The sometimes actress, former TV personality, ex-peach picker from Texas has been assaulted on the streets of New York for over a decade now and has lived to tell the tale in two former albums, The Curse and Put It To Your Head.  Now, after teaming up with long-time friend and engineer, Joe Hogan on guitar, Lani Ford has turned the tables for STARK and the songs are fighting back on Race To The Floor.

New York City-based hard rock trio STARK has evolved quite a bit since the inception of the band in 2003 by front-woman Lani Ford.  The singer/songwriter/bassist still brings a pop sensibility to original songs that were metalized by the addition of Joe Hogan to the group in 2007.  The guitarist has engineered and mixed all three STARK studio albums.  On Race To The Floor, the sound is melodic and intriguing but much heavier.  STARK represents the working class with Southern and punk rock overtones, powerful vocals and shredding guitars.  Straight ahead rock with a sawtooth edge, STARK brings on their own version of metal soul.  Lani Ford likes to tell stories that tend to speak to the underdogs of the world with fierce, raw feminine angst.  She has an intense honesty and sense of humor that shows plight and redemption all at once.

STARK was formed by Lani Ford with Dylan Grewen on guitar and Greg Schiff on drums. The trio recorded and released the debut CD "The Curse" in 2004. In 2008, with Josette on guitar and Rob Endemann on drums, STARK recorded and released "Put It To Your Head" with guest backing vocalist Pam "The Metal Queen" Grande. Joe Hogan engineered and mixed both CD's and was the logical choice when STARK's first chance to tour England came up in early 2008. After filling in on guitar for the tour, Joe joined the band and recently engineered and mixed the new CD by STARK called "Race To The Floor".  Recorded analog like the others and definitely the heaviest CD yet, Race To The Floor was released March 13, 2010.  A total DIY project, drummer Eric Robel did the artwork and Lani Ford did just about everything else.  The band now has three full-length sudio CDs available on CDBaby and iTunes.  STARK returned to England for a 3rd time in June 2010.

STARK is not your typical “girl-fronted” band.  This is a band you do not want writing a song about you, unless you’re one of the two junkies arguing over who “Nothing’s Wrong” is written about.  After three tours in the UK, three full-length studio CD’s, several high-profile gigs in the NYC metro area, appearances at CMJ and the GoGirls Invasion of SXSW, STARK’s founder and frontwoman Lani Ford has been busy with press and radio campaigns for Race To The Floor.  She is also preparing an acoustic multi-instrument album and a solo project.  She will return for her second solo acoustic tour in Southern California in November 2010.  The band is busy working on new material as well as organizing tours for 2011.

STARK has appeared live on the Jim Breuer Raw Dog radio show on Sirius radio.  Also on Sirius, STARK has been played numerous times on Genya Ravan’s show Chicks and Broads on the Little Steven Underground Garage channel.  STARK recently played a Haiti benefit with WRXP in New York.  All three STARK albums have had international radio, TV and internet airplay and sales.  Lani Ford appeared with Gary Garver (formerly of Howard Stern’s show) in Los Angeles on Rockmetv.com.  The band has played on the same bill as The Dollyrots, The Blackhearts (of Joan Jett &), Lenny Kaye of the Patti Smith Group, Sami Yaffa and Syl Sylvain of the New York Dolls, Patti Rothberg, Gin Blossoms, 3 Kisses (known from Wife Swap on ABC), Billy Ficca from Television, Donna Lupe of Cycle Sluts from Hell and many more.

Lani did her stint as good girl for years on Fox 5 as Good Day New York’s traffic reporter and as a commercial and stage actress.  When Lani moved from Texas to New York to pursue acting, the fact that she would form a band that would rise through the Lower East Side trenches to become the new classic rock was purely a fantasy.  Thank someone (a lot of someones actually) Lani crossed paths with the mighty “Sonic” Joe Hogan on the first STARK album.  Even luckier, after Joe engineered the second STARK CD, Hogan galvanized the band by touring to the UK then joining as the guitar player.  Together, Hogan and Ford have combined their love of real songs and widely diverse musical tastes to create the version of STARK that appears on album 3, Race To The Floor.   If you loved 70’s FM radio or just have a taste for straight up rock and roll, STARK is right up your alley.  The band is heavier but with the fun and darkness that has remained consistent in the wild world of STARK.  There have been crazy times when Lani told everyone off from the stage, poured beer on her head, or took her top off and there have also been times when she made the whole room cry, laugh or take their tops off.  The shows have an unpredictable quality even though they are tight and polished with new songs thrown in as much as possible plus a surprise “classic” or cover.  The camaraderie of the trio spills over onto the stage and creates an energy like an orb around the band.  Then they come at you like a freight train and a roller coaster all in one.  STARK intermingles bluesy metal grooves, punk frolics, and classic hard rock riffs.  This hard-working band has had a lot of fun and a lot of bad luck. But they are more than survivors, they’re fighters and thrivers.  

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Contact:  Lani Ford