Howard Kern Day (born January 15, 1981 in Bangor, Maine) is an American singer-songwriter. Beginning his career as a solo artist in the late 1990s, Day became known for his extensive touring and in-concert use of samplers and effects pedals in order to accompany himself. He self-financed and self-released his first album, Australia, in 2000.

Day signed to the major label Epic Records in 2002 and has since re-released his debut as well as producing a follow up, Stop All The World Now. Despite initially sluggish sales, Stop All The World Now was certified gold in early 2005 and has produced a number of singles, including "Collide", Day's most successful to date.

Day has received significant negative attention over two high profile arrests. In 2004, Day was arrested and charged over an incident in which he was accused of locking a fan in the bathroom of his tour bus and destroying the cellular phone of another, for which he was fined. In December 2005, Day was arrested in Boston after reportedly verbally abusing the flight crew while under the influence of alcohol and sleeping pills. He was sentenced to one year's probation on April 26, 2006.

Biography

Early years

Born and raised in Brewer, Maine, Howie Day began to play music at age five when his mother bought a piano at an auction. When Day's mother noticed that her son was able to play by ear tunes of television advertising jingles, she enrolled him in piano lessons, which he would continue for six years.

At around age 13, Howie's interest drifted toward rock music and the electric guitar. Day's father bought his son a Fender Stratocaster and enrolled him in basic vocal training. Howie made his first stage appearance in August 1996 at his parent's Bangor restaurant Captain Nick's. Day played in a local band called Route 66 throughout 1997 and made sporadic solo appearances in local venues until booking agent Shawn Radley discovered him the following year while Day was supporting Ziggy Marley at the University of Maine. Radley became Day's manager in June 1998, and Howie began touring more extensively, leading him to miss 45 days of school and to almost fail his senior year. At some point in 1998, Howie recorded his first demo EP, which contained covers of songs by Dave Matthews Band, Barenaked Ladies, and Goo Goo Dolls alongside the originals "Buzzing" and "Lick My Lips". This EP was followed later in 1998 by another demo consisting wholly of Day's originals.

On the strength of these performances and demos, Radley secured Howie a showcase at the annual National Association of Campus Activities conference, where he played for 1,500 college talent buyers. Having received around four months of bookings at colleges around the United States, Day decided to defer attending university in favour of his burgeoning music career.

Stop All The World Now and beyond: 2003 to present

After the EP's release, Day relocated to London, England to record Australia's follow up, which was provisionally titled From a Northern Sky [1]. The album, which would eventually become Stop All The World Now, was recorded in London's famous Olympic Studios with Martin "Youth" Glover, the bassist for British band Killing Joke, whose previous production credits included The Verve's Urban Hymns, one of Howie's favorite albums.

While certain tracks on Australia had featured session musicians, Stop All The World Now saw Howie joined for the first time by a permanent backing band, consisting of multi-instrumentalist Les Hall, drummer Laurie Jenkins and ex-Verve bassist Simon Jones. In addition, the majority of the album's songs were co-written with either Better than Ezra frontman Kevin Griffin or Jump Little Children's Jay Clifford.

circa 2004. © Justin Pugh.]]A full band tour to promote Stop All The World Now began on September 27, 2003. Due to other commitments, Simon Jones was unable to tour with the group and was replaced by Jeremy Curtis. The album was released one week and three days later on October 7 to tepid critical reactions. Rolling Stone's Pat Blashill referred to Stop as "not bad" but "indistinct," but Popmatters' Devon Powers noted that though Australia had been an album one falls for passionately, "Stop All the World Now is an album you have a crush on, not one you fall deeply, complexly, and foolishly in love with. And crushes have a way of disappearing suddenly, without a trace."

On March 26, 2004, while touring behind Stop, Day was arrested in Madison, Wisconsin, for allegedly locking a woman, Alexandra Smith, in the bathroom of a tour bus after she refused his sexual advances. According to the complainant, he then broke the cell phone of another woman, Alison, who tried to call police. On August 31, 2004, Howie pled no contest to the charge of disorderly conduct and was ordered to pay a fine of $200 and to write a letter of apology to complainant Alison. A second charge, that of criminal damage to property, was dismissed by the court.

Sales of Stop were initially sluggish, but slowly began to rise beginning in late 2004 with the single release of ballad "Collide," which became a popular radio hit and was featured on TV shows such as Scrubs, Grey's Anatomy, Bones and One Tree Hill as well as soundtracking a promotional trailer for the 2005 film adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice. Stop was finally certified gold in early 2005. Fan favourite "She Says," which was first released on 1998's White EP, was released the followup to "Collide," though as of 2006 it has not achieved the same success.

Boosted by the slow burning success of Stop All The World Now, Epic released the Live From... EP on December 6, 2005. The 7-track EP contains live renditions of songs from Australia and Stop All The World Now as well as a cover of Crowded House's "Don't Dream It's Over." The EP has not been widely reviewed, though the All Music Guide referred to the release as "holiday market product," "tepid" and "directionless."

On December 22, 2005, Day was arrested at Boston's Logan International Airport on charges of "interfering with a flight crew." According to the complaint, Day had taken a sleeping pill and consumed several alcoholic beverages, then allegedly became verbally abusive towards the flight crew and began kicking the seats of other passengers. According to the Suffolk County District Attorney's office, Day also smoked a cigarette in the airplane's bathroom in violation of FAA rules. On December 23, Day pleaded not guilty to the charges in East Boston District Court and on April 26, 2006, was sentenced to one year of probation. As conditions of his probation, Day must write letters of apology to the crew and his fellow passengers as well as attending an alcohol counseling program.

In April and May of 2007 it was reported by Day's publicist that he had been attending a rehab program. There he met Britney Spears, which resulted in brief news publicity. Day has finished recording his next album with several studio tracks having leaked privately among fans. A release date has not been set and Day's plans for the next year remain unknown.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Singles and EPs

References

External links

• The Official Howie Day website
• HowieFan.com - News, Forums, Full Discography and Setlist Archive
• The Howie Day UK site
• Howie Day's Myspace

1981 birthsMaine musiciansLiving peopleAmerican male singersAmerican pop singersAmerican singer-songwritersAmerican rock guitarists

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