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One of Tucson's newest and most promising cover bands, Crash Academy boasts a line-up that represents many years of playing and recording experience, from various backgrounds and styles.

Raymond Melzer was the bassist for singer/guitarist Si Jargo for 9 years. Previously, he played with Mandrake, recording a demo in 1996. Steve Young was a drummer in the Mesa/Tempe area for 6 years with bands such as the Kelly Nance Band and June Switch, with whom he recorded and released a six-song CD, Up to the Zizzwheel, in 1998. He has played both rock and country music, in studio and live situations, off-and-on, since 1988. Raymond and Steve met at work in late-2005 and decided to form a cover band, whose material would consist mainly of music from bands such as Soundgarden, Stone Temple Pilots, and Alice in Chains. They felt that there was a lack of this type of cover band in the Tucson area and saw an opportunity to fill that void.

Their initial guitarist moved to Atlanta soon after committing to the project, leaving them with the task of finding a replacement. Tony Lopez answered an ad posted to their company’s internal e-mail server and provided Raymond and Steve with copies of songs he had recorded with an original band called Blue Noon in the late 90’s. After hearing the tracks, it was quickly determined that Tony would be an excellent vocalist for the kind of music that Raymond and Steve wanted to cover. After their first rehearsal in Raymond’s living room, those expectations were confirmed.

It soon became apparent, however, that their repertoire was somewhat limited with having only one guitarist. So, they continued to put out feelers as they rehearsed on a weekly basis. An ad posted to Craig’s List was answered by Wisconsin native Rob Hill in early-2007. He had some of the same influences that the band was already tapping from and had the same thoughts concerning the absence of a cover band in the Tucson area that played this kind of music. Though this is his first time contributing to a full band effort, Rob has taken to it quickly and provides a much needed second guitar to some of the more complex songs. He was also, at the time, working as a DJ for Z104.1 in Tucson, which gave the band a valuable resource for ideas for new songs to add to their set list.

The band celebrated it's one-year anniversary in April 2008 and has been a regular at Fenderskirts and Belushe's Bar & Grill. The set list continues to grow, as does their Tucson following. Another source of information for the band is their website at www.crashacademy.com. And they always accept feedback and/or requests via their MySpace page and e-mail (info@crashacademy.com).