Sevendust

In late 1994 Vinnie Hornsby and Morgan Rose were playing in a band called Snake Nation. At one of their gigs they were supported by fellow locals Body & Soul, an R&B band fronted by Lajon. Vinnie and Morgan were subsequently blown away by Lajon's range and intensity and the immediate feeling was that if they ever hooked up with this guy the results would be amazing. So Vinnie and Morgan -- the best musicians of their kind in town -- decided to do the only thing they could do. They stole Lajon, the best singer in town, grabbed guitarists John Connolly (who at the time was playing drums for the band Peacedog) and Lee Banks, dubbed themselves Rumblefish and prepared to rock.

When it came time to find representation, Morgan and Vinnie called on an old friend, Jay Jay French, the original manager of Snake Nation and guitarist for the seemingly forever-dormant Twisted Sister. Jay Jay, now a devoted family man with a new baby girl, was enjoying a hiatus from rock 'n roll and wanted no part of it. The band, now using the name Crawlspace, persisted and persisted but to no avail, so they took drastic measures. They announced a trip to New York City and that they'd better receive some help when they got there, or else. Jay Jay broke down and helped out by booking them some gigs in January 1995, the most unusual being at famed folk club the Bitter End.

The New York trip showed not only the explosive potential of the band but also that they needed guidance. Being a twenty-year veteran of the business Jay Jay decided to take them under his wing and delicately balance a family life with a return to Rock. The band was simply just too good to say no to.

The band's first public appearance on record was with the grinding track "My Ruin" on the Mortal Kombat: More Kombat disc which exposed them to a quarter of a million fans of heavy music. Soon after the band were forced to change their name when a group on the West Coast claimed ownership of the tag Crawlspace noting that they had a few albums out already and that there was no possible way they could buy the name. There was little time left to find a name and the band struggled to find a new handle. Bassist Vinnie (Hornsby) is credited with coming up with the name Sevendust after looking through his grandmother's garage and finding a can of a plant pesticide known as "sevindust". Since then, the name has stuck.

All of these factors, combined with TVT Record's pay-for play tactics helped the band catapult into success that had never been imagined before. On May 19, 1999, SEVENDUST was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for selling over 500,000 copies of the CD.

Two years later, their album,"Home" was released. The band went out on the road again, this time headlining their own national tour. One year later, "Home" has sold more than 450,000 copies and was certified Gold by the RIAA on May 18, 2000.