| Formed in Philadelphia, PA in 1987 with original band members Reggie Wu (guitars, keyboards), Mark Evans (vocals), David Rath (drums), Steven Parry (guitars) and George G.G. Guidotti (bass), Heavens Edge immediately began performing on the local club circuit and surrounding areas. Gigging at well-known venues in the rock and metal scene in Philly such as The Empire Rock Club, The Galaxy, and The Trocadero, with nearby prestigious venues Hammerjacks (Baltimore, MD) and the 9:30 Club (Washington, D.C.) becoming regular stops for the group, the band began smashing attendance records and rapidly gaining the attention of local press and radio. The European press started to take note as well, with Metal Forces Magazine publishing features on the band’s building notoriety and Japan’s world famous Burrn! Magazine giving them significant coverage as well.
While the 80’s metal scene was in full swing, the greater Philadelphia, PA/New Jersey region had already produced mega-acts such as Bon Jovi, Cinderella, Skid Row, and Britny Fox and labels were on the hunt for exactly what Heavens Edge was delivering. In a flurry of label activity from all the major players in the rock world, Heavens Edge secured a recording agreement with Columbia Records. Unfortunately, soon after the band was signed, a crazed gunman entered a club the band was playing in and randomly opened fire, striking bass player George G.G. Guidotti. G.G. was hospitalized and required months of rehabilitation to get back into playing shape. All of this delayed the commencement of the album recording for months and slowed the band’s momentum.
With G.G. on the mend, Heavens Edge entered the studio in the fall of 1989 and recorded their self-titled debut album with producer Neil Kernon (Dokken, Queensrÿche, Judas Priest). Well received tracks like “Skin To Skin”, “Find Another Way”, and “Play Dirty” were all included and in keeping with their reputation for exciting live shows, a live recording of the song “Is That All You Want” was added to the album. [This track was originally recorded during a live radio broadcast on the powerhouse local Philly FM rock station WMMR.] With album artwork and a music video for the first single “Skin To Skin” ready to go, Columbia Records released the album in the spring of 1990. The reviews were immediately favorable and the band hit the road with dates in Los Angeles, Boston, Baltimore, and many others. Heavens Edge was added to the Ronnie James Dio/Yngwie Malmsteen tour, culminating with a seminal performance at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.
The next few years for Heavens Edge saw significant changes. The band was yet another victim of the well-documented shift in popular music tastes of the early ’90s and made a label move from Columbia to Capitol Records, as well a guitarist change from Steve Parry to Jimmy Marchiano, all of which led to uncertainty within the group. Live audiences still supported the band, but the industry at large seemed ready to move on from the entire culture that preceded the new era of baby-boomer-influenced dark rock music.
After some time seeking their place in a shrinking market, the band called it quits in 1993. Each of the band members pursued various music ventures. Reggie, George and David teamed up with vocalist Shawn Carmen and formed the band American Pie. Jimmy Marchiano joined Dean Davidson’s (Britny Fox) new band Black Eyed Suzan. Steven linked up with Tangier vocalist Bill Mattson to form Mattson/Parry. Mark played several solo acoustic shows in European markets and midwestern US cities. None of these ventures achieved the same level of success as Heavens Edge.
Though not formally together, the band inked a deal in 1998 with European label MTM and US label Perris Records and released demos and other rarities considered the band’s second album ‘Some Other Place, Some Other Time’. This album includes previously unreleased self-titled album B-sides “Rock Steady Rock” and “Just Another Fire” along with songs “Jacky” and “Some Other Place”, which were recorded as demos for Capital Records.The next twenty years of activity for the band was not much more than the occasional benefit performance or appearance by an individual band member at various events.
This was all until 2013’s official reunion show with the original line up at Firefest in Nottingham, UK. The event proved so successful that the guys continued the live show momentum with performances on The Monsters Of Rock Cruise, the Melodic Rock Festival in Chicago, and main-stage sets at M3 in the Baltimore, MD area.
They soon returned to their home market with sold-out headline shows at the legendary TLA, Trocadero, and World Café Live.Then tragedy struck again with the diagnosis of lung cancer for G.G. in 2019. He sadly passed away in August of that same year. The band assumed they would never play as Heavens Edge again.It wasn’t until bassist Jaron Gulino (Tantric, Mach 22) and Mark Evans became acquainted that the idea of continuing as Heavens Edge became a reality. Jaron rehearsed with the group and immediately locked in with the band. A live performance with the band on The Monsters Of Rock Cruise soon followed and Heavens Edge now officially had a new member in Gulino.
Now that the band was intact and the audiences were turning up, it was again time for the band to draw the attention of record companies. In 2022, Heavens Edge signed a new global recording deal with Frontiers Music Srl and will release their first studio album in twenty-five years in 2023, ‘Get It Right’. |
