The Showdown provides a great boost of energy to the metal scene. The band, which hails from Elizabethton, Tennessee, has single handily taken a style of music and given it life. With vocalist David Bunton belting out songs such as, Breath of the Swamp, Spitting in the Wind, Fanatics and Whores and Carry On Wayward Son (a cover of the 70’s icon band Kansas) from the band’s sophomore release Temptation Come My Way (which its cover eerily resembles Metallica’s Black album) to guitarists Josh Childer and Travis Bailey trading wicked licks, to bassist Eric Koruschak and drummer A.J. Barette keeping the rhythm and everything flowing perfectly, The Showdown is a performance not to be missed.

Fears Magazine caught up with David Bunton during a recent stop in Florida and here is what the soft-spoken, yet able to measure up to any metal singer of today and of years gone by, had to say.

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Fears: When the latest CD (Temptation Come My Way ) was placed in the player, I must say that it threw me back to the late 80’s early 90’s. The sounds of Pantera, Metallica and even some Maiden resonated throughout the room. Is it safe to say those bands influenced the sound of The Showdown?

David Bunton: Yes. We are definitely into Metallica and Pantera. We love all the older stuff, you know, the most. That’s what we’re into. We’re definitely of the 80’s and we watched MTV in the 80’s. That was like the biggest influence on our band. Not really many of the metal bands of today.

Fears: It is refreshing to once again hear hard driving guitar solos accompanied by overall well put together songs.

David: That’s killer. I mean, that’s what we’re into and that’s the kind of stuff we like to listen to. We just wanna make music that we would wanna jam, like, in the car. It’s just something that’s really heavy and really fun.

Fears: Give our readers a sense for what Temptation Come My Way is all about. Other than wanting to create great music, was there a conscious effort to make the CD have a certain feel to it? Upbeat, down, moody, etc?

David: I mean honestly, we just tried to make a record that represented us and who we are.

Fears: And who are you?

David: Honest to goodness, five dudes from Tennessee that are into having a good time and jammin’ heavy metal. That’s just pretty much what we’re trying just trying to have fun. Just trying to do something that’s fun, do something that people can have fun to and, you know, it’s like that’s what we’re about. Just trying to have a good time.

Fears: Describe life on the road. Has been it been worth the journey?

David: I mean, we’re all about the heavy metal and we’re all about the music, but at the same time we’re going out and seeing new stuff and just havin’ a good time. The shows are fun, but we’re in a different city everyday and we get to experience a lot. We just got back from the beach (prior to this interview) and that’s what fuels it even more. It’s like one big party time. It’s like a vacation. We just try to take it to the extreme, you know? Instead of like going on tour and going through the motions, we just try to milk it for all it’s worth. We just enjoy being gone and being on the road and stuff. We have stuff back home, one of the guys is married, and we love to be home, but I mean it’s just like if we’re gonna do a job, this is the best one.

Fears: Have you all had those moments where you have asked yourselves, “Why did we even choose this career?”

David: Every week. No, I mean, it’s just like the record labels (pause) nobody is really your friend.

Fears: Then who can you trust? Your manager (sitting just a few feet away)?

David: Yeah, pretty much, that’s it. I mean we like our manger managers. I mean, they’re killer. They’ll fight for us to get everything they can. They’ve actually went so far and beyond and have totally gained our trust. They’ve liked worked for basically nothing. They’ve been awesome.

Fears: In today’s music industry, imagery sells the product; a stark contrast from days gone by when the music actually had to do the selling. Long gone are the days when the radio was the selling point for an artist or band. The music had to have substance and Temptation Come My Way has that substance.

David: Dude that’s awesome. That’s cool to hear. That’s killer because hopefully we can be more than just a social band.

Fears: I can sense that you all are basically, “come as you are” kind of individuals. Do you feel that not participating in the charade may hurt sells or attendance?

David: We want to have fun and we’re about the music too, but I think there is a fine line between that and then some bands that just become a clothing line and people not really giving a crap about the music. It’s like, “You’re cool because you have this shirt or whatever.” We’ve toured with bands where the kids don’t own the CD, but they have like ten t-shirts.

Fears: Because it is not about the music.

David: Yeah, that’s kind of weird to me. If I like a band, I’ll put my band t-shirt on and go to Best Buy and buy the CD the first day it comes out. That’s what I’m into. I’m into that. I think that rocks. So it’s like different. Kids are different.

Fears: What do you think of the current “metal” bands and the genre itself?

