Royal Bliss

Hard rock band Royal Bliss formed in 1997 in Salt Lake City, Utah when guitarist Chris Harding met singer Neal Middleton at a Middleton solo gig. The band played and toured constantly in the Salt Lake area, building a solid fan base, finally settling on a lineup that included Middleton on vocals, Harding, and Taylor Richards on guitar, Jake Smith on drums, and Tommy Gunn on bass. The group released the seven-song CD Free Again in 1998, following it up with the EP Gimmie a Little Bliss in 1999 and the full-length Old's Cool in 2001. Also appearing in 2001 was King Size, which included several fan favorites. After the Chaos was issued in 2005, and again in modified form in 2006 as After the Chaos II. Thanks to a national distribution deal and strong sales, Royal Bliss caught the attention of Capitol Records, which released Life In-Between as part of a joint collaboration between Merovingian Music and Caroline Records in 2009; that same year saw the release of an EP (Live and Acoustic in Studio A) and a holiday single ("I Just Want You (For Christmas)"). The band's next full-length studio album, Waiting Out the Storm, followed in 2012.