Ashes Divide

Ashes Divide is the solo project of American musician Billy Howerdel, best known as the guitarist, primary songwriter, and producer of the alternative rock band A Perfect Circle. A one-man band of sorts, Ashes Divide was the next step in the career of former lighting technician and guitar roadie Billy Howerdel, who was raised in New Jersey and first got his start in the music and touring world by working in lighting before moving into the role of guitar tech. Howerdel was known to start working on music for his solo project as early as 2005, after wrapping up touring for A Perfect Circle's second album, Thirteenth Step, and recording their third album, Emotive. True to its origins as a studio vehicle, Howerdel handled nearly all the instruments in the studio for the release, except the drums, for which he recruited session musician Josh Freese. The project broke through with its debut album, Keep Telling Myself It's Alright. The album was released on April 8, 2008, debuting at number 36 in the United States and selling 15,800 copies in its first week, with sales reaching 61,000 copies by August 2008 according to Nielsen SoundScan. Its lead single found real traction at rock radio: "The Stone" performed well at rock radio, peaking at number 7 and 10 respectively on the Billboard Mainstream Rock and Modern Rock charts, though "Enemies" failed to chart on either. The record drew notable outside collaborators as well, including Concrete Blonde's Johnette Napolitano, who co-wrote some lyrics on the record and also pops up on the track "Too Late." To support the album, Howerdel assembled a touring lineup that carried Ashes Divide through a defining run of live dates. Howerdel assembled a live band to tour in support of the album, including Jonathan Radtke on guitar, Matt McJunkins on bass, Adam Monroe on keyboard, and Jeff Friedl on drums, and the band was featured on Linkin Park's Projekt Revolution 2008 tour, performing on the main stage. That summer package placed Ashes Divide alongside major rock acts, since the line-up was out all summer as part of the "Projekt Revolution" tour along with Linkin Park, Chris Cornell and The Bravery. Momentum slowed not long after, however, as Howerdel formed a live band and toured in support of the album through the rest of the year, but the project fell to the wayside after A Perfect Circle reformed and toured in 2010 and 2011. Howerdel continued to juggle both projects for a time, and he would work on both projects for a while until late 2012, where he announced his primary focus is completing the second album, of which he hoped to enter the mixing phase in January or February 2013. That follow-up ultimately never materialized as a released Ashes Divide record, and the project effectively remains dormant, with AllMusic dating its active period as 2000 to 2010 . Howerdel's main creative energy has since returned fully to A Perfect Circle and other production work, but Ashes Divide endures as a distinct, one-off chapter in his catalog, a moody, guitar-driven detour that let him step out from behind Maynard James Keenan's shadow and stand at the microphone himself, cherished by longtime A Perfect Circle fans as a deep cut in Howerdel's body of work.