The story of In Love And War as it is today begins years ago with the experimental groups led by rhythm guitarist Chris Wright. These first collaborations were mainly heavy metal influenced garage bands until his musical taste shifted to a more mellow sound. Chris soon joined Adam Snyder, former lead guitarist, to create a laid back acoustic duo named Annex. At the same time, Nick Fratta was writing piano pop songs influenced by early 1990�s alternative rock and began asking for the addition of Chris�s musical talent as well as the percussion of developing drummer David Newmann. When neither of those bands started moving forward, an agreement was made to join them together. In May of 2006, the mix known as In Love and War or �InLAW� debuted its first pop-punk song �Chicken Little�.
After forming, the band continued writing, reaching nearly thirty original songs of varying genres and played shows around the St. Louis area; at coffee houses such as Wired Coffee and more popular venues such as Off Broadway and Hessler�s Pub. After about a year of saving money from gigs, In Love and War bought a session with trusted local professionals at Clayton Studios. In studio, however, the first of their troubles began. Each member argued for their personal interpretation of each track and pushed for their voice to be dominant in the finished product. Managing to survive the difficult first year and the tumultuous recording session with a commitment to each other for a future together, the demo CD was completed. On the night of the release show in May of 2007 fans were eager to purchase their own copy of the seven track album and the excitement for the original sound boosted attendance at their performances and their confidence in the group. But there is certainly more to them than a fairy tale ending like that.
As so often happens, they became stagnant in their writing and bored with their older material. Fearing attendance and fan commitment would decline, Chris and Nick sought change and comfort in a focused sound. For a short period they secretively dabbled in everything from bluegrass to reggae, eventually realizing their best material was in the college rock/pop/indie/funk style of Dispatch and the offspring group State Radio. With new songs written and a new image for In Love And War, Chris, Nick, and David realized there was no longer a need for a lead guitar, regretfully letting Adam go and beginning a search for a bassist. Expanding to other venues, collaborating with other artists, and still turning out some good tunes, In Love And War continues to grow, striving to leave a good reputation for themselves and young St. Louis musicians before parting ways for college.
