Grade Train The New Boy

With the recent release of Grade's latest album, Headfirst Straight To Hell, came some upsetting news for fans of the Hamilton-based band. Faced with the tough decision of staying with Grade or beginning what some would deem a "normal" lifestyle, guitarist Shawn Magill has left the band.

"I don't want to misquote what Shawn would say, but as I see it, he was just looking for something with more continuity," states singer Kyle Bishop. "He was just getting tired of this grind. You're stuck in a van for a year at a time and the only people you really know are the other four guys in the band. They're your best friends, but then you begin to hate them 'cause you're stuck with them all day every day. You wake up with them, you eat with them, you shop with them. Sean just needed to break away from it."

While the band express sorrow at losing an integral member, they are just as excited at the opportunity to work with an old friend. Picking up guitarist Kent, the band has been in some serious rehearsals before taking off around the world for two months.

Relates Bishop: "We don't have a lot of time to break Kent in, but he seems to be learning things so quickly. But it's weird, 'cause Brad (Casarin) is teaching Kent all of his parts, thinking it'll be easier to say 'Hey, play it like this,' and then Brad is learning Shawn's parts. So, everyone's learning something new I suppose."

Having all of two weeks to learn eight years worth of hardcore, Kent is up for the challenge, but he is also with an advantage, having been a Grade fan since the band's inception.

"Ya, it's kinda cool to have a fan playing in the band. He was supporting us since the start and now he's one of the fold... kind of like a real life Rock Star."