Some of the hardest work an act does is playing to live audiences. Everything from the planning and preparation for the show (or tour) to rehearsals and then there’s the now and again setback to deal with. Since the second half of last year, Southbound 75 have been slowly growing into a consistent live act. Beginning with spot dates throughout Florida, to occasional callbacks to play some venues a second time (or more), to a residency in Key Largo for a few weeks.

While playing every day (and multiple times a day) at this year’s Florida State Fair, this is another step in the Southbound 75 plan towards becoming a national act.

The Fair, which ran from February 6-17, had the band playing three to four times a day every day. While the early sets attracted mostly retirees, the late afternoon and evening sets attracted a younger demographic. This is where SB75 found most of their new fans over the last week and a half. Beginning with covers, the guys would seamlessly transition to some originals, including, what would be come their signature song in the set, “Friend of the Bride.” Bride, written by singer/songwriter/guitarist and frontman, Mark Lorenzo and Scott Sojka, included a nice back-story to the inspiration for writing the song and performed acoustically. The audience, with all the other distractions of what the fair had to offer, typically was silenced as Mark weaved his true tale of the song’s origins and then performed the tune. Immediately after, many newly minted SB75 fans got up and headed directly to the merchandise booth and purchased CDs, download cards and t-shirts, affected by the power of Bride and quite possibly the entire set.

When the band members finished their set and eventually made there way to the merch booth, fans were eager to meet and talk with the guys and share their story that parallels “Friend of the Bride.”

Stepping back for a moment, what Southbound 75 is doing is what hundreds if not thousands of musical acts do around the world: Perform a set, make an impression and hopefully make a few friends along the way.

(“Friend of the Bride” does not have a commercial release, yet, but hopefully it will later this year.)

#liveshows #residency #FloridaStateFair