David: I think that a lot of bands now are such a dark thing. There’s not a lot of positivity. There’s not a lot of fun stuff going on in music. I mean it’s either rap music or depressing weird EMO stuff. I mean like guys dressed up like girls
I don’t even know what it is. I mean we’re just trying to play heavy metal and have fun. That’s pretty much what we’re about and what we’re trying to do.

Fears: Your job is being in a band. What if the “fun” ends? There are many bands that are on the road, but they really do not want to be for various reasons. Would you have the balls to call it quits or would you all keep muddling along and dreading every second?

David: Before we started jammin’ and playin’ and stuff, we all had other things going on. We were all in college and had jobs. There are other things that we enjoy. The music is killer, but we definitely have other things that we want to do. I don’t know we never intended to get signed. We got signed off the internet and MP3.com. We weren’t out breakin’ our balls.

Fears: They came knocking on your door?

David: Yeah and we’re like, ‘No way.’ I mean the guy would call me all the time and stuff and I was like, ‘We’re not gonna go out. I’m not gonna go finance a van and whatever. That’s just crazy.’ We weren’t just gonna go out on tour. We were like, “This is just not for us.”

Fears: Really? I thought it was every bands dream to be signed and to hit the road.

David: I don’t know. We were just having fun. It was more like a hobby. Right as I was graduating college, we just kind of got over it we were just like, ‘Screw it. We’re not that old. We’re gonna do a record, we’ll get a band and lets just do it. Why not?’

Fears: What did you have to loose?

David: Yeah, we were just going to regret it for the rest of our lives. Cause at one time we had that dream of going on tour. The only goal we had was to go on tour. So now it’s just like, we met that goal after we did our first record. I mean we never even printed a t-shirt until our first tour. We didn’t get ahead of ourselves. We’re just kind of taking it all as it comes. It’s like everything that we ever wanted to do is tour, have a CD with a barcode and have a printed t-shirt and it’s like we’ve done that. So now it’s just like everything that happens is so crazy.

Fears: Where have you set your sights now?

David: I think the goal would be to be on the road with a band that’s on the radio. We’d like to be on the road with a band like Buckcherry or somebody like that. Hinder - something like that. Be on the road with a band like that. Just to be able to relax a little bit.

Fears: Relax? I don’t think there is ever that much relaxing.

David: We have broken our balls and gave it hell for the past three years and did it out of a van and that’s cool. I’m proud that we done that. I think that it’s a character builder and I think that when you do that, you have something that bands that blow up instantly don’t have. You know that you have worked for it. For instance, we were in Europe and we were on a bus and it was like so cool. We were like, “This is so crazy.” You learn to appreciate it more. I guess as far as all that stuff, yeah, if we have to quit tomorrow I think that everybody would be sad, but everybody would be happy and proud. I can honestly say that.

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Fears: Other than Metallica and Pantera, what other types of music do you listen to?

David: We like all that stuff dude. Boston, Joe Walsh, Eagles, Steve Miller and kind of classic rock. More recently, like, I would say Velvet Revolver and Buckcherry. I like Sevendust a lot. I’'m kind of like all over the place when it comes to that.

Fears: For a musician, it must be an attribute to listen to such a variety of music genres.

David: Sure, yeah, I think so. I think it shows when bands are like open-minded and into stuff. People think that heavy metal bands go to sleep listening to Slayer every night. Well, I don’t really. I listen to everything from the softest stuff like James Taylor to Slipknot. I think it definitely helps the creative process. All of it goes in and stays and whenever you write, it all comes out.

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Fears: Out of those super groups, who would you say that you have drawn from the most?

David: It’s just a blend of all those bands I would say. I mean we definitely like the Boston vocals and stuff like that. I don’t have the range like that guy (the late Brad Delp), but we really like backup vocals like Def Leppard backup vocals and stuff like that. That’s what we’re definitely into. Obviously we like Lynyrd Skynyrd; I mean who doesn’t? We tried to put a couple of lyrics and nods to Lynyrd Skynyrd in one of the songs. That’s kind of fun. We’re pretty much like open to all that kind of stuff.

Fears: Has the legendary band Kansas heard your rendition of their song Wayward Son.

David: I think so. I think at one time our manager did some work for them. He managed them. He sent it to them and they were into it. That’s kind of cool. We were just like, ‘Holy crap!’ They were into that a young band would pay tribute. We tried to keep it as close as we could to the original, but kind of like make it our own. Yeah, so that’s pretty cool.

The band is currently rapping up a tour Chasing Victory and is gearing up to go out on the road in support of Ozzfest 2007. If there is one performance that should not be missed, is theirs. They will not disappoint.

You can check out the band at: http://www.theshowdownmetal.com

Check out The Showdown myspace page.

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