Most of us receive one or two Likes on a Facebook picture we post. But within 30 minutes of posting a photo of two Clemons Road bandmates on the Plant City Observer’s wall holding the newspaper, there were 20 Likes, two shares and two comments.
These guys are popular.
It seems Plant City music lovers can’t get enough of their hometown band. And now, word is extending far beyond the community. Last month, the band was featured on WQYK 99.5, the Academy of Country Music’s 2012 Station of the Year. And on Jan. 5, the group performed at the House of Blues, in Orlando.
Clemons Road caught the ears of the Greg Warren Band, which asked them to join them and Dustin Seymour at the venue.
“It was awesome, ridiculously awesome,” guitarist Josh High says. “The fact that so many big acts played there — people who we look up to — it was awesome. It was probably our best performance yet.”
About 1,700 people came to the show, with 400 people there specifically for Clemons Road. Afterward, about 150 fans celebrated with the band at an after-party in Downtown Disney.
AIRTIME
In December, Clemons Road made an appearance on the morning show for Tampa’s WQYK in Tampa. The opening came when a fan sent in Clemons Road’s name to deejay Dave McKay.
The band appeared on “Write a Song Wednesdays,” one of the show’s segments that challenges a band to write a song based on callers who give them one line of the song. The band then has to take those lines and create a song — no matter how wacky or lame the lyrics may be.
Four band members headed to the station early that morning. They came bearing gifts — a sampling of pastries from Hole-in-One Donuts for the morning show deejays.
“We try to bring Plant City with us everywhere we go, because we are so proud of our town,” vocalist Cliff Brown says.
For two hours, the band joked with on-air talents McKay, parody songwriter Cledus T. Judd, “the Weird Al of country music,” and Veronica “V-Girl,” all while listening to callers’ song lyrics.
“They were funny,” Brown says. “Some people were creepy, though.”
One of the kookiest lyrics they received was, “You’re coming with me, whether you like it or not.”
In the end, they created a song with two guitars and a fiddle that broadcast throughout the 2012 Station of the Year’s Tampa Bay market. But for those listeners in Plant City, it’s not the first time they had heard Clemons Road’s unique sound.
BACKGROUND
The seven-piece band has been promoting itself throughout Plant City and Lakeland since it formed in February 2012. The band played at Plant City’s annual Fourth of July Fireworks show, a Halloween Celebration at O’Brien’s Irish Pub and Grill in Plant City and have even opened up for big-name acts such as Dustin Lynch, at Boots and Buckles, in Lakeland, and Michael Ray, the first winner of the CW’s “The Next Talent” competition.
“Everything is kind of taking off with us,” Brown says. “Artists we perform with come in with million-dollar budgets and bands and a technical crew. Now, people expect us to be of that caliber.”
Clemons Road currently is organizing a tour for the spring and summer, visiting cities throughout Florida, Georgia and Alabama. The band also hopes to have a new album by February.
“It’s not that we’re done playing locally, but we want to build a fan base and want to push out,” High says.
Although the band formed less than a year ago, Clemons Road has acted fast in promoting and creating its music. Floating around town in fans’ CD players and iPods is Clemons Road’s first EP, “From Florida with Love,” which combines country with other styles, such as bluegrass, reggae and rock.
“There’s no bad style of music,” High says. “There’s good music or there’s bad music. We cut through the genres.”
Brown writes many of the songs for Clemons Road, and he has the skill for it. Brown started creating beats for different artists and signed with Warner Publishing. In 2007, he won a Grammy for helping produce a song on Mary J. Blige’s Album of the Year, “The Breakthrough.”
It was a breakthrough for Brown, but the job that made him successful had him away from his family for weeks at a time. He gave it up, but his love for music never waned.
“Now, I can do it on my own terms,” Brown says. “I can do what I want to do, when I want to do it.”
His experience has helped the band create the professional-quality demo. Typically, bands have to spend thousands of dollars to hire a producer. Clemons Road was able to do it at a studio at Brown’s Plant City home.
“We practice hard, because we want to get better,” Brown says. “We’re just some hometown boys from Central Florida. We’re not the very best, but we want to be huge and have the world hear our music.”
The band also plays on the talents of fiddler Jason Baker and banjo player Gavin Baulac.
“Some bands don’t even have full-time players, and we have two of the best,” Brown says.
WHAT’S IN A NAME?
Staying true to its roots, the band got its name from the 1.5-mile Plant City road. In high school, Brown and bass player Eric Long, used to play in a jam room at his house on Clemons Road. Drummer Chris Williams and High played at Williams’ family’s plantation house on their farm in Springhead.
“All our musical influence started there,” Brown says. “We played, practiced and partied all in that area.”
Brown already knew High, Long and Williams, but through word-of-mouth found Baulac, Baker and guitarist Matt Richardson. Happy with the chemistry of the band, Brown is ready to take on the Southeast this year.
“We’re not a traditional country band,” Brown says. “We make our own sound. We grew up around different music styles, and we’re proud of where we’re from.”
Contact Amber Jurgensen at ajurgensen@plantcityobserver.com..” >http://car-teacher.ru/oformit-kredit-dlya-malogo-biznesa.php