photo by Jef Hatch
By Jef Hatch
“Sweet Town Little,” a band based in Brookings, has been selected as one of 10 bands to play at 7 p.m. tonight (June 12) in the opening round of the Colgate Country Showdown at the Lucky 7 Casino in Smith River, Calif.
(A LIVE RECORDING OF THE BAND CAN BE FOUND IN THE MP3 CATEGORY IN THE UPPER LEFT-HAND CORNER)
The top five bands selected by a panel of judges will move on to perform again July 4. The top band from that second round will compete in a state-wide competition.
Winner of the state-level challenge will receive $1,000 and a chance to compete on a regional level.
The ultimate prize at the national competition is $100,000 and the national title.
“Sweet Town Little” is made up of Scott Perry, keyboards, guitar and vocals, Lance Kessler, bass, Paul Lopez, guitar and David Amato, drums.
“We’ve been together in our current form for two months now,” Lopez said
“In a town this size,” Amato added, “it can be tough to find four people who get along as well as we do. There are a lot of musicians out there, so to find people who get along so beautifully is a rare thing.”
When asked what brought the band together Perry responded with, “the ‘Force.’”
Amato was quick to correct him saying, “Scott and I were playing a lot together and after about three years we decided we wanted to go with a strictly ‘country rock’ style. And so we formed this band.”
Kessler is the newest member of the band and thought the band members were crazy when they asked him to join. “I told them that I hadn’t played in seven years.”
“His only request,” Perry joked, “was that we didn’t play ‘Boot Scootin’ Boogie.’”
The band does in fact, do a cover rendition of “Boot Scootin’ Boogie.”
The band’s opening tune tonight will be a cover of a popular country tune, followed by an original song written by the group.
As they progress through the competition, they will be required to play original tunes in order to advance.
“We bring different things to the table,” Kessler said. “We each have our talents, I’ll find new licks for the bass and bring them with me to rehearsal and we’ll find ways to fit them into the songs.”
“Scott writes most of our lyrics,” Amato stated. “But we all contribute when we have thoughts.”
“A lot of times we’ll hear something that Scott has written and we’ll add a new beginning or change the end and it really makes it our own.” Lopez added.
Most of the band has been playing since they were young and chose their instruments because it was “in their blood,” said Amato.
All of the band members live and work in the Brookings area and are happy to call it home.
“Sweet Town Little” has also been chosen to participate in the Southern Oregon 2010 Last Band Standing competition to be held June 23-Sept 8 at Shenanigans in Medford.
Each round of that competition will feature two bands facing off in a head-to-head challenge with the winner determined by audience vote.
While competitions can be daunting for a band that has only been together for two months, this band is not worried at all.
“We really want to use this to find out where we are musically right now,” Perry said.
On top of the upcoming competitions the band has been scheduled for various venues throughout Brookings and Crescent City, Calif., by their manager Debby Phillips.
Phillips has been using her contacts from the radio world and a healthy dose of persistence to set up gigs that a young band like “Sweet Town Little” normally wouldn’t get.
These four men are not letting the pressure get to them apparently as they went about their rehearsal with seeming nonchalance.
