Rosemary Gates History

Early 1996: Ball State University students Jim Stocks and Jason Sheets discover they share a common interest; guitar. The two hook up and begin writing music.

Jim’s high school buddy and Purdue University student, Christian Schult, shows up on the Ball State campus to visit some friends. Chris sits in on a jam session. The three decide to form a band.

The newly formed band records acoustic versions of a handful of songs at Erickson Studios in Cincinnati, OH.

Jim recalls another high school buddy, Jerry Foust, who plays the drums. Jerry, in between classes at Indiana Purdue University Fort Wayne, makes his way to Ball State to jam with the group.

Jason suggests a name for the band; “The Gates,” a reference to the epic poem, Dante’s “Inferno.”

After some productive writing sessions with Jerry on drums, the band enters Soundmill Studios in Fort Wayne to record. The band combines the Cincy demos with the completed Soundmill cuts and releases its first EP, aptly titled “Dehmoe.”

The band begins accepting gigs. At the band’s first performance at a fraternity event at Ball State University, Jim Stocks introduces the band as “Rosemary Gates.” “Rosemary” is a reference to a Lenny Kravitz song of the same name. Jim later states, “the two just sounded cool together.”

Late 1996: As the band plays out and accepts more gigs, it becomes apparent that they need a full-time bass player. Aaron Sprowl (Black Tooth Grin, Sfumato) fills in on bass while the band looks for a permanent member. High school friend Jim Thornton (Lost Cause) introduces the band to his bassist, Scott “Fish” Jackson (The Cancelled, Lost Cause, Sorry Losers Freak Club, Moodswing). Lost Cause is in hibernation while guitarist Michael Archbold is in Bloomington, IN attending college. Fish joins Rosemary Gates.

May 1997: Chris, Jim, Jerry, Jason, and Fish perform their “final” show. After graduating college, Christian moves to Seattle, WA, to become a forester and Jason Sheets gets married and accepts a job in Dayton, OH. Fish leaves and forms a new band, Moodswing, with Fort Wayne musicians Laura Marenco (Laura Marenco) and Noah Golden (Wailhounds). Jim and Jerry look to form a new band.

Summer 1997: Jim is introduced to Michael Archbold (The Cancelled, Lost Cause) through Scott “Fish” Jackson. Dissatisfied with the direction of Lost Cause, Fish and Mike decide to join Jerry and Jim to form a new band.

September 1997: Christian shows up on Jim’s doorstep wanting to re-form Rosemary Gates. Chris, Jim, Mike, and Fish meet at Jerry’s apartment to discuss the future of Rosemary Gates. RG is re-born.

November 1997: The new Rosemary Gates debuts at Billy’s USA in Fort Wayne opening for Moodswing.

1998: The band starts playing regularly in the Fort Wayne area amassing an ever-growing fan base, dubbed the band’s “Friends.” The “Friends” display rabid loyalty following the band to shows as far away as Nashville, TN. The band frequents Legends Sports Bar in Fort Wayne.

February 1999: The band enters Eagle Recording Studios in Angola, IN, to record their newest song. The band emerges with their second EP, “Shining Rain,” including two live cuts from their 1/29/99 show at Legends Sports Bar, “Proud” and “Rewind.” The EP is completely self-produced (i.e. lots of CDR’s and printer cartridges). “Shining Rain” sells all 50 copies in one night. “Shining Rain receives limited radio play on Extreme 96.3 FM.

March 1999: The band plays the Midwest Original Music Showcase (MOMS) at Columbia Street West, in Fort Wayne to a record Tuesday night crowd.

April 1999: The band opens for V2 recording artists Blessid Union of Souls in Nashville, TN. The band befriends the Blessid Union boys and is asked to open again for them in September 1999 in RG’s home Town of Fort Wayne, IN.

July 1999: The band opens for classic rockers Bachman Turner Overdrive in front of a 3 Rivers Festival crowd of over 4000.

Fall 1999: The band enters Soundmill Studios and begins laying tracks for what will become the band’s first full length album, “Shine.”

Day After Thanksgiving 1999: The band plays its first weekend show at Columbia Street West to a capacity crowd.

December 1999: The band’s song “Proud” (recorded at Anthem Sound in Fort Wayne) is included on Extreme 96.3 FM’s Essentials vol. 3 local music compilations CD.

Early 2000: Scott “Fish” Jackson announces his departure from RG citing a desire to complete his college education. In the middle of heavy scheduling and recording a new album, the band begins the difficult task of finding a replacement.

