Magnatar is a five-piece band based in DeLand, FL. The lineup crosses over 3 generations of musicians that have forged a unique original instrumental sound that blends power rock with progressive leaning elements and rich layered melodic overtones.

In addition to the traditional guitar, bass, keys and drums, Mandolin serves as the fifth instrument that binds and weaves the various song movements together.

The founding members of the band which dates back about 12 years, are Glenn Smith on Mandolin and Joey Costa on bass. During the first 4 to 5 years, several iterations of the band evolved as they were developing their style and sound, with Glenn serving as the principal songwriter.

During this early formative period they played under the name Buckets And Strings.

About 8 years ago Glenn crossed paths through a chance encounter with drummer Reed Hayes. The band was playing at the DeLand Original Music festival, one of the largest festivals of this type in the Southeast sponsored by Songwriters Showcases of America, and Reed just happened to be near the stage where Buckets And Strings were playing.

Reed, who was well known in the central Florida music scene, was very intrigued by the unique sound of the band. He introduced himself to Glenn and one conversation led to others over the next few months and when the opportunity arose, Reed stepped in as the new drummer.

The next big step in the progression of the group occurred over the next year or so when guitarist Ryan Rivas stepped in and really took the band and its music to the next level. Ryan met Joey when he was only 14 and still trying to find his musical path.

Joey saw something very special in this young and raw talent, and spent a lot of time exposing him to a lot of the same music that had had such a profound influence on him in his early years.

Fast forward 8 years or so and that young, raw talent had developed into something very special, and as fate, or destiny would have it, the door opened for him to join the band.

Once Ryan had become fully integrated into the band along with the impact Reed had made on drums, the decision was made to again change the name of the band to Magnatar to reflect what had effectively become a completely new look and sound.

The final step in advancing the bands’ musical growth and identity occurred about another year or so after had Ryan joined the group.

Glenn’s cousin and Joey’s old band mate, Dave Norton, re-connected after many years apart through yet another completely chance encounter.

This unexpected reunion ultimately resulted in Dave coming out of “retirement” to return to his old music roots as the bands’ keyboard player.

Adding the keys has provided a multi-layer foundation to blend and accentuate the bands’ diverse tones and textures and serving to further refine and define the unique and ever-evolving sound of Magnatar.

While the core sound and style of the group is now stronger than ever, the band remains open to additional opportunities to further experiment and grow their sound.

After more than two years of very hard work, Magnatar released their independently-produced debut album entitled, Parallel Worlds (October 23rd, 2018).

1. 'Parallel Worlds'
2. 'Fourth Passage'
3. 'Solara (Intro to New Galaxy)'
4. 'New Galaxy'
5. 'Night Changes'
6. 'A Walk in the Park'
7. 'Five Pieces of Six'
8. 'She Flies'
9. 'Augmented Reality'

The album opens with the pacey title track and flows seamlessly into both 'Fourth Passage' and then the beautiful key work of the two minute intro to New Galaxy, 'Solara.'

The frenetic aforementioned 'New Galaxy' is then backed by the melodic intrinsicality of 'Night Changes' which in turn is followed by both the stunningly poignant acoustic guitar work of 'A Walk in the Park' and then the guitar picking and key marvel 'Five Pieces of Six.'

The album then rounds out with the atmospheric 'She Flies' and then their free flowing musical textures all come to the fore on the infectious 'Augmented Reality.'