THIRD CLASS

THIRD CLASS MAKES OHIOAN POETIC POP MUSIC VIA ABSTRACT TRAVELOGUES, SMALL-TOWN ALIENATION, CHILDHOOD NOSTALGIA, AND TRUE LOVE, SINCE 1999.

ON CHRISTMAS OF 1993, IN EAST PALESTINE, OHIO, A WIDOWED KAREN BOYLE GIFTED TOY INSTRUMENTS TO HER SONS, LEE, JACK, AND STEVE. THEY FORMED VARIOUS BANDS WHILE SELDOM REPLACING BROKEN GUITAR STRINGS. LEE MET PEPE PARISH WHILE WORKING ON A MIDDLE SCHOOL FILM PROJECT, IN 1996, AND THEY STARTED EXPERIMENTING WITH VARIOUS GENRES. JACK TAGGED ALONG TO CAUSE THE OFFICIAL FORMATION OF THIRD CLASS, IN 1999. THE BAND PLAYED THEIR FIRST SHOW IN A FRIEND'S LIVING ROOM AND BEGAN RELEASING BASEMENT DEMOS AND TOURING THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, STARTING WITH OHIO AND NEW YORK. THEY PUT OUT THEIR FIRST STUDIO ALBUM, THE POST-PUNK-INFLUENCED CHLOE'S EPITAPH IS CHLOE, IN 2006, AND TOURED WITH THEIR COMEDY TROUPE, BULLSKIT PRODUCTIONS, IN 2007, THROUGHOUT THE MIDWEST AND THE SOUTH. AFTER ATTENDING COLLEGE AND BEING INSPIRED BY VARIOUS LITERATURE, THE BAND RELEASED THE RED WHEELBARROW, IN 2009, TURNING TO A MORE POP-DRIVEN STYLE. WHILE CONTINUING TO TOUR, THIRD CLASS CREATED A FUNDRAISER FOR THEIR NEXT RELEASE, THE INDIE-ROCK-INSPIRED 12 AND 9 EP, WHICH WAS FUNDED ENTIRELY BY FANS, IN 2011. THEY PROMOTED THE EP WITH TOURS OF THE EAST COAST AND MIDWEST. LEE AND JACK RELOCATED TO WASHINGTON FOR THE SUMMER OF 2013, WHICH PARTIALLY INSPIRED THEIR 2014 ALBUM, HYMNS FROM SOME SMALL TOWN, WHICH INCLUDES INFLUENCES FROM CLASSIC ROCK, R&B, AND FOLK MUSIC. SUBSEQUENT TOURS FOCUSED ON THE MIDWEST AND PACIFIC NORTHWEST AND INCLUDED THE 2015 VINYL RELEASE OF HYMNS. THIS ERA ALSO SAW JACK RELOCATING TO TEXAS AND MASSACHUSETTS. THIRD CLASS RELEASED VIRGINIA'S PLAYLIST, A 20-SONG DOUBLE-VINYL ALBUM, IN 2017, WITH A SHIFT TOWARD BALLADRY, THE INCLUSION OF VARIOUS GUEST MUSICIANS, AND THE USE OF OLD TAPE RECORDINGS TO SUPPLEMENT SONGS. LIVE SHOWS FOCUSED ON OHIO AND PENNSYLVANIA AND ENLISTED TOURING DRUMMER, BOB YOUNG. IN 2018, THIRD CLASS RELEASED THE ALBUM, POEM IDEA, IN WHICH LEE OPTED FOR A STARK, ROMANTIC, SINGER-SONGWRITER STYLE WITH SELECTIONS WHICH WERE NOT NECESSARILY APPROVED BY THE REST OF THE BAND. THIRD CLASS TOURED OHIO AND PENNSYLVANIA, INCLUDING A SMALL RUN OF CHILDREN'S SHOWS WITH LEE'S WIFE, MINDY BOYLE, AND THE ENLISTING OF TOURING BASSIST, KURT ANSHUTZ. LEE'S FAMILY RELOCATED TO NEW YORK, PLAYING VARIOUS EAST-COAST SHOWS, UNTIL A 2020 RETURN TO OHIO. JACK AND HIS GIRLFRIEND, MARISSA MARVEL, RELOCATED TO WASHINGTON, BUT EVENTUALLY SETTLED IN MASSACHUSETTS. PEPE IS THE ONLY MEMBER OF THIRD CLASS TO CONSISTENTLY KEEP HIS FAMILY LOCATED IN THE BAND'S ROOT STATE, OHIO. AFTER WRITING A COLLECTION OF SONGS THEMED AROUND EMBRACING THE "GHOSTS'' OF THE PAST, THIRD CLASS RETURNED TO CROWDFUNDING TO CREATE THEIR UPCOMING 2021 ALBUM, HAUNTED UNTIL THE VERY END, AS WELL AS A PRECURSOR EP, MY OLD GODS. ASIDE FROM CONTINUED SMALL-TIME MUSICAL CONQUESTS, THIRD CLASS' MEMBERS DABBLE IN PODCASTING, FILMMAKING, AND CREATIVE WRITING, AS WELL AS VARIOUS CAREER ENDEAVORS; LEE IS A CHARITY FUNDRAISER; JACK IS A TEACHER; PEPE RUNS HIS OWN JUICERY, WITH HIS HUSBAND, CORY FOSTER. LEE HAS A VERY OUTGOING PERSONALITY WHEREAS JACK AND PEPE ARE MUCH MORE RESERVED, OFTEN EXPERIENCING SOCIAL ANXIETY DURING PERFORMANCES. LEE FREQUENTLY PERFORMS SOLO, AS THIRD CLASS. LOVED ONES, INCLUDING KAREN BOYLE, STEVE BOYLE, DEREK BAKER, CRAIG BEIGHT, GREG ALLISON, BRANDON HULL, AND ERIN KANE ARE HONORARY MEMBERS OF THIRD CLASS. THE BAND ARE SUPPORTERS OF THE BLACK LIVES MATTER MOVEMENT.