Newly-formed in the Spring of 2014, and hailing from New York, is the blues-rock outfit WAKE THE SUN. Vocalist and rhythm guitarist Dillon Mealey, bassist Jeff Alvarado, keyboardist John Creighton, and lead guitarist and background vocalist Tom Perrotta are collectively influenced by acid-washed blues-driven rock of the 1970′s (Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix) and more mainstream rock of today (The Black Keys, Cage the Elephant). WAKE THE SUN is a little bit southern stomp, a little bit of early Black Crowes and a dash of NYC grittiness all rolled into one seamless sound. The new single for “Grace and Faith,” from the band’s self titled EP, is a sonic crusher. From the moment the fuzz of the opening bass line hits the song never relents on the intensity. Mealey’s vocals soar over the top of this baller with a melodic ferocity in the vein of that simultaneously juxtaposes the weight of the riffs as well as complimenting them by occupying its own sonic space. According to the band, the message is all about “rising above,” and the different ways that overcoming diversity can be manifested. For the new “Grace and Faith” video, the band knew that they would need to craft a clip that works with the crushing music as well as the uplifting message of the lyrics. In order to achieve this the band teamed with Anthony Cupo and the team at Rust Films. The band says “We wanted to share some vivid examples of pivotal life-changing moments that are darkened by challenges, and show that those challenges can be handed to us by others, or that we might even create those challenges from within ourselves. Sometimes people ‘rise above’ a conflict very publicly with all kinds of obvious support from important people in their lives, but sometimes people rise above much more quietly and privately. The message in this piece is that neither victory is a bigger success than the other.” In a brilliant stroke of creativity, they set the video through the eyes of children, a time in life that everyone can relate to when changes and challenges were a part of daily life. It also shows that many of us have probably stood tall and overcome diversity in our lives even when may not have even realized it.