February 2000: Local musician Brian Lemert (Tastes Like Chicken, The Elvis and Hammer Band, Gypsy Circus) introduces the band to Bryan “B-Funk” Bankson (Radio Daze, Gypsy Circus, Jimmy’s Nickel), who has just returned to Fort Wayne after extensive touring with nationally renowned cover band, Radio Daze. Although initially content to give up music altogether, B-Funk decides to join Rosemary Gates after hearing some of the band’s demo work. B would later comment, “Their songs were well written and genuine. They didn’t sound like a local band.”

April 2000: After only being in the band a matter of weeks, B-funk joins the band in the studio to complete he recording of “Shine.”

August 5, 2000: RG plays its 50^th show at Checkerz in Fort Wayne, IN.

October 26, 2000: “Shine” is officially released to critical acclaim. The band celebrates its release with a CD Release Party at Columbia Street West. The band plays to a standing-room-only capacity crowd.

December 2000: The band’s first single “Free” is chosen to appear on 96.3 FM’s Extreme Essentials vol. 4. The band is invited to play the CD Release Party with other local artists appearing on the highly acclaimed compilation. In order to promote the CD, Extreme 96.3 gives “Free” radio airtime. This decision begins a chain of events that would propel the band to unimagined heights.

January 2001: 96.3 FM in Fort Wayne puts “Free” into heavy rotation, spinning the song 60+ times per week.

Succumbing to the pressures that come with success, long time drummer, Jerry Foust makes the difficult decision to leave Rosemary Gates, citing personal and family obligations. Riding the success of Shine, the band scrambles to find a drummer. Former Humanity percussionist, Charley Shirmeyer is quickly auditioned and is brought on full time.

February 2001: “Free” enters the station’s Alternative 9 at 9 where it remains for 19 weeks, holding the top spot for 2 weeks.

Spring/Summer 2001: “Free” explodes garnering airtime on local radio (Rock 104, Extreme 96.3, 98.9 The Bear) and abroad (Cincinnati, Atlanta, Houston, and New Mexico). Massive radio play and rising sales garner the band label attention from such giants as Universal, Atlantic, Epic, Lava, and Dream Works among others.

Summer 2001: Shine sells 1000 albums in 20 weeks. A second run is ordered. When all is said and done, “Shine” sells over 1400 discs (nearly one out of every 100 people in the Fort Wayne area owns a copy of “Shine.”

July 2001: The band opens for National Recording Artists, Fuel in front of a home crowd over 5000. Many consider this to be the band’s pinnacle performance.

The band heads back to Soundmill studios to begin laying tracks to their next record.

August 2001: Extreme 96.3 releases the band’s second single, “Shining Rain” which garners more record sales and label attention.

August 18, 2001: RG plays its 100^th show at the Time Out Inn in North Manchester, IN.

September 2001: The band is contacted by WMEE 97.3 in Fort Wayne. They are told that the station has tested the song “Fallen” on their evening radio show and are prepared to release the band’s third single into regular rotation on pop radio.

September 11, 2001: The world is changed forever. In a sweeping change of focus, the world reassesses its priorities. With attentions focused on matters of more importance, the RG train begins to slow.

December 2001: The band’s song “Home Again” (recorded at Soundmill Studios in Fort Wayne) is included on X102.3 FM’s Essentials vol. 5 local music compilations CD.

December 31, 2001: The band plays New Year’s Eve at Columbia Street West. Mike plays the show despite having had tonsil surgery only three days before. This show marks the 65^th performance of Rosemary Gates in 2001.

January 2002: Feeling the burn out effects of 65 shows and endless promotions, long time guitarist Michael Archbold decides to step down. The band carries on as a four-piece.

The band reduces its heavy touring schedule of ’01, playing less than 20 shows in 2002.

December 2002: The band’s song “Lady” (recorded at Soundmill Studios in Fort Wayne) is included on X102.3 FM’s Essentials vol. 6 local music compilations CD.

Winter 2002: Charley, B-funk, Christian, and Jim decide to put RG into hibernation while the members recuperate from non-stop touring and promotions the last six years.

Early 2003: Not willing to forego music entirely, the members embark on different musical projects. Jim becomes a studio guitarist for a local Fort Wayne band. B-Funk goes back to school to seek a degree in music. Charley and Christian form an all-acoustic group called Tres.

