Salt Lake's own Royal Bliss has had its share of trials.
In the 10 years it has taken for the band to hit Billboard's 200 album charts, it has seen everything from a major label deal almost flopping to nearly losing its lead singer in a fall from a balcony.
Lead singer Neal Middleton, who took a 34-foot fall in 2004 and was in a wheelchair for months, said all the trials are part of the "Royal Bliss luck."
Middleton was told by his doctor that he would never walk again. But through sheer determination and months of physical therapy, Middleton walked. Today he can even play soccer.
"It hasn't been easy," Middleton said. "I know I'm lucky to be able to stand, let alone walk. But it wasn't like we had a plan B. I don't have a college degree and there was nothing to fall back on. The band was the most important thing in our lives, and we worked hard to get where we are. But there were a lot of brick walls to break through."
The band — drummer Jake Smith, guitarist Chris Harding, bassist Tommy Gunn, guitarist Taylor Richards and Middleton — began playing together in 1997. With endless local gigs, Royal Bliss garnered a strong and loyal following.
Throughout its career, the band has released six independent studio albums and one major-label debut.
But, said Middleton, the band has yet to see if it will stay with a major label.
"We got to a point while playing regionally that we had record companies coming to hear us," said Middleton.
"We didn't want to go to Los Angeles or New York to play. We didn't want to move to those places either. We have had a lot of support here in Salt Lake, and our friends and families are here. So we had no intention of leaving. We wanted to be known as a band from Salt Lake."
Royal Bliss decided to sign with Capitol Records, because, according to Middleton, "the president of the company took time to fly out to Salt Lake to hear us."
After five months of negotiations, Royal Bliss and Capitol Records signed a contract.
"We own all the songs and our touring," said Middleton. "The record company gets some of the percentage, but we own all the work."
Things looked good for a while, but then Capitol went through a major restructuring. Royal Bliss saw many of its supporters let go.
"It was a whole new staff that didn't know us," said Middleton. "And our record was put on hold."
The band had recorded what would eventually be the album "Life In-Between," but the label stopped work on it.
"Instead of sitting around doing nothing, we decided to master the album ourselves," said Middleton. "And that's when the label started to interfere. They said they didn't give us permission to master or distribute, but we didn't want it to sit there."
Another label, Merovingian Music, worked out a deal with Capitol for "Life In-Between." The CD was finally released Jan. 13, 2009.
The results were pleasant. "Life In-Between" landed at No. 151 on the Billboard 200, hit No. 4 on Billboard's Heatseekers chart and reached No. 2 on Billboard's Taste Makers chart.
"We released the single 'Save Me,' and it was in the Top 50 rock radio charts," said Middleton. "All of a sudden, Capitol started paying attention, and the staff who didn't know us were coming up to us and saying, 'We need to sign you guys.' "
Middleton said he's not sure what the future will be with the label, but said that the band has a lot of new stuff they want to record.
"Two years is a long time to wait for an album," he said. "And we have played the songs on 'Life In-Between' for a long time. It will be great to start recording again, but first, we need to do this tour with Candlebox."
If you go ...
What: Candlebox, Royal Bliss, Jet Black Stare
Where: The Depot, 400 W. South Temple
When: March 23, 7 p.m.
How much: $30
Phone: 801-467-8499, 800-888-8499
Web: www.smithstix.com
E-mail: scott@desnews.com