SoJo Summerfest Battle of the Bands

The city of South Jordan hosted their first annual Battle of the Bands competition, at their SummerFest celebration. The Summerfest had food trucks, carnival rides, and a large number of events such as a 5k race, a tennis tournament, etc...  They had several judges, who looked at various factors, such as originality of songs, crowd participation, stage presence, etc... Their were two categories of performances, those under 18, and those over 18, and each category had 4 bands. Everybody that performed, had to submit 2 videos of live performance, and the top 4 submissions of each category were selected.

We submit two songs from Full Fidelity Live Session video series, and we made it!

7Bridges

The first band, 7Bridges, were a Brazilian country acoustic duo. They were not only musicians, but performers. They dressed up. Their banter was scripted, and did a great job connecting with the crowd. It was more of an entertaining show, rather than a couple guys playing a bunch of songs. They harmonized on all of their vocals. I think that in general it is hard for an acoustic group to compete against a full band, because the full band has a more full sound with bass and drums. They were confident, and they did awesome.

EIGHTH DAY

Aaron, our drummer, is away on National Guard duty, so my high school friend, Trevor Ockey filled in on drums. He did an awesome job, especially since we only practiced with him once, 4 days before the show. We struggled in selecting the perfect set list; we weren't sure what the judges would find the most appealing. We ended playing 2 originals, and 4 covers. The covers were selected based on which ones would highlight different attributes of the band, such as guitar solos, and vocals.

Cephas

Cephas, a folk/pop band, was really good. Instead of each member learning their parts to the songs, and playing those parts in unison, they took a step back and really focused on the quality of the overall sound. They played along to pre-recorded audio, which requires that their drummer play to a click track. We tried that route a few years back and it didn't seem to work with us. Also their bassist sang harmonies the whole song, every song, which Mark tells me is difficult.

Carver Louis & Old Lincoln Highway Band

Carver Louis & Old Lincoln Highway Band, a modern country band, was the last band. They're a Tooele band, which got me kind of excited, since I'm a citizen of Tooele now. They are currently finishing up an album at the same studio that we are, and the singer stated that they were going to release their album after it's mixed and mastered later this month, and I was thinking, "Yeah, us too." They had two electric guitar players, the singer played acoustic guitar, a bassist, a drummer, and another guy who played drums, harmonica, and mandolin depending on the song. It's hard to have that many instruments in the mix, but they sounded really good! People were really getting into their music. At one point in their show, they abruptly stopped playing, saying that there was something about the monitor mix not being quite right, and started on the next song.

They played well past the 25 minute limit, and it appeared that they had no intention of stopping until one of the event organizers ran up to the stage and told them to stop. Honestly, that's what we should have done, we had like 3 really good ones that we reluctantly dropped.

Verdict

I was excited to be playing in my home town, and I was very excited at a city government event, especially after watching the television series, Parks and Rec. Every band that played was awesome, and deserved to be the recipient of the award. Cephas was the winner. We were honored to perform with such talented artists, in world's awesomest city. (Although, Rome is a close second.) My wife got a participation medal for playing at SoJo fest tennis tournament, and she may or may not have let me wear it a bit. 

Single Release Party (Pat's BBQ)

We released our single, "What's the Point", from our upcoming album yesterday, and we made it official with a single release party.


Pat's BBQ is a popular restaurant among the local population, known for their delicious food and live music. I had a Brisket sandwich, and it was divine!

The stage was much bigger than expected, and the sound was really good. An added bonus is that the restaurant hired a sound guy to mix us. There wasn't anywhere to hang a banner, making us grateful that we got the stand-up retractable banners.

We got paid on tips, and people who came and listened to us paid a cover charge. (There's many rooms in Pat's BBQ.)

Since it was a sit-down restaurant, we played some of our slower songs.

The highlight of the night was playing with Addy. Addy is the daughter of one of Mark's co-workers. She likes music, and she plays bass. So filled in for Mark on Carry On My Wayward Son, and Starlight. It was her first time performing, and she nailed those songs. Makes me think that we're so used to performing, we take for granted the awesome feeling it is to perform.

It was a great show, thanks to everyone who came to support us, and we hope that you had as much fun as we had!

Addy's first show, and she rocked it!

Single Release, "What's the Point", from our upcoming album

Our latest single What's the Point Now available on: It's been a long journey. For the past two years, we've been recording this album, and it is finally finished. It wasn't easy, but it was worth it.

It wasn't easy. We love every song on the new album, and it was difficult to just pick one single to release. After much deliberation and soul searching, we are pleased to announce the official release of "What's the Point."

But, we gave this everything that we got. Energetic, honest, melodic. This song is one we can all relate to; Love isn't love if both parties aren't giving it 100%. We hope you enjoy this song and share it with your family and friends.

South Jordan Battle of the Bands Meet and Greet Show

We were one of 8 bands selected to compete in South Jordan's Battle of the Bands, which will be part of their Summerfest celebration. Today we had a friendly meet and greet concert at the MusicGarage, where each artist showcased two songs. Everyone in Eighth Day was super busy this weekend and nobody but me (Daryl) was able to make it. The show must go on, so I asked my cousin Eric Hughes and his friend Jake to perform with me. I play drums with them sometimes and thought it would be perfect. Check out some of Eric's original stuff: https://soundcloud.com/eric-james-hughes/

We called oursevles "Underpaid". All of the bands were super cool and talented and it was a pleasure to perform with them. Here's the two songs that we performed:

  MusicGarage is an after school program for youth, founded by Steve Auerbach. Steve and I go way back, when he first landed in SLC, he was the first director of the SLC School of Rock, and I was part of the first production 13 years ago. We did Pink Floyd's "The Wall".

Remember to support us at the June 3, at the SoJo Summerfest Battle of the Bands! If we win, we'll get $500!
http://www.sjc.utah.gov/event/sojo-summerfest-battle-of-the-bands/?instance_id=155

Aaron rocking it in Arkansas!

Aaron having a good time rocking it at a Dueling Piano Bar at Ernie Bigs, Little Rock - Arkansas! Go Aaron!

The Cliff - 05/17

The Cliff is a new high end pub restaurant located on the mountains of Draper. The food was good, and they have an incredible view of the entire valley. This was a particularly exciting show, because we've been trying to book a show here since it opened. Allison works at the Cliff, and all of her co-workers very warm towards us and excited to hear Allison share her talents. So there was pressure on us as a band to not suck, because we didn't want to embarrass Allison. Luckily we are awesome, and we nailed the show. People were enjoying their food during our first set, and then the dancing began during our second show.

Nate and Ingrid enjoying the view and Balcony

We hired Vic to do our sound, and he did an awesome job. Ingrid took our photos, and they turned out awesome. We all had a great time and we hope to perform here again.

The traditional picture of the band after show, feat. Vic

My attempt to get a good picture of  Aaron, and get a unique angle

Our band name was featured on the billboard outside

Whole band goes to studio to listen to final mix, and special announcement!

Steve, our producer at Full Fidelity Studios had the whole band and listen to his final mixes one final time to see if we where happy with them. They sound so good, and make it worth the wait! Allison's vocals and harmonies are incredible, Nate's solos are out of this world, Mark's bass is solid, and Aaron's drums are tight and flavorful, and I don't sound too bad myself. We are really pumped and can't wait to release this CD. We are going to release a single later this month! Or early next month, to give you a flavor for our music. It's so hard to choose just one, because they're all awesome.