Signed in as:
filler@godaddy.com
Maiden America
Imagine yourself in a venue where the lights are about to cue at a Maiden America show, a band you are seeing for the first time. You have no idea what to expect. The intro music plays over the loudspeakers. The band begins to take the stage and build an atmosphere of anticipation. As soon as the music kicks in, the band immediately locks in with you and the rest of the audience for a Maiden experience like no other!
The band's members, Ariana Belle Troni, Matt 'Redzy' Smith, Jeff Teets, Eric Steven and Eric 'Space' Dengler have an amazing on stage chemistry resulting in an exciting and energetic performance! The musical connection between Maiden America and their audience cannot be described, it can only be experienced live!
History
Maiden America's story begins in early 2017 in Carlisle, Pennsylvania at a place called the 'Space Station'. Drummer Eric Dengler, with four other local musicians, formed the band in his basement. Several line up changes took place in the beginning and in 2019 they found themselves in need of a bass player. On July 3rd, Eric reached out to Eric Steven, who happened to be available, and joined the next day. The two Eric's played together in another Maiden tribute back in 2010 so the backbone was tight out of the gate. The band played in places like the Hard Rock Cafe and the legendary Chameleon Club. Then the pandemic hit. Time passed.
At the start of 2021, one of the guitarists stepped down to pursue other interests. Eric Steven and Matt Smith, who have known each other for over a decade, would jam in his 'woodshed' on occasion and this was their opportunity to finally play together. Matt joined on February 15th. The band started gaining traction, then in September 2022, original lead vocalist Gordon Tittsworth made the difficult decision to resign so he could focus on his upcoming tours in the US and Europe with his original project. Although this was great news for Gordon, is was a moment of uncertainty for Maiden America. The band knew that finding someone to fill Gordon's shoes overnight wasn't going to happen. Several auditions were held. Six months passed. Then the band receives a Facebook message from Ariana Belle Troni that said, 'Hey, would you guys consider giving a chick a chance?'
An audition with Ariana was set for May 13th, 2023 at 2PM. Here is how that went in the band's own words, 'When Ari stepped up to the mic in the Space Station she displayed confidence and you could tell she had a plan. She asked to start with 'Wrathchild' ,which was quite impressive indeed! Then she said let's do 'The Beast'. Space looked at her and said, 'Bold choice...let's do it!'. After Ari finished that famous scream, we could have stopped right there.
We were stunned!'
This was a game changer. It was something new and different... the start of a new era... a new image. In September, Maiden America played their debut with Ariana and proved to themselves and their fans that the hard work and determination was worth the effort. Audiences were stunned just as the band was at the audition. Yet again, the need for a change came. The band asked Jeff Teets, a multi-talented musician from the Lehigh Valley, if he would like to join. On January 1st, 2024 he officially joined the band, which brings us to today.
The Difference
What sets Maiden America apart from similar acts is the same ferocious dedication to their fans that Maiden has for theirs. Maiden America consists of carefully hand-picked, professionally trained musicians. The chemistry between Ariana, Redzy and Jeff with the vocal and guitar harmonies is second to none and must be heard live! The same is true for Eric and Space providing that solid, tight, punchy backbone that is essential for any Maiden tribute.
Maiden America has been nominated 'Best Tribute Act' at the Central Pennsylvania Music Awards for the past four years. DejaVu.
Up the Irons!
Ariana Belle Troni
Ariana walked into her audition and simply nailed it. After hearing her version of the 'Air-Raid Siren' the band knew immediately that this maiden was the one to get it done. She was so convincing that she was called 30 minutes after her audition that she got the gig.
Ari is a professionally trained vocalist. She studied under Steve Whiteman of KIX for two years before focusing on vocal conservation. In high school, she travelled the United States in a competition choir while taking classical lessons. Ariana is also the singer, songwriter and founder of her new original band RUINESS, who have been gaining popularity in the U.S. and Europe with the recent release of their first single.
Matt 'Redzy' Smith
Redzy has been with the band for at least half of its existence. He needed no audition. Redzy and Eric have been friends for a long time and when the position became available he got the call!
Matt studied under legendary guitarist Greg Howe, who has done work with Michael Jackson and Rihanna to name a few. He also was a vocal student of Gloria Davis, who herself studied Opera at the Juilliard School of Music. Redzy also plays and sings with local Rock 'n Roll band Whiskey Mansion,
Jeff Teets
Jeff's main influence is long time Iron Maiden guitarist, Adrian Smith. He sings like him too. Jeff helped the band out in the past, filling in for a few gigs without a single rehearsal, and crushed it! He also needed no audition, just a setlist and a report date!
As a guitarist, songwriter and keyboardist, Jeff and his sister Sarah formed the progressive power metal band MindMaze. They currently have three full length albums and have toured across the United States and Canada.
Eric Steven
Eric and Space played together previously in another Maiden tribute act. He was recruited by Space on July 4th, 2019. Eric has been a huge fan of Iron Maiden his whole life, and credits Steve Harris as his inspiration to start playing bass.
Eric is self taught bassist with a thirst for knowledge and a drive for perfection. He was a Bass Instructor at Basement Music in Nuremberg, Germany for a few years before relocating to Holland, then back to the United States.
Eric 'Space' Dengler
Space is one of the founding members of Maiden America and has been with the band since its formation in early 2017. He has played in many bands throughout his career, including Made In Iron with Eric Steven in 2010 where a lot of focus was placed on the Di'Anno years.
Eric is also the drummer and founder of the Pantera tribute band PENNTERA.