Flotsam and Jetsam

Flotsam and Jetsam is a thrash metal band that formed in Phoenix, Arizona in 1981. The band currently consists of vocalist Eric A. Knutson, guitarists Michael Gilbert and Steve Conley, bassist Michael Spencer and drummer Jason Bittner. Flotsam and Jetsam went through several lineup changes over the years, and Knutson has been the only constant member of the band.

Flotsam and Jetsam have released twelve studio albums in their career (the latest being 2016's Flotsam and Jetsam), and have sold over one million records worldwide. In terms of chart positions and sales, the band's most successful records are No Place for Disgrace (1988), When the Storm Comes Down (1990) and Cuatro (1992); the former of the two reached #143 and #174 respectively on the Billboard 200 chart, while Cuatro peaked at #30 on the Heatseekers chart. The group was founded in 1981 under the name Paradox by drummer Kelly David-Smith and guitarists Pete Mello and Dave Goulder, who were later joined by bassist Jason Newsted. Jason had answered a newspaper ad that Kelly had placed in the local newspaper looking for a bass player.

Jason came to Phoenix with his band Gangster from Michigan on their way to California, but Gangster broke up while in Phoenix. Kelly got a call from a couple of his high school friends, Mark Vasquez and Kevin Horton, looking for some people to jam with playing covers of bands such as Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, MSG, and UFO. The band then morphed into "Dredlox" together with the new recruits, Jason was now the main vocalist. Kelly saw "A.K." (Eric A.

Knutson) singing "The Goodbye Girl" at his high school talent show. In 1982 they were in the same summer school class and Kelly asked Knutson if he wanted to audition. They put him on 2-week probation and he later joined the band. Due to the provisional nature of his membership, the band referred to Knutson as "the 2 weeker.

" Ed Carlson, from another local rival band called Exodus (not to be confused with the California Bay Area thrash metal band of the same name), also joined in 1983 after Kevin's departure from the band. The name of the band changed into The Dogz, but it didn't last long. Eventually the band renamed itself "Flotsam and Jetsam" after writing a song inspired by a chapter of J. R.

R. Tolkien's The Two Towers. In December 2014 drummer and founding member, Kelly Smith had made a decision to leave the band due to unexpected family matters that required him to be home with his family. Hand picked by Smith to replace him on drums was longtime friend and Shadows Fall drummer, Jason Bittner.

As we move into mid 2015, Bittner tracked his parts for the album, and the band started touring in May 2015. On March 23, 2016, the band released a new single "Iron Maiden" (not to be confused with the eponymous titled song by Iron Maiden), which demonstrated a return to the band's '80s Power metal/Thrash roots. Flotsam and Jetsam's self-titled twelfth studio album was released on May 20, 2016.