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In the Fall of 2007, after five years of pavement pounding, Poughkeepsie, New York rock band Mercury Rising was creating a strong local buzz. In a sudden, surprising move, their singer joined the Army and left the group without a frontman. Frustrated, the remaining musicians – guitarist Jim Knauss, bassist Davey Alexander and drummer P.J. Gasperini -- started scouring MySpace for a new singer. It wasn't long before they clicked on Archit Tripathi, a real belter with a broad vocal range and a near-encyclopedic knowledge of powerful rock.