Proto is a six-member

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

band, originally from

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Mem ...

, which moved to

Chattanooga Chattanooga ( ) is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Tennessee River and borders Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the south. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, it is Tennessee ...

(

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

) in January 2003, after recording their first EP release with new label Torrent Records LLC. Shaun West and J. Mark Crider began Proto with Erik Berkes in 2002. In the fall of 2003, the band began preparing for their first release to prelude the full-length album. Proto asked violinist Krista Wroten (schooled in classical music training at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

) if she was interested in playing on the CD to fill out some of the songs. What began only as an addition to the record became an addition to the band. It was obvious that Krista belonged after hearing her play. They quickly recruited lead guitarist Benjamin Mansfield and wrote their first song, "The Backwards Waltz". The song embodied a mutual frustration within the band towards ignorance and the destruction of the human mind. It was from this collaboration that the band realized their potential and agreed to pursue a serious career in music. The music immediately took precedence over everything else in their lives. Proto continued to write new material for their first full-length album, which was due out in 2004. After recording, the band left

for

. Other projects of members of Proto are All Things Green and North American Royalty. The latter is formed by ultra-melodic, female vocal-fueled Elise Berkes on lead vocals and guitar; Krista Wroten of Proto on violin and vocals; Jack Kirton of Proto on guitar, mandolin and steel guitar; and Dennis Hubbard and Joey Berkley from All Things Green on bass and percussion. Their first song, "Monkey", off the self-titled album, was used in introduction of the movie '' Devour (2005)'', starring

Jensen Ackles Jensen Ross Ackles (born March 1, 1978) is an American actor and musician. He gained recognition for his portrayal of Dean Winchester in The WB/The CW, CW dark fantasy drama series ''Supernatural (American TV series), Supernatural'' (2005–2020 ...

, and in the third season of '' Roswell''.

Members

* Erik Matthew Berkes – vocals, guitar (1983–present) * Shaun Shelton West – drums, percussion (1982–present) * James Mark Crider – bass guitar (1979–present) *

Krista Lynn Wroten Krista is a female given name, a mostly North European (Finland, Estonia and Sweden) variant of the male name Christian. The name Krista can be spelled with a "Ch", making it Christa. It means "Follower of Christ". People named Krista *Krista All ...

– violin (1983–present) * Benjamin Mansfield Christian Cowell – lead guitar (?-present) *

Jack Benjamin Kirton Jack may refer to: Places * Jack, Alabama, US, an unincorporated community * Jack, Missouri, US, an unincorporated community * Jack County, Texas, a county in Texas People and fictional characters * Jack (given name), a male given name, inclu ...

– guitar, mandolin, steel guitar (1980–present)

Discography

Proto have two full-length albums. Their first release, ''Proto'', was released and distributed in digital and physical format copy in a special limited production, unlike the second album, ''The Alchemist'', which was only released in digital form, via

TuneCore TuneCore is a New York City–based digital music distribution, publishing and licensing service founded in 2006. It was acquired by Believe Music in April 2015. TuneCore distributes music through online retailers such as Deezer, Spotify, Amazon ...

, iTunes Store,

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...

eMusic eMusic is an Online music store, online music and audiobook store that operates by subscription. In exchange for a monthly subscription eMusic users can download a fixed number of MP3 tracks per month. eMusic was established in 1998, is headquart ...

, and Rhapsody. Other songs not included in albums: "When Shall I Return"
Length: 00:30 , Year: 2010 , Genre: Film score, Electronic, New Age. , Moods: Dark, Suspenseful
Catalog/Publisher: Absurd Music (Ascap) / Bny Music (Ascap) / Evan Edward Publishing (Ascap). * Proto (2003) Additional and technical information
Release: June 1, 2003 (EP), September 23, 2003 (Album)
Recording Type: Studio (Stereo)
Label: Torrent Records, LLC (3649 W Road, Signal Mountain, Tennessee, 37377-3001)
Universal Product Code: 7158647 (Torrent Records JMS1-2)
Copyright Claimant: Threptos Music, LLC d.b.a. Baby New Year Music, Evan Edward Publishing
Lyrics "Monkey": West, Berkes
Lyrics "The Backwards Waltz": Crider, Berkes
Lyrics "Breathe This Day": Berkes
Music and Production: Proto
Engineered, Recorded and Mixed: Willie Peaver (Chief Engineer)
Studio Crew: Brandon Sams (Engineering Assistant), Chuck Goin (Studio Assistant), Chris McCrudden (Instrument Tech)
Recorded in the U.S.A. at Young Avenue Sound Studio in Memphis, TN
Edited and Mastered by Roger Lian at Masterdisk Studios in New York, NY
Graphic Design: Eric Jackson
Art Concept: Proto
Thanks to PM Music and The Drum Shop. Proto thanks families, friends and all those who have pointed us in the right direction.
Artist Representation: Torrent Records, LLC (www.torrentrecords.com)
Barcode: 783707706627
* The Alchemist (2007) Additional information
Release: April 9, 2007
Recording Type: Studio (Stereo)
Label: TuneCore/Proto Music featured on: *

WB Television Network The WB Television Network (shortened to The WB, stylized as "THE WB", and nicknamed the "Frog Network" and/or "The Frog" for its former mascot Michigan J. Frog) was an American television network that ran from 1995 to 2006. It launched on br ...

series '' Roswell'': Second Season DVD (2003) *'' Devour (2005)''

References

* http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=7158647 * http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/proto * http://www.decoymusic.com/reviews/proto-proto * http://www.mysecretidentity.org/ArtFRONT/Radio%20Promotion%20One%20Sheets/NorthAmericanRoyalty.htm

* http://www.localbandnetwork.com/bands/banddetail.cfm?bandID=17894 * https://www.amazon.com/Proto/dp/product-description/B0000CGDDG * http://www.artfront.com/BarkingLegsPressRelease.htm {{Authority control American progressive rock groups Rock music groups from Tennessee 2002 establishments in Tennessee Musical groups established in 2002 Musical groups from Memphis, Tennessee