Free Reign ‘Won’t Change Drastically’ With Change of Teams

Free Reign used to be comprised of the Dallas Cowboys offensive line. That is, until drummer Cory Procter was released by the team in the off-season. Procter was subsequently picked up by the Miami Dolphins, and his band -- which took home the Most Metal Athlete award at this year's Revolver Golden Gods Awards in April -- won't be too affected by his day job shake up. The band will continue on like any other band that has members that reside in different locations, which isn't a novel concept in hard rock.

"It's a little tougher, that's all," Procter said. "Football is football. I am not in town, so it's not easy to get together. We kinda did stuff separately before, so it'll be the same thing. It'll just make it tougher to get work done, but it won't change drastically. Changing teams doesn't change anything. We'll hook up wearing different colors and still try to do as many shows as we can, which is not many, but as many as we can." Since the band was doing much of their work during the off season, this is a pretty minor disruption. He just won't be performing at Cowboys family day.

He continued, "When the Cowboys let me go, we were in studio and we finished drum tracks and are working on new songs," Procter said. "The music is done and we have to lay some vocals, and that's it. We finished the EP, and we want to finish the full-length."

As for how he will make it work? "In the off season, I am in Miami so I will fly to town for a show or something, or we may do them in another city and we might have to do shows in South Florida," Procter said. While the band had a built-in marketing angle by being the 'offensive linemen of the Dallas Cowboys that formed a metal band,' the core chemistry between himself and ex-teammates Leonard Davis and Marc Colombo, along with guitarist Justin Chapman who works in the oil fields, remains intact.

"Yes, playing football together helps with the marketing and that is nice, but we do it because we like it and have fun, and it has been cool to see ourselves progress as we've done it," Procter said.

While the Cowboys and Dolphins don't meet in the regular season, they do have a preseason match up, where they will probably engage in some friendly rivalry. "There will be some there ... you know there will be some," Procter laughed.

Procter is getting married shortly and Colombo is a groomsman, and Davis and Chapman will attend, which spells 'reunion' and 'opportunity.' Procter said, "We hired a live band, but we want to play at my wedding, too." Is he worried about what his wife's family will think of his jam session? Nah! "It's not wedding music, but we will play one or two songs and call it good," he said.