Crossfade was formed in Columbia, South Carolina, its roots stretching back to 1991 when singer and guitarist Ed Sloan, bassist Mitch James, and drummer Brian Geiger began playing together as a power trio originally called The Nothing. Crossfade came together in the late '90s with the merging of singer/guitarist Ed Sloan with bassist/backup singer Mitch James and drummer Brian Geiger as the power trio the Nothing, with Sloan, a Columbia native, drawn to grunge and heavy metal music while attending the University of South Carolina. The resulting quartet renamed itself Sugardaddy Superstar, building a local following while recording in its own Sugarstar Studio. The band first gained recognition beyond its region when it attracted the interest of a Los Angeles A&R company and a Los Angeles promoter who took over as manager, leading to an L.A. showcase in March 2002, which in turn led to a signing to the Earshot subsidiary of Columbia Records. It was around this time the band settled on the name Crossfade, blending post-grunge, alternative metal, and nu-metal influences into a raw, riff-driven sound.
The band's breakthrough arrived with its self-titled debut album, released by Columbia Records on April 13, 2004. The album reached number 41 on the Billboard 200 and spawned three singles, "Cold," "So Far Away," and "Colors," and was certified Platinum in the United States. The lead single "Cold" became a defining hit, reaching number 81 on the US Billboard Hot 100, number three on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, and number two on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. The song did extremely well on modern rock radio, spending a staggering 65 weeks on the Active Rock chart, and by August 2005 the album had gone platinum. The lineup at the time of this breakout included Sloan, James, Geiger, and DJ/vocalist Tony Byroads, though James Branham replaced Geiger behind the drum kit the same year the album came out. Following its platinum debut, Crossfade continued to evolve through lineup shifts and new releases. In 2005, Tony Byroads left the band after a religious experience and amid rising creative tensions with Sloan. Guitarist Les Hall, a longtime friend of Sloan's, joined during this period, initially brought in to fill a touring guitarist slot before becoming an official member after asking to take part in the songwriting, with Sloan accepting him as Crossfade's lead guitarist and keyboardist. The band's second album, Falling Away, followed in 2006, though it sold roughly 200,000 copies compared to the debut's million-plus sales. In 2008 the band was dropped from Columbia Records, a setback that left Sloan devastated and the band inactive for almost a year before Hall convinced him to continue, ultimately signing with Eleven Seven Music. That partnership produced a third studio album, We All Bleed, the band's first release since signing with Eleven Seven Music, which came out on June 21, 2011. Crossfade went on hiatus in 2012 before reuniting in 2024, marking their first live performances in over a decade. The band's sound, described by AllMusic as "raw yet radio-friendly," incorporating "heavy riffage [and] emotional lyrics" into their post-grunge and alternative metal style , has left a lasting mark on the early-2000s post-grunge era, with "Cold" remaining a defining rock radio staple of its time. Sloan, James, and Hall have remained the band's core, carrying the Columbia, South Carolina act's legacy into its current, ongoing chapter.
It was in the thick of that early rise, between 2004 and 2006, that Crossfade passed through the lens of concert photographer Wayne Dennon, who documented the band across 8 shows in 6 different cities spanning 4 states. Those performances, capturing the band at the height of the "Cold" era, live on in 215 photographs preserved in this archive, images that visitors have returned to view 167,497 times, a testament to both the band's enduring fanbase and Wayne's dedication to chronicling the rock scene of that era.
