Extra Blue Kind

Extra Blue Kind formed almost by chance when singer/guitarist P. David Hazel, drummer Randee Eimer, guitarist David Barajas, and bass player Ryan Plew—four Indiana University students—found themselves at a house party where the booked act failed to appear. The impromptu performance went so smoothly that the quartet launched the band and soon relocated as a unit to Indianapolis in search of greater opportunities. On impulse they submitted an entry to a local radio competition; victory brought them a slot at the city’s X Fest in 2002, a recording session for the single “King of Everything,” and an opening slot for Creed in a neighboring town. The sudden attention, however, worked against them, and Extra Blue Kind’s audience quickly faded. In 2005 the group signed with Cincinnati’s Opulent Records, issued its first full-length album Tide and the Undertow, and, following the addition of guitarist Trevor Wathen and bassist Jeremy Blount, began touring in support of the record.