Snake Nation Demo (lost Sevendust demo tape; 1994)

Sevendust.

Status: Lost

In 1994, the earliest incarnation of Sevendust was formed. With members Morgan Rose, Vinnie Hornsby and John Connolly, the band would later employ singer Lajon Witherspoon and extra guitarist Clint Lowery. The band's name changed several times down the road, before eventually settling on Sevendust years later.

Before Lajon joined the group, Morgan, Vinnie and John recorded a demo in 1994. This is the earliest known recording of any Sevendust incarnation. Vocals were handled by John and Morgan. It’s unknown what the songs on the demo were, but an interview with Revolver Magazine in July 2007 suggests that an early version of the song “Black” was one of them. It is also said to have three tracks on it. According to a September 1999 issue of CMJ, the demo was sent to RCA, who were impressed but turned them down. The group was not happy with how the vocals sounded overall, which led them to hire Lajon.

To this day, the demo has not appeared again in the public eye. It’s unknown if it was publicly released or just sent to labels, and how many copies were made. The tape is commonly referred to as the ‘Snake Nation Demo,’ as many assume that Snake Nation was the group's first name; However, some sites have discredited this, claiming that Snake Nation was just a previous group Morgan was in.

External Links

• Revolver July 2007 interview. Retrieved 18 Dec '16
• CMJ interview. Retrieved 18 Dec '16