Spring/Summer 2003: Club Inc. in Fort Wayne wanting the band to re-form and play their beer tents in June and July contacts Christian. Chris makes some phone calls and the band agrees to re-form the entire line-up for these shows. Even with little and no advertising, the band’s performances draw capacity crowds and turn out to be the only profitable two nights for the tent.

Summer 2003: Reeling from the recent success of their summer performances, Charley, Mike, B-Funk, Jim, and Christian decide to re-form and begin playing regularly. The band books shows at Columbia Street West in September, October, and December.

2004: Content with playing music together and earning money, the band plays a total of twelve shows averaging one gig per month… a far cry from the 5.4 gigs per month averaged in 2001.

March 11, 2005: Rosemary Gates returns to the studio for the first time in five years, laying drum and bass tracks for the rest of the songs on the band’s long awaited follow up to their 2000 debut album Shine. The band records with long time engineer Neal Parnin of Ozone Recording Company. The band plans to lay drum and bass tracks at Ozone and finish vocals and guitars at their newly christened King James Studios in Fort Wayne. They plan to return to Ozone to mix and master.

April 2005: After 9½ years, guitarist and founding member James Stocks decides to step down. The band decides to carry on as a four-piece.

May 2005: The band launches a new ad campaign with the help of local graphic artist Corey T. Wilson of Twignificant.com. The first poster in the set features the band members dressed as Jedi and dawning the heading of “Revenge of the Gates,” in parody of George Lucas’s final Star Wars movie, “Revenge of the Sith” due in theaters 5/19.

May 7, 2005: Jim plays his last show with the band at Fox Island’s Sol Fest 2005.

May 14, 2005: After a 4-year hiatus from Decatur, IN, RG returns to play Skybox Sports and Spirits to a capacity crowd, marking its first performance as a four-piece since Jim’s departure.

January 2006: The band decides to play out the rest of their scheduled performances and take the spring and summer off to complete the album.

July 2006: Mixing and Master is completed on the yet-to-be titled second album. Next up, art work and reproduction.

August 2006: Long time drummer Charley Shirmeyer leaves the band to pursue business opportunities and family obligations. Charley’s fun loving attitude and easy going demeanor is sorely missed. The band hires Chuck “Animal” Thomas (Jacob’s Well, The Migranes) as a temporary replacement. Chuck and Mike were co-founders of the Christian rock group Jacob’s Well.

September 2006: Co-Producer and Sweetwater Engineer, Chris Liepe, joins the band on guitar and vocals. The band is a five-piece again, though for only a short time.

December 2006: Myth & Judgment is released to a capacity crowd at Columbia Street West in Fort Wayne. The CD gains critical acclaim by local media outlets.

January 2007: Chuck Thomas, Chris Liepe, and Rosemary Gates go their separate ways. Liepe continues on at Sweetwater Sound. Chuck tries his hand at several different hard core and freak rock groups trying to find his niche before ending up back in Jacob’s Well later in the year.

February 2007: The band begins the search for a permanent replacement at drummer. Their search takes them to fellow Fort Wayne Rocker, Greg “The Hammer” Titzer (Scream Machine, The Migranes) who directs the band’s attention to fellow Scream Machine drummer John Tingley. The band and John mesh almost immediately. John provides the solid groove based drumming the band has been missing for sometime.

March – December 2007: The band only plays a handful of shows as they work John into the mix and begin writing new material for the band’s third full length album.

January 2008: Myth & Judgment is nominated for a Whammy award for best Rock Album of 2007. The band is invited to play at the awards show celebrating local art and music.

February 2008: Myth & Judgment wins the Whammy for Best Rock Release of 2007. It is the band’s second award. They also took the Whammy for Best Original Band in 2001. The band is very proud of these accomplishments as they represent local original music in a climate where cover music rules the day.

2008: The band picks up the pace playing 15 shows in 2008. In the middle of writing sessions for the new album, Christian convinces the band to shelf the new album in favor of an acoustic album with re-interpretations of old RG standards, some unreleased material from the band’s early years, and one or two new originals.

March 2008: The band rents out an abandoned warehouse and hires Arson Digital Productions to film the bands first video shoot. The bands compiles footage for six songs from the Myth & Judgment album.

September 2008: The band releases its first video for the Myth & Judgment song, Broken Waves. It is the first in a series of videos the band plans to complete for Myth & Judgment including documentary footage for a yet-to-be released DVD.

October - December 2008: The band takes the winter off to continue working on the acoustic album, newly titled, Chasing Time.

And the saga continues…