As Port Orchard band Jaded Mary prepares for its Winterland show this Friday, its members prepare to take another step in their careers.

The band will play Friday, Aug. 27 at Winterland, 1220 Sylvan Way, Bremerton, before they begin preparations for a trip to California to record at Radiostar Studios.

Guitarist Tim Bertsch has played with the band since it originated and has seen it mature in both sound and business.

“The band originally formed because we wanted to do something different from the rest of the local music,” Bertsch said.

Jaded Mary’s music is spun off the early 1990s Seattle music scene, which allows the band to play a variety of different styles of rock—from slower ballads to more punk roots—while keeping their originality. Band members include: vocalist Randy Sage, guitarist Bertsch, drummer Leif Wagner, and Jamal on Bass.

When he’s not playing a show or practicing with the band Bertsch teaches music. Bertsch studied music at Olympic College’s Bremerton campus and teaches music lessons privately through his company in Port Orchard—Sound Academy—and at the Music Mansion in Poulsbo.

The band still has a lot to do before recording with Radiostar Studios, including raising money for the trip south and the cost of recording, which will be done in analog. In order to raise money the band will continue to play shows in the area.

Recording the music through analog, instead of digital which converts the music into a sequence of numbers, costs more but sounds better, Bertsch said.

Radiostar Studios has produced bands such as Tool and Red Hot Chili Peppers and Jaded Mary will receive an audio recording of the same quality, Bertsch said.

The band’s dedication to moving forward in the music business is a strength difficult to find in a local band and something lead singer Sage saw in the band as soon as he joined in 2008, he said.

“Being successful in this business is very difficult to do,” Sage said. “Just one person not being on the same page can throw the whole band off.”

Sage began singing when he was 10 years old and continued throughout high school in choir. After singing for a variety of northwest bands, he joined Jaded Mary after leaving Lost and Now.

Jaded Mary’s original lead singer Jeremy Jennings died after a motorcycle accident in 2008 and Sage was one of more than 200 applicants to the position. Sage received three demo songs without lyrics, which he recorded his lyrics over and sent back to the remaining band members.

Since Sage took center-stage as the singer, the band has worked on altering its sound in order to prepare for their recording at Radiostar, band manager Christy Knight said.

“Everyone has been stoked about what has happened with the band,” Bertsch said. “It took a long time to find the proper singer, but we weren’t willing to compromise…we found a good match.”

Until recently, the sound of the band has reflected the music written by Jennings, which is something the band will look to change before they record at Radiostar.

“You don’t want to go record something off an old set list,” Knight said. “We want the music that we showcase to reflect the current band.”

Once Sage became the new singer Knight said Jaded Mary became a new band. To modernize the band Sage has begun writing new lyrics, lyrics the band will use to write new music.

The band will go through another change as the business focus switches from local gigs to album promotion. In the past, promoting albums required jumping through hoops before a band could make it into people’s homes. Now the middleman can be cut out thanks to the internet, Knight said.

“Of course we need help getting the word out… with exposure,” Knight said. “Having a label representative and investors would be nice too, but at least we can get the music out there quickly.”

Using computer programs such as iTunes to promote and sell their music will become their focus as the band begins to look at a bigger picture.

“Bands are not making it big by playing local shows forever,” Knight said. “In order to break away they need to focus on the business side.”

Instead of continuing to experiment with different sounds, the band has begun to focus on its strengths as the writing begins to closer reflect the current band members. Each band member has added input to the direction the band is taking, Bertsch said.

Although the band’s focus will be recording new material and selling it, Jaded Mary will continue to play local shows when they can, Sage said.

“We have played all kinds of club shows in the last few years,” Bertsch said. “I live for that kind of stuff… playing at familiar places and seeing familiar faces.”