"Fuel" -- by Chris Johns

"There was this one time, down at this total redneck bar in Tennessee, where we were scheduled to play one night. We showed up and the owner pulled out this shiny, nickel-plated .44 from behind the bar, pointed it at us, and suggested, 'Now, you boys aren't going to play too loud, are you?'" notes Fuel guitarist Carl Bell. "We asked him what he thought of acoustic music."

That was then and this is not for Harrisburg, Pa. -based Fuel. The band is currently wrapping up a series of CD release parties throughout eastern Pennsylvania and is on the verge of a national headlining tour in support of its major label debut, Sunburn.

"We're playing WHFStival in DC, K-Rock in New York. It's gonna be cool to get to play those type shows and develop a relationship with bands that we really admire. Shows like that you really have to be on, or the bigger acts will just suck you under," explains lead vocalist/guitarist Brett Scallions. Bassist Jeff Abercrombie and drummer Kevin Miller complete the band.

"Before we got signed, we did a show with James at Trampps in New York City. After we played, there must have been 30 people hanging out with us in the basement. Atlantic, Geffen, Radioactive, all the big names. It was really cool for us to garner that kind of attention," explains Scallions in his best southern drawl. "Geffen then flew us out to L.A. for a show. Little did we know, Polly Anthony from 550 Music (a division of Sony) simultaneously flew herself out to make that label's presence felt. That really, really impressed us. It also showed us that they were really honest and sincere about us and our music."

Harrisburg may best be known for its conservative political orientation rather than as a thriving hotbed for national recording artists, but this didn't keep the Fuel foursome from adopting Pennsylvania's state capitol four years ago. True, Live ascended out of York, but... Harrisburg?

Scallions describes Fuel's original hometown in Tennessee as, "A place where we played in the past and developed a somewhat strong following. We'd play most other places and they'd forget about us in a week or so. We just caught on here, and Harrisburg also served as a relatively accessible market to New York, D.C., Philly, and Baltimore. Hey, we're not complaining," he adds from the group's new 40-foot tour bus. "We consider Harriburg/Lancaster/York-area home and we'll always come play here, because it was those fans who helped make us what we've become."

Fuel's self-produced, self-financed 1996 EP, Porcelain, has sold more than 10,000 copies regionally and garnered respectable airtime for the modern-rock favorite, "Shimmer," a song destined to become the first single from Sunburn and the band's first video, recently debuting on MTV's 120 Minutes. Next to be released was Hazleton, a college-only EP of four songs preceeding the recording of Sunburn.

"When we first signed on, 550 asked us who we wanted to produce our first album. Jokingly we said, 'Brendan O'Brien.' They kindly informed us that he was busy producing the new Pearl Jam record. That really put it into perspective as to what league we were actually getting into," says Bell. "We worked with Steven Haigler (The Pixies, Quicksand, Local H) who was really patient and just great to work with. Then we found out that 550 arranged for us to do a track for the upcoming Godzilla movie soundtrack, called 'Walk the Sky,' and that (O'Brien) was going to produce it. I mean, things like that are happening right now and we couldn't be happier."