art anthony (alvarado) - Rhythm acoustic/electric guitars and Lead Vocals.

Art grew up partly in Pico Rivera and Anaheim, CA. Art is from a large family of eight brothers and sisters, where Christ was the center of their lives. At age 11, Art took piano lessons (at the request of his parents and a church teacher). A few months into his piano lessons, he told his instructor he really wanted to play the guitar and begged his parents to buy a guitar as soon as they could afford one for him. Soon after that, Art quit his piano lessons and got his wish and received his first guitar and began his quest to improve his skills on his own with no teacher.

A few years later, at age 13, Art started his own "rock" band and so he did with his three other brothers. They formed the band they called Crystal Waters. Basically, the band only did local church gigs, youth functions and camps. Shortly thereafter, the band went different directions, everybody went off to different colleges and that was the end of the band. For a five long years, Art put the guitar and singing aside and studied architecture at Cal Poly Pomona University, CA. After finishing his schooling and graduated with a BS degree in Architecture, he began working hard in his field and realized that something was missing. In 1994, while attending Saddleback Valley Community Church, he was inspired to get involved on the "worship team" that lead others in worship. He ended up meeting Joey Heshion (previous lead guitarist on B.O.H.) in one of the groups. While serving on the different groups, Art felt that he needed to get back to his first love of playing his guitar, writing new music and sharing them with a crowd at large. He realized that he needed to move outside the walls of singing to the "choir", and reach out to the crossover sector of the life, the people outside the walls of the "sanctuary." He wanted to be out there were the "rubber meets the road," as Art has put it many times before.

In 1996, after getting together several times, Art and Joey Heshion began the band that they now call "B.O.H." (BridgeOfHope). The two started off doodling with some blues-rock ideas, and B.O.H. took off from there. Art wanted the band to grow from merely doing rock tunes to writing and doing a wide variety of eclectic styles that encompasses alternative and hard rock music in a whole new way. Art's musical influences have a wide range from Pink Floyd to Black Sabbath, U2 to RedHotChiliPepers, Nirvana to Collective Soul and from LifeHouse to Dave Mathews Band. They are certainly a band to be listened to, and that's one thing Art inspired to do . . .

In March, 2004 B.O.H. ended up winning the category for "Best Hard Rock Band" of the year at the OCMAs (Orange County Music Awards) for the song "RIPPLEaffect", which was producer by the band and Bob Burch. To say the least, the award opened more doors in main stream, and Christian circles alike, which has been providing more opportunities to play at larger and more influential night clubs. But however poplular the band will get, Art believes in sticking to their vision, which is about communicating a message of Love, Mercy, and Grace in a different tone of that of traditional church music through their own form of hard rock music. Art's belief and purpose of the existence of the band, in Art's own words "is not simply about fame, popularity, or money . . . it's about getting an optimistic message across to others through the music and lyrics we present, in this day and age that we live in", as well as doing great music that a wide audience would love and enjoy. Also, the most important thing Art wanted to do is to do what he loves most and that is playing and singing, in an alternative-rock band that would share his faith to the world at large.

SIDE NOTES . . . Art tends to seem reserved and introverted, but as he says "I may seem like I am quiet, but when you get to know me, I am intense and passionate about life." He describes himself as an optimistic person, especially about the future. "As long as we can always speak from the deepest part of our hearts and be real, we can improve on our relationships with those around us," said Art. "I like to have fun, but I also like to be responsible to my brothers in need around me," he continued. Besides being in B.O.H. and practicing architecture (his "day job"), Art likes to do many outdoor things (i.e. body-boarding, snowboarding, mountain biking, ocean kayaking, basketball, etc.), anything fun.

QUICK STATS

Favorite Bands: Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Lifehouse, Audioslave, AudioAdrenaline, Creed, Puddle Of Mudd, Dave Matthews Band, Collective Soul and . . .

Favorite Movies: All Matrix movies, Back to the Future I, II and III, Field of Dreams, The Rookie, It's a wonderful Life, The Lord of the Rings trilogy and Passion of the Christ. . .

Favorite sports Teams: Dodgers, Angels, Vikings, Lakers, USC and now Mark Sanchez's Jets. . .

Childhood heros: Greg Brady, My Dad and Mom, and Jesus Christ

Music Influences : Rock, hard rock, some metal, grunge, swing, Jazz, classical, acoustic, folk, blues, punk, emo, and some pop rock. . .

Equipment Used

Guitars: Fender Fat-Mexican Strat and Fat-Mustang

Amps: Fender Twin (all tube) Power amp

Cabs: Peavey Triple XXX - 412 Cab half-stack

Pedals: BOSS

Picks: Clayton USA (.80 mm), Fender (Med.)

Email Art at boh@bohmusic.com