Home Town Hero
Home Town Hero was an American rock band from Southern California active in the early 2000s. Founding members Aaron Bruno, Drew Stewart, and Jon Monroy began playing together while attending Westlake High School, where their early project was known as the Ice Monkeys. They were greatly influenced by the success of Southern California punk bands of the early 1990s and the grunge aesthetic popularized by bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam. With the later addition of bassist Todd Burnes and drummer Ray Blanco, who replaced Ryan Cox, the band re-christened themselves as Insurgence. As Insurgence they began playing famous California venues, including The Roxy Theatre and Whisky a Go Go. When the band began work on their 5-song demo EP titled “Blues Tex Vince Hunter” they again changed their name, this time to Home Town Hero. Blues Tex Vince Hunter was released in January of 2000, and an untitled second demo EP with four songs was released in May of 2000. Monroy left the group after the recording, but before the release of these CD EPs. Ray Blanco and Todd Burnes are credited under the stage names Vince Black and Tex Harbinger for these releases respectively. In 2000 and 2001,