Six for the Road

How does a band break through the noise of the digital age? If you’re Stop Light Observations (SLO), you have to create a scene, or a movement, that people want to be a part of and have your own style, says lead guitarist Wyatt Garey. And the self-described “Southern psychedelic garage rock band”—comprised of locals Garey (lead guitