DROWNING POOL has been rejoined by singer Ryan McCombs
Metal Edge reports that the longtime SOIL vocalist will play his first concerts back with DROWNING POOL on Friday, March 17 (at Club L.A. in Destin, Florida, with ADELITA’S WAY and OTHERWISE), and Saturday, March 18, headlining the inaugural Throwdown At The Campground festival in Fruitland Park, Florida.
McCombs first joined DROWNING POOL in 2005, appearing on two of the band’s studio albums, “Full Circle” (2007) and “Drowning Pool” (2010). He also performed on the band’s 2009’s live album “Loudest Common Denominator“. He split with DROWNING POOL in 2011 to rejoin SOIL.
Metal Edge reports that Ryan will still front SOIL along with DROWNING POOL moving forward.
McCombs says of his return: “When I stepped away from music back in 2004, I only got back into the mix because it was with [DROWNING POOL members] C.J., Stephen and Mike, and because it was also a way for me to be a small part of keeping their music with Dave [late DROWNING POOL vocalist Dave Williams] alive”.
He continued: “Just being back in the same room together after so many years, gearing up for these shows, was a quick reminder as to why I considered them to be my best friends in the business back in the day. As everyone living life can attest to, sometimes our days can get messy — but in the words of one Dave Williams, ‘Everything happens for reasons, I just don’t know…’ Some of the greatest moments in my career came about as a member of DP and I’m really thankful for the opportunity to perform with them once again.”
Added drummer Mike Luce: “I’m very happy that SOIL and DROWNING POOL are in a spot now where we not only co-exist, but are close enough as friends to move forward together. We support and respect each other enough for us to make sure they can keep doing what they do, and for them to allow us to revisit a bunch of these cool tunes we played a decade-plus ago, with the singer who we viewed as the archetype after Dave passed. We can’t wait to get onstage together again and see where this leads.”
“It’s exciting as hell having Ryan McCombs rocking out with us again,” said guitarist C.J. Pierce. “It’s been 13 years since the last time we were in a rehearsal room together, and from the second we hit that first note it was like we never skipped a beat. I’ve never felt such a connection as musicians, true friends and family as I do with Mike, Stevie and Ryan. I can’t wait to share the stage together again.”
“Never say never,” said bassist Stevie Benton. “It’s hard to believe it’s been over 10 years since we shared a stage with Ryan. I think, deep down, we always knew this reunion would happen.”
McCombs’s SOIL bandmates: “Ryan has extensive history with both SOIL and DROWNING POOL, so when the opportunity arose for him to move forward as the singer of both bands, we knew we could make it work together. Both bands aren’t kids anymore, and we’ve all grown as people, mended past hard feelings, and are approaching the 25-year marks. Ryan wants to work. He wants to tour and play as much as possible, and this allows him to do that. As Dave Williams said just days before his passing, ‘Anywhere there is electricity for DP and SOIL to play together, let’s do it…'”
DROWNING POOL‘s last album arrived in September via T-Boy/UMe. It marked the band’s third album with singer Jasen Moreno, who joined DROWNING POOL in 2012.
DROWNING POOL touched on their split with Moreno in a social media post yesterday (March 16), writing: “We appreciate everyone asking about Jasen. We can’t speak for him but we believe he was just ready to move on to other things in life. Maybe he will make a statement. Maybe he won’t. Regardless, we wish him the best.”
