are really looking forward to getting into a legitimate studio and working with people who are really going to push us.” Already having music in the works for the future doesn’t dampen the excitement that the band has to finally be able to showcase We Are The Ones on a bigger scale though, via a re-release from Solid State Records. “We got an email from Solid State and we didn’t think it was real. We thought it was a mass email telling us to buy new albums or something.
We couldn’t be more excited to be part of the family.” The chance to have a more widespread audience and be able to spread their message to a growing number of people is something that couldn’t come soon enough for these 5 Ohio natives. With a tone that can’t hope to hide his excitement, Cobucci exclaims: “We just want to get on the road! We just want to get out there and support the EP as much as possible.”
When the perfect group of people come together with an idea to create something, something bigger than themselves, something beyond any one of them individually, extraordinary things can happen. Something extraordinary has happened…in the form of Wolves at the Gate… and they’re just getting started
