Dropout Year is an American

pop punk Pop punk (or punk pop) is a rock music genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop. It is defined for its emphasis on classic pop songcraft, as well as adolescent and anti-suburbia themes, and is distinguished from other pu ...

band from

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, formed in June 2004. The band consists of lead vocalist Steve Reter and guitarists Brandon Reter and Adam Goodman. Dropout Year started out in June 2004, when ex-singer Adam Henderson, Brandon Reter, and ex-drummer Justin Childers (playing as a 3-piece originally known as Far From Home) asked Adam Goodman (a high school friend) to join the band after he witnessed them perform a concert at the

Recher Theatre The Recher is a concert venue in Towson, Maryland. It is located at 512 York Road in the building previously operated as the Towson Theatre, a one-screen movie theater. The Towson Theatre was designed by architect John Ahlers of the George Nor ...

in Towson,

.Article written by Meghan Hole
/ref> The band, with manager (and future singer) Steve Reter, completed and released two demo CD's over the next two years. Their first studio EP was titled ''Seven Unreturned Phone Calls'' (an ode to the film " Say Anything") and released on July 18, 2006. The EP was recorded with Paul Leavitt ( All Time Low, Over It) and the sold-out CD release party was held at the

on August 4, 2006. In the summer of 2007, they parted ways with original drummer, Justin Childers. Jordan Young was asked to audition after submitting a YouTube of him drumming to selection of the band's songs, and was officially chosen a few weeks later. Later that year, they won national exposure by being selected as a

Taco Bell Taco Bell is an American-based chain of fast food restaurants founded in 1962 by Glen Bell (1923–2010) in Downey, California. Taco Bell is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. The restaurants serve a variety of Mexican-inspired foods, includi ...

Feed The Beat winner, along with

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, Blameshift, and

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. Two months later, they were featured as an AP&R band in the October 2007 issue of Alternative Press Magazine, as well being named a HomeTown Hero band. From the article: "Everything they touch is currently turning to harmonic gold. They won DJ Rossstar's first national unsigned band contest and this year's

Comcast Comcast Corporation (formerly known as American Cable Systems and Comcast Holdings),Before the AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corpora ...

On Demand Music Video Contest and were featured as one of the top unsigned bands in the country by TheDailyChorus.com." In January 2008, they parted ways with their singer Adam Henderson. It was soon after announced that long-time manager and co-songwriter Steve Reter would be the new lead singer. After re-recording some of their more popular songs for an acoustic EP, the band started writing for their 3rd studio EP. In July 2008, Dan Ciarrocchi would be added on bass (formerly of Bravo Romeo Bravo). In October, they spent two weeks in the studio recording their forthcoming album with producer and ex-

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member

Rob Freeman Robert Andrew Freeman (born March 26, 1981 in Andover, New Jersey) is the guitarist, backing vocalist and primary songwriter for the pop punk/ post-hardcore group Hidden in Plain View. He owns/works at The Pilot Studio as a record producer, record ...

. The album, titled ''The Way We Play'', was released on April 7, 2009. Dropout Year has recently won the Ernie Ball contest, playing the Vans Warped Tour 2009. They also won the contest in 2007 and were featured that year on the

Warped Tour The Warped Tour was a traveling rock tour that toured the United States plus three or four stops in Canada annually each summer from 1995 until 2019. It was the largest traveling music festival in the United States and the longest-running touring ...

. The band continued to tour throughout the summer of 2009, including a Hot Topic-sponsored Mall Tour through the Northeast states. In the fall of 2009, it was announced that drummer Jordan Young had parted ways with the band to join NC band Rookie of the Year. Shortly after it was released bassist Dan Ciarrocchi would no longer be in the band for amicable reasons. Steve, Brandon and Adam recorded a free holiday album with former drummer Justin Childers in the winter of 2009, called ''The Seven Levels of the Candy Cane Forest.'' The EP was posted for free download on December 22, 2009. The band was selected to play Vans Warped Tour 2010. They had their song's "Pretty You" featured on MTV's ''Teen Mom 2'' season finale and "Change Today" featured in the commercial for MTV's new season of ''I Used To Be Fat'' in 2011.

Discography

*''Daily Confessions EP (2004) *''You Say When'' (2005) *''Seven Unreturned Phone Calls'' (2006) *''Best Friends for Never'' (2007) *''On a Lighter Note'' (2008) *''Red Sweaters With Snowflakes On Them'' (Free Christmas EP) (2008) *''The Way We Play'' (2009) *''The Seven Levels of the Candy Cane Forest'' (Free Christmas EP) (2009)

Reviews

*"Dropout Year has stunned me. What has been sent my way is the most promising EP I have heard in some time. ''Best Friends For Never'' features eight songs of hook-filled, catchy and perfectly paced pop-punk tunes. I will not soon forget these tunes, which is usually a problem for me. Pop-punk lives or dies in choruses, and ''Best Friends For Never'' features one irresistible hook after another." –Blake Solomon, ABSOLUTEPUNK.NET *"Dropout Year fails to hold anything back. Every track off of this new EP is singularly unique, each with a very defining sound, none sounding like the next." –Andrea Hubbell, DRIVENFAROFF.COM Review by Andrea Hubbell
/ref>

External links

Dropout Year on Myspace

Dropout Year on Facebook

Dropout Year on Twitter

References

{{Reflist Pop punk groups from Maryland Musical groups from Baltimore Musical groups established in 2004