Bio

Hearts and Hand Grenades are an explosive American hard rock group from Buffalo, NY, bursting with an edgy sound for all generations of true rock addicts. They are: Stefanie Wlosinski (Lead Vox and Bass), Mike Bress (Guitar and Keyboards), Kenny Blesy (Lead Guitar), and Cory Michalski (Drums).

In March of 2019, Hearts and Hand Grenades scored a gig supporting multi-platinum rockers the Goo Goo Dolls at the long-running annual charity event, Variety Kids Telethon. After the band’s set, they were approached by Goo Goo Dolls vocalist/bassist Robby Takac, who was so impressed with their performance, that he invited the band to record at GCR Audio. They took him up on the offer, and within a month they recorded the four song EP entitled Wait, which they released independently in July of 2019.

The Pandemic hit, and the band got busy, revisiting GCR Audio where Robby Takac hooked them up with producer Justin Rose (Goo Goo Dolls, James Taylor, Spyro Gyra) who recorded, mixed and mastered what would later become the band’s debut full-length album Turning To Ashes, a debut full-length record featuring eight original songs. The album was released worldwide on January 8, 2021, and it was critically acclaimed by the likes of Classic Rock Magazine, Power Play, and dozens of other media outlets all over the world.

As The Pandemic restrictions started to ease up in the Spring of 2021, the band quickly re-enlisted producer Justin Rose and revisited GCR Audio to record a second album, which would be titled Between the Lines and delivered to Eclipse Records. This sophomore effort contains ten hard-rocking tunes full of ferocious riffs and powerful lyrics, the project a standout success.

To date, the band has played a number of tremendous live shows, completing two US tours and two UK tours, including the Hard Rock Hell - Sleaze Festival (HRH is a major festival organization for music in the UK). They played the Rock 4 Vets Music Festival in Michigan, which hosted Saliva, Nonpoint, and Saving Abel among many other bands, and they rocked the Central Florida Metal Fest in Orlando, headlined by Drowning Pool. Moreover, they have gigged locally in Buffalo, supporting bands such as From Ashes To New and blowing the roof off every joint straight to the moon.

In terms of the band’s rich sound, Stef Wlosinski (Bass and Lead Vox) goes for a deep low-end and enjoys experimenting live with bass distortion effects through a Mark Bass head and cabinet. Mike Bress (Rhythm Guitar) plays a 7-string Ernie Ball Majesty guitar through a beastly Mesa Boogie head and cabinet. Kenny Blesy (Lead Guitar) plays a standard Fender Strat cleanly through a Marshall head and cabinet, and Cory Michalski (Drums): laid down his tracks for the latest record remotely, in Arizona, where the album was also mixed and mastered. He used an electronic kit for the bulk of it with real cymbals.

Hearts & Hand Grenades will release their aforementioned third studio album, titled Where I Begin, through Eclipse Records January 26th, 2024.