Taylormade A Taylor-Made Christmas CD

Their catchy breed of high energy, melody conscious rock is a pleasant addition to Chico's diverse sound. The quartet consists of Brian Chamlee (drums), Gray Harris (bass & vocals), Jay Darden (guitar & vocals), and Josh Funk (lead vocals & guitar). Funk, Darden and their original bassist/friend Jackson Shedd formed The Farewell Letter from a roster of old friends that slowly filtered back to Chico after experiencing life abroad (Chamlee lived in Utah for a spell, Harris did a stint in the Army Reserves). Drawing from many sources, including our own prolific local scene, the group has forged a sound raw with emotion and bursting to the rim with exciting youthful energy. "I remember growing up, we'd come downtown every Saturday, skateboard down here and check out bands at night," says Funk, fresh from Tower with the latest Jimmy Eat World album. "I remember the music scene was a lot smaller then and i just wanted to be a part of it."Perhaps the lack of youth-oriented centers like amusement parks, miniature golf courses and drive-ins convinced kids to pick up instruments in order to have a good time. Maybe there's something in the water. I don't know for sure, but the immense pool of talent that feeds the music youth of Chico is simply awesome. We have more bad ass musicians per capita than most industry-friendly metropolitan areas, all raised on fantastic local groups like Pitchfork Tuning, Deathstar and The iMPs."I think the iMPS kind of influenced me to want to play - it was pretty cool to watch them.""Funk, a locally ...