Kemikalfire, the side project of Taylor Carroll of Lit and Arejay Hale of Halestorm, created quite the buzz when those two joined forces and started creating music together. The duo had to rely on Zoom and FaceTime to gel and produce their work, as it was during the lockdowns, but once they were able to finally perform live, all of their hard work paid off. Both Carroll and Hale were very nervous their first time playing on stage as Kemikalfire – they hadn’t had a single rehearsal, a huge crowd unexpectedly showed up, and some of those faces in the audience were significant names in the rock world. After it was all said and done, though, the two were very happy with how the show went, and so were the fans.
Fast forward to the 29th of September of this year, both Carroll and Hale are busy with their main gigs, so it is hard to consistently put 100% in to Kemikalfire on a daily basis. On this day, however, we finally have a new release. The duo dropped their acoustic rendition of their debut single, “Dead and Gone.” As masterfully produced and flawlessly performed the original version was, the approach they took to this one makes it feel like a completely different song. Being a stripped-down track, the passion put in to the vocals is in the forefront this time, and you can really pick up the chemistry between Carroll and Hale when you hear the harmonization.
People sometimes look past side projects with certain artists, but these two have excellent creative minds and a boatload of talent, which makes Kemikalfire a group to keep in your rolodex. With Carroll and Hale both having other bands as their main gig, along with production and songwriting work, it is quite surprising how much detail and attention this release has been given. If you haven’t checked them out yet, go get hip to Kemikalfire and go give both versions of “Dead and Gone” a listen now!
Cover Photo by Jason Stoltzfus.