It all started with a dream, and for Reaul it is becoming a reality. Reaul is reminiscent of bands such as OneRepublic, Nickelback, and Anberlin all rolled into one. The band has traveled throughout the country playing over 250 shows on a variety of different tours in the last 3 years and has now settled down to work on their new album, titled "Casino Heart" - which is slated to be released in April. The band has been working with producer Chip Znuff, of the band Enuff Z'nuff, and Grammy winning engineer, Jeff Luif (Janet Jackson, Twista) for the last several months. "We have spent over a year of literal blood, sweat, and tears writing and recording our new album and there is a lot of anticipation from us and our fans for the release of this album" states frontman Rick Connell.
The Pop/Rock group's journey has led them through a variety of places, but if one thing can be said of them, it's that they have never lacked knowing the meaning of hard work. Reaul has recently been endorsed as a national partner with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) and is planning on taking the country by storm in a Nationwide tour of walks starting this Spring continuing into the Fall. "We have an amazing group of people that we are working with. We would definitely not be able to do this without them," stated Connell.
The group's passion for JDRF was first ingnited when the band's drummer (Nate Metzler) began giving drum lessons to a boy named Ian McCollum who happened to have Type 1 Diabetes. Ian's father and mother (Mark and Cindy McCollum) who are heavily involved with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, wanted to help the band make an impact in this endeavor and began forming a relationship that has turned into a nationwide partnership between Reaul and JDRF.
Reaul was invited to perform at the first annual "Rock it to a Cure" in 2010 held in Indianapolis, Indiana as well as play for the 2010 Indianapolis JDRF Walk. The walk is held annually in Indianapolis' downtown Military Park with more than 5,000 people in attendance. Needless to say, both these events were a huge success.
"We have had our fair share of challenges, but somehow we always seem to pull through. We don't have an overnight success story and nothing has just fallen into our lap. We have a great team of people, a wonderful organization to be working with, a bus, gear, a new album, and this dream that we can 'change the world for the better' that just won't quit," states the band's drummer, Nate Metzler. "I really think this is going to be the year that we see things change on all fronts".
Artist Information
Réauls self-titled EP was released on December 11th, 2007 to online stores such as iTunes, Rhapsody, Napster, and Amazon.com. The EP was re-released in July of 2008 in Europe, Canada, Australia, and Japan. The band is currently recording a full-length album entitled "Casino Heart" slated to arrive on shelves in early 2011.
