Royal Bliss is one Utah-based rock band that has exploded because of its talent with plenty of bad luck to hold them back. Royal Bliss plays at Cane’s on March 28. While no drummers have exploded yet, (think the film “Spinal Tap,”) the band has survived its string of bad luck. Formed in 1997, Royal Bliss recorded four albums before things began to go awry. In 2004, lead singer Neal Middleton was paralyzed after a fall from a balcony. The band, featuring guitarists Taylor Richards and Chris Harding, bassist Tommy Gunn and drummer Jake Smith, decided to continue once Middleton sufficiently recovered, diving straight into the recording of their fifth album, “After the Chaos.” Unfortunately their career took another hit when, midway through the sessions, Smith rolled his car five times. Almost concurrently, Harding suffered a major facial injury while skiing. These obstacles had to be overcome, as Middleton couldn’t imagine his life without making music. “Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve loved singing. I’d sing in the car; I’d sing in the shower,” he laughed. He made his first public performance as a preteen singing “Zippity Doo Dah.” As much as Middleton enjoyed vocalizing, the catalyst for his career was learning to play the guitar. “When I wrote my first song and got some things off my chest, that was the best feeling ever,” he said. “It made me think, I’m going to do this for the rest of my life.” While most groups are ready to do anything, including moving their home base to one of the coasts, Middleton maintains Royal Bliss has always wanted to do things on their own terms. “Our goal was never to sign a major deal,” he said. “We didn’t want to be a band that approached the majors or moved to L.A. or New York to get signed,” he said. Instead Royal Bliss opted to build a fan base by touring and releasing six independent albums. Upon the release of “After The Chaos,” the band upped the ante and hired radio promotion. The move worked, and the CD’s first single, “Devils and Angels,” charted the radio throughout the Midwest. It generated major label interest. Before long labels were flying to the band’s home base in Salt Lake City in a bidding war. Royal Bliss eventually signed with Capitol Records, resulting in their latest album “Life In Between.” Currently on tour supporting Candlebox, Middleton admits that in his darkest hour he briefly considered giving up music. “There were a few moments,” he said. “I asked myself, ‘Is it time to quit?’” He’s still proud that the band rose to the challenge. “Those events just pulled us together,” he continued. “I knew I had to get back on that stage. That’s the only thing we have. We don’t have a college background or anything else to fall back on. So I knew, I’ve got to get out of that wheelchair.” Having been through so much together, he acknowledges the quintet now has a special bond. “Anyone that is successful has hard times in their lives,” Middleton pointed out. “I looked at it like that and thought ‘let’s use this to bring us together,’ and it really did.” Royal Bliss perform at Cane’s, 3105 Ocean Front Walk, on Saturday, March 28 at 8 p.m. For more information visit www.canesbarandgrill.com.
