Royal Bliss

Self-described crafters of "heartland rock," the hard rock outfit Royal Bliss came together in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1997 after guitarist Chris Harding crossed paths with vocalist Neal Middleton during one of Middleton’s solo performances. Constant regional gigs and tours throughout the Salt Lake vicinity helped the group cultivate a loyal following, and the roster eventually stabilized with Middleton handling vocals, Harding and Taylor Richards sharing guitar duties, Jake Smith behind the drums, and Tommy Gunn on bass.

Their debut, the seven-song collection Free Again, surfaced in 1998; the EP Gimmie a Little Bliss arrived the following year, and the full-length Old’s Cool landed in 2001. Also issued that same year was King Size, home to several tracks that would later rank among fan favorites. After the Chaos appeared in 2005 and resurfaced the next year in altered form as After the Chaos II.

A national distribution arrangement and robust sales drew Capitol Records’ interest, prompting the label to issue Life In-Between in 2009 through a partnership involving Merovingian Music and Caroline Records; the album marked the band’s first entry on the Billboard 200. That year also brought the EP Live and Acoustic in Studio A alongside the holiday single “I Just Want You (For Christmas).” The subsequent studio albums—Waiting Out the Storm in 2012 and Chasing the Sun in 2014—both emerged on the band’s own Air Castle imprint.

After years of steady touring and several personnel shifts, Royal Bliss moved to Nashville, Tennessee, seeking a new beginning for their next project. Bolstered by the finger-picking style of recent addition Sean Hennesy on guitar and banjo, the ensuing material leaned more heavily into country elements while preserving the group’s hard-rock edge. The self-released Truth EP arrived in 2016 with Middleton, Richards, Smith, Hennesy, and bassist Dwayne Crawford comprising the lineup.