The New Left

The New Left began in rural Indiana when aspiring guitarist, singer-songwriter Kyle Cook met drummer Brett Borges and bassist John Kibler in high school. "The ‘pocket’ was instant and I knew that we had found something special in each other." (Kyle Cook) The chemistry was obvious and from that moment a unique bond was formed. "From the first note, it seemed like we were brothers." (John Kibler) The musical bond that formed in those first few rehearsals continues today despite miles and sometimes years without seeing one another. "The feeling that came from us playing together truly convinced me that music should be my life." (Brett Borges)

The band worked up a set of its own compositions and mostly covers operating under the name Downpour. The band played its share of high school proms, college frat parties, and Keg parties for a couple of years, but their tenure would soon come to an end. The trio would eventually have to separate due to Cook's approaching graduation from high school. Cook had invited the two to join him in Atlanta where he had planned to attend the Atlanta Institute of Music. However, since they had a year of high school left to finish, this would not be an immediate option for the group. The following year would prove to be enough distraction to put the members into a different mindset. Each member of the trio had to deal with his own personal circumstances. The band maintained a close friendship, but parted ways in lieu of bettering their individual crafts.

Brett enrolled at Eastern Illinois University where he studied percussion with Johnny Lee Lane for three years and later transferred to Ball State University for a brief stint. But, his passion to perform and record would soon lead him to Los Angeles where his precise technique and unique lyrical style would be put to immediate use. He played in several groups and worked on many recording sessions for jingles, demos, t.v., film and records.

John also enrolled at Ball State and went on to receive his bachelor degree in music. He then moved to the Netherlands for two years where he received a performance degree from the well-respected Utrecht Conservatory. John spent a portion of these years touring Europe and South America with Jazz groups, orchestras, and performing solo recitals. John's drive to learn eventually brought him back to the University of Michigan where he finally rounded out his already impressive education with a Masters in Music.

Kyle enrolled at the Atlanta Institute of Music where he was exposed to various styles of music. There he was able to expand his knowledge of classical music, which he had studied as a violinist well before falling in love with artists like Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin. Consequently, like Brett, his desire to begin an immediate career in writing and performing Rock n’ Roll made the school's condensed one-year program the perfect environment for his development. Upon graduation, Cook was quickly introduced to producer Matt Serletic who was searching for guitarists for one of his groups called Tabitha's Secret. Cook was impressed by the songwriting and production. Shortly thereafter, Matt flew Kyle to an audition in Orlando where he was soon offered the job. This group later became Matchbox 20, which to date has had three multi-platinum records and a string of number one hits.

The trio started writing material in between Cook's rigorous touring schedule and began working on several demos with legendary engineer-producer Eddie Kramer. The songs were good and the potential was there, but the band couldn't help feeling like there was still something missing. In turn, they scrapped most of these recordings. That missing something was guitarist and singer songwriter Eamon Ryland, a friend of Brett’s.

Eamon grew up in Topanga, California, a haven for eclectic music. Nestled in the mountains, it has been home to many artists such as Little Feat, Jackson Brown, and Neil Young. Eamon was raised in a musical home. His father was manager for the iconoclastic Captain Beefheart, and he also worked with talents like Ry Cooder and Arlo Guthrie. These beautiful surroundings and colorful musical influences developed in Eamon a love for many unique and wonderfully bizarre instruments, as well as guitar. His first musical group was a free form jug band, and he studied Sarod with world-renowned Indian music teacher Sri Aloke Lahiri. Eamon would prove to compliment the band's love of various styles of music in ways that had not before been realized.”Once I heard the musicianship and songwriting I felt like this could be my home.” (Eamon Ryland)

The New Left, with the addition of Eamon's guitar playing, vocals, and songwriting, now felt complete, and the band began work on a new batch of material at Cook's personal studio in Orlando. Three years in the making, the band has finally completed their first EP, "Let Go" containing six songs from these sessions. The EP is scheduled to be released on Oct. 29th and will be available on thenewleft.com and at all scheduled New Left tour dates this fall.