My American Heart

My American Heart was an American rock band from San Diego, California, formed in 2001. Originally named No Way Out, the band released two studio albums through Warcon Enterprises and toured the world before disbanding in late 2009. At the time of their break-up, the band consisted of Larry Soliman on vocals, Jesse Barrera and Nick Logan on guitar, Dustin Hook on bass, and Jake Kalb on drums.

History

My American Heart gained local fame from many local SoCal venues from which they played. Due to legal troubles concerning their name, the band changed their name from No Way Out to My American Heart to reflect the ethnic and national duality the original members identified with. The band made their first big break winning the Ernie Ball Battle Of The Bands. As popularity grew, the band was pressured to play at larger venues farther from home, causing Clint Delgado to leave the band to focus on his education. The band played the Taste of Chaos tour in 2005 with a four-piece. Shortly after the tour the band recorded the full-length album The Meaning in Makeup with producer Sal Villanueva released on Kevin Lyman's label, Warcon, in fall 2005. While on Warped Tour, the band picked up bassist Dustin Hook.

During the summer of 2006 original guitarist, Jeremy Mendez left the band. My American Heart picked up guitarist Matt "Spud" VanGasbeck (Downtown Singapore) before heading out on their last tour before they went into the studio to record "Hiding Inside the Horrible Weather" with producer James Paul Wisner.

It was announced on the Soundwave (Australian music festival) tour that Steve Oira would leave the band after tour due to a mutual agreement. Jake Kalb (ex-The Fold/New Atlantic/The Suicide Pact) has replaced him on drums.

My American Heart recently announced on MySpace page that they are currently writing for their new album. On April 14, 2008 Jesse Barrera announced on his website (jessebarrera.com) that they were no longer on Warcon Records, "The label that we were on for four years just folded and now we’re currently in the most interesting legal situation ever, which I won’t get into"

In early July 2009, Jesse Barrera announced on his website that he was leaving My American Heart.

In October 2009, it was announced through members of the band that they would be disbanding following a few final shows.

In early October 2009, Jesse Barrera made four demo tracks available on his website. The songs were intended for their third studio album that will now likely never be released. The demos are Unravel, Pain, Lost Inside Of You, and Circa.

Two more demos have been released titled, Heart Attack and Shine Your Light, also thought to be intended for their third studio album.

My American Heart played two reunion shows on February 3 and 4, 2012 at The Epicentre in San Diego, CA and Chain Reaction in Anaheim, CA, respectively.

Discography

No Way Out

• The Courtesy Of Stars (EP) - 2002
• Certainty Kills (EP) - 2003

My American Heart

• My American Heart (EP) - 2004
• The Meaning in Makeup - 2005
• Hiding Inside the Horrible Weather - 2007
• Alder Masters - 2009

Compilation appearances

• Punk the Clock Vol. 1 – 2004 – Contributed The Ruins We Hold
• Taste of Chaos - 2005 - Contributed White Lines
• Taste of Christmas - 2005 - Contributed The First Noel
• Punk Goes Crunk - 2008 - Contributed a cover of 2Pac's California Love

Former Members

• Larry Soliman
• Jesse Barrera
• Dustin Hook
• Jake Kalb
• Nick Logan
• Matthew VanGasbeck
• Steven Oira
• Jeremy Mendez
• Brian Warren
• Clint Delgado

Side Projects

After announcing his departure from the band, guitarist Jesse Barrera continued work on his eponymous acoustic pop project. On March 24, 2010, he independently released his debut solo album titled Love In Technicolor.

Dustin Hook is currently a full-time touring guitarist for country act Dan + Shay.

References

External links

• My American Heart at Purevolume
• Jesse Barrera