Former EVANESCENCE Members Touring With MACHINA

Little Rock-based guitarist, vocalist and songwriter John LeCompt has been on and off the road with his new band, the hard rock, alt-skewed MACHINA, for the last six months. Dates have included showcases in New York City and the Whisky A Go Go in Los Angeles, and the band plans on touring throughout 2008.

MACHINA has released a self-titled, six-song EP, which has received play on XM Satellite Radio and rock stations nationwide by virtue of the buzz the band has generated. Part of one track, "Trust", was used as an on-air intro for a segment on Rush Limbaugh's radio show, and MACHINA's songs are about to hit the one million total plays mark on MySpace.

LeCompt formed MACHINA with former FUTURE LEADERS OF THE WORLD vocalist Phil Taylor, and the two are the group's songwriters as well. The line-up also includes bassist Thad Ables and drummer Rocky Gray, LeCompt's fellow EVANESCENCE alumnus. Longtime friends, John and Rocky have also played together in the groups KILL SYSTEM, SOUL EMBRACED and MOURNINGSIDE.

LeCompt and Gray both play on the 2008 Grammy-nominated EVANESCENCE track "Sweet Sacrifice", a contender in the Best Hard Rock Performance category. The song is from the 2006 #1 album "The Open Door", on which LeCompt is credited for programming in addition to guitar. LeCompt and Gray started playing with EVANESCENCE in 2002, before they were Grammy-honored as 2003's Best New Artist. They both left the band in mid-2007.

With MACHINA, LeCompt is relishing artistic and creative freedom in his songwriting partnership with Taylor and the band's grass roots touring exploits. "Everything blew up so fast with EVANESCENCE," he remembers. "We were instantly rock stars, everything was taken care of. With this project, we started from scratch and we're having to prove ourselves. We've had exciting response playing out live, and a lot of people know our stuff already. The crowds are growing in size and enthusiasm at every show, we can really feel things building."

At present, John LeCompt is writing and recording new songs with Phil Taylor for MACHINA's first full-length album. He will attend the 2008 Grammy Awards in Los Angeles on February 10.

For more information, visit www.machinarock.com.

Upcoming MACHINA tour dates:

Feb. 01 - The Snorty Horse Saloon - Springfield, Missouri
Feb. 26 - The Aardvark - Fort Worth, Texas
Feb. 27 - The Drink - Denton, Texas
Feb. 29 - Club Fyve - San Antonio, Texas
Mar. 02 - House of Rock - Corpus Christi, Texas
Mar. 15 - The Metro - Melbourne, Florida
Mar. 19 - The Soundgarden - Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Mar. 23 - The Monkey Bar - Huntington, West Virginia