I found solid information on the Memphis-based rock band Sore Eyes. Let me check for a bit more on their later activity and any breakup information. I have enough solid information now to write the biography.
Sore Eyes formed in Memphis, Tennessee, taking shape after singer Shi Eubank and guitarist Jeremiah Lipscomb met in 2006 and began writing together, later recruiting drummer Chris Whitham and bassist Landon Fox to complete the lineup . Their sound was an engaging, youthful blend of up-tempo, alternative, radio-friendly rock that fused each member's individual style into a mixture some described as soul and pop, others as a new take on rock . The band wasted little time building momentum, and by 2007 they had begun gaining mass popularity, garnering a large underground following around the Memphis scene and beyond.
The band's breakthrough arrived through a combination of relentless touring and a pivotal connection with Shinedown. Shinedown guitarist Zach Myers made his first foray into artist management with Sore Eyes after seeing the band play locally, inviting them to support Shinedown for sold-out shows at the Machine Shop in Flint, Michigan in December 2008 . That exposure helped propel the band forward, and in late 2008 they traveled to Orlando, Florida to record an EP with producer Brett Hestla, the former Creed bassist and Dark New Day frontman who had also produced Framing Hanley , with their self-titled EP released on January 24, 2009 . Around this same period, platinum recording artist Zach Myers signed on, alongside Randy Holmes of Holmz Music, to manage the up-and-coming band .
Sore Eyes built its reputation primarily as a touring outfit, sharing stages with a who's who of 2000s rock and post-grunge acts. The band toured nationally alongside Saving Abel, Egypt Central, Trust Company, and Framing Hanley, eventually serving as direct support for Shinedown , and they were also featured alongside rock mainstays Hoobastank, Boys Like Girls, Framing Hanley, and Chevelle . They further cemented their standing on the festival circuit, appearing as a fixture at The Cornerstone Festival in 2008 in Bushnell, Illinois . Their commercial peak came in August 2010, when Sore Eyes performed to the biggest crowd of their career, sharing the stage with Saving Abel in front of roughly thirty thousand people at Michigan International Speedway ahead of a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event . Guitarist Jeremiah Lipscomb called the experience "one of the biggest blessings I've ever had in my life," adding that "it was just a sea of people and they loved us" . That year the band logged over 225 shows while writing material for a third album, planning to record with Shinedown bassist Eric Bass beginning in early 2011 .
Details of the band's activity beyond the early 2010s are sparse, reflecting the fate of many hard-touring independent rock acts of that era whose momentum was tied closely to the regional post-grunge and active-rock scene rather than mainstream chart success. What is clear is that Sore Eyes left a mark through sheer road work, a genuine grassroots fanbase, and industry validation from figures like Zach Myers and Eric Bass, both key architects of Shinedown's sound during its most successful years. Their story stands as a snapshot of the hard-touring, DIY spirit of mid-to-late 2000s American rock, when bands built followings one club and one festival stage at a time rather than through radio alone.
It is fitting that this archive holds a small but meaningful record of that grind. Wayne Dennon photographed Sore Eyes once, in 2010, right around the peak of the band's touring years, capturing them in that brief window when the Memphis quartet was sharing stages with national acts and playing to tens of thousands at Michigan International Speedway. The 29 photographs from that single show remain part of this collection, viewed by archive visitors 21,977 times, a quiet testament to a band that poured everything into its live performance and left an impression on everyone who caught them on the road.
