It's that ache in your heart. That place inside you where all the stuff collects and collides like junk in a drawer. Except it's not junk. It's real and it matters and it's the matter that makes you. It’s that ache that makes you want to fight and surrender, scream, and sigh. It's decaying and it's beautiful and it's full of these awkward opposites. So full that sometimes you don't understand. You can't understand.

But then someone or something comes along to give it shape, a voice. Someone whose ability to capture this space is so pure, so precise, that it springs hope within us and legs to stand on.

Something like The Violet Burning.

The Violets Burning have been making music under the direction of creative mainspring, Michael J. Pritzl, since 1990. A prolific songwriter, Pritzl's story is one of endurance, endurance manifested in a plethora of albums and relentless touring throughout the US and Europe. Endurance resulting in an absolute rabid following of fans. Though Pritzl has surrounded himself with different musicians through the years, the music has never been compromised and the fans keep coming back for the powerful, guitar-driven rock The Violet Burning never fail to deliver.

Their first album, Chosen, was released by Vineyard Music, with other albums released through labels such as Domo Records and Northern Records before becoming independent. The group has toured with national acts like Cracker and the Nixons while making appearances on MTV Europe and in several high-profile festivals. Their independent releases are highlighted by 2011's The Story Of Our Lives, a three-disc, 34-song concept album about a character's decision between life or death.