Second-place Pro/Semi-pro band parlays good-time music into prime studio session

When Brock Whitt and Southbound made the trek to Seymour from their home base in Ikes Fork, WV for Big Mama’s Karaoke Café’s 2008 Battle of the Bands, they were planning, as they usually do at their shows, on having a lot of fun.

“If you can’t have fun, it’s hard to do shows like this,” lead vocalist Brock Whitt said of the event, which brought the country quintet more than 200 miles to play for a crowd that had never been exposed to their brand of music before. What resulted from the show was something they never expected, as the group parlayed the video recording of their tune “Party Time” into some serious studio time.

“We’ve got a lot of people who follow us back home, but now we’ve gotten so many MySpace friends requests from people down in this area,” Whitt said. “I know all these big stars probably get thousands a day, but when we went back home after the show, we had dozens already waiting for us.”

The impact was not just immediate, but lasting, as his outfit took second place in the Professional/Semi-pro category at Big Mama’s Karaoke Café’s 2008 Battle of the Bands, and a prize package that included a one-day recording session at Big Mama Recording Studios, 100 retail-ready CDs of those sessions, and 50 DVDs of their Battle of the Bands performance.

“For us, that’s just huge, and I hate to use the word ‘overwhelming’ but it’s just really cool to see people that don’t really know you, like the folks here in Seymour, to log on and say really nice things about you,” Whitt said.

It seems certain that more really nice things will be said about Brock Whitt and Southbound in the future, and hopefully by the music industry professionals the band hopes to intrigue with recordings they’ll soon be laying down.

“I work on radio myself back home, something I never really expected to get into,” Whitt said. “If we can get some really good rhythms down, I know a lot of independent radio guys that will at least take the time to hear it. That’s why this is so huge for us – a golden opportunity.”

Whitt, who seems to carry his trademark smile with him everywhere, and spreads it around without reservation, is infectious with enthusiasm for his music and plans for the outfit.

“We’re fortunate enough that back home in West Virginia there’s a bit of a buzz about us out on the streets, so we get to play a lot of fairs and festivals throughout the summer,” he said. “We hope to play as many shows as we can, and have already booked several for this summer. Hopefully we get a good product from the studio time; we take it with us out on the road and push it around.”

“We’re fortunate enough that back home in West Virginia there’s a bit of a buzz about us out on the streets, so we get to play a lot of fairs and festivals throughout the summer,” he said. “We hope to play as many shows as we can, and have already booked several for this summer. Hopefully we get a good product from the studio time; we take it with us out on the road and push it around.

“We appreciate Big Mama’s and everyone there who has helped us out,” he said. “It’s been a really good experience. We really appreciate everything.”

Brock Witt and Southbound MySpace Page myspace.com/brockwhittmusic

Brock Whitt and Southbound perform at the 2008 Battle of the Bands.