New Medicine

New Medicine was formed in 2009 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, growing out of an earlier project called A Verse Unsung that Jake Scherer and Dan Garland started as friends attending Orono High School, writing lyrics during class and working through them musically at the Scherer family's farm in Medina. After early members were replaced, the band took on Ryan Guanzon and Matt Brady and signed to Photo Finish Records, rechristening themselves New Medicine. The group's sound was rooted in hard rock and post-grunge, with a rowdy, slick sound that mixed hard rock's drive with post-grunge emotion and a hip hop flair. The band's breakthrough came with their debut record. Race You to the Bottom was released September 27, 2010 in the US, recorded between January and July 2010 , and it earned them a spot on the Billboard 200 and yielded the mainstream rock hits "Rich Kids" and "Race You to the Bottom." The album's chart performance was notable for an independent-minded rock act, as it peaked at #104 on the Billboard 200, #2 on Heatseekers Albums, and #39 on Rock Albums. Radio success followed, with "Laid" hitting number 32 on the Mainstream Rock chart in Spring 2011, "Race You to the Bottom" hitting number 19 in Spring 2012, and "Rich Kids" reaching number 31 in Fall 2012. The original lineup driving this era consisted of singer/guitarist Jake Scherer, bassist Matt Brady, guitarist Dan Garland, and drummer Ryan Guanzon. New Medicine built its reputation on the road as much as on the charts. The band toured with major recording artists such as Avenged Sevenfold, Halestorm, Buckcherry, and Stone Sour , and their singles found a home on satellite radio, since "Race You to the Bottom," "Laid," and "Rich Kids" were all added into rotation on Sirius XM Radio's Octane Channel. Lineup changes reshaped the band in the following years: in 2013, drummer Dylan Wood replaced Guanzon, and bassist Kyle Leblanc replaced Brady, as the band moved to Nashville, where Scherer wrote for artists like the Charm City Devils. That transitional period produced a second album, as New Medicine released Breaking the Model on their new label, Imagen Records, in 2014, with lead single "One Too Many" breaching the modern rock charts, though by 2015 the group had gone on an indefinite hiatus. Before stepping away, the founding members briefly reunited, as Guanzon returned to the band for a single performance on guitar in April 2015 in the band's hometown of Medina, and Brady also made an appearance on stage that same night. The hiatus did not mark the end of the story. The break ended on December 5, 2019, when the band declared via Facebook that they were working on new material , and New Medicine returned with a string of singles and renewed momentum, ultimately releasing the independent double album Die Trying in 2025 and continuing to tour, including a co-headlining run with Adelitas Way. Decades after their scrappy Minneapolis beginnings, the band endures as a hard-touring rock outfit built around Scherer's songwriting, still drawing energetic crowds and carrying the same DIY spirit that first got them signed.