InsaneJournal

Caden Griffin Thomas was the only child born to Griffin and Katherine Thomas, the owners and operators of a successful print shop in their hometown of Hoboken, New Jersey. The small family lived comfortably and happily in their community, and Caden grew up with the same group of friends his whole life. Despite being a typical boy who played sports and caused a ruckus with his friends, Caden and his parents knew that was something a little different about him, something they couldn't quite put their finger on. Precocious and energetic, Caden was signed up for every sport his parents could find to try and help him expend some of that energy somewhere else but home. It was baseball that Caden took to, and as a natural athlete, it wasn't long before Caden and his parents began taking his love and skill in the sport seriously. As he grew older, he progressed rapidly, and even before his teens was being told that if he stuck with it, he had a promising future in the game, perhaps even the majors. And still, even so, that subtle difference from his early childhood began to become far more obvious, at least to Caden and his parents. It seemed that no one else noticed. It was during an awkward, tumultuous eighth grade year that Caden finally came to realize just what that difference was. While the rest of his friends were taking girls on dates, Caden found himself having absolutely no desire to take anyone on a date other than the cute blond-haired boy who sat a few seats away from him in English. It was a secret he carried all through high school, with mounting guilt at not confiding in his very best friends or parents, and terror that his confession would cause everyone he loved and cared about to turn against him. Though he was a rather good-looking teenager, his lack of interest in dating was dismissed with ideas that his focus lay in baseball as he led his high school team to the state championships three years in a row as their starting pitcher, in his schoolwork and maintaining a GPA high enough for a scholarship should playing baseball not garner him one, and in the band he and his friends had decided to put together one lazy afternoon just before their junior year started. Caden took the lead lyrically, but was content to let one of the other guys front the band in the beginning. After a few months in a garage, they began playing wherever they could, including friends' birthday parties, the school talent show, and whatever local show they could get their name in. They were a huge buzz band by the end of their senior year, though they'd never quite been able to get out very far past Hoboken to play shows. But with the support of their parents, and of a burgeoning underground scene, they sent out demo tapes to any label they could find. Quite a few came calling, but only one seemed promising, like a perfect fit. When he graduated high school, Caden faced the biggest decision of his life: his love for baseball and a college scholarship or his love for music and a record contract. After a week of indecision, he finally chose to stick with the band. He was only 18, after all, he had plenty of time for school if the band fell through, and could always try out for the baseball team as a walk-on. Signed to a two-record contract, the band began to work immediately, deciding that Caden would take over as lead singer, and released their first full-length, Call It In the Air, only six months later. With their first album out and their first tour on the horizon, Caden, who saw no other choice, finally came out to his friends. Though he feared the absolute worst and saw nothing else than the band breaking up, his friends only laughed, telling him that they knew even longer than Caden himself had. Despite a slow start, the band began to gain notoriety in the indie scene. Their label wasn't as impressed as the fans that began to grow in numbers as the band toured relentlessly, and with their contract expiring, the band found themselves in desperate times, as the label wasn't looking to extend. With nothing else left to do, the band rushed through creating a few rough demos of the songs they'd been writing for their new record and played them for the label as a plea for their case. For the first time, the label truly seemed to take notice of the band, extending their contract by one record. It was a gamble that paid off for everyone. Godspeed's third full length, Cautioners, catapulted them to mainstream success. Suddenly the little band that could was the big band that had. Despite a few recent hiccups, including having to let go of one of their original band members who exacted his revenge by unceremoniously outing Caden in a MySpace blog read 'round the world, the band has continued to press forward with their career, and are expecting to release their fifth studio full-length by the end of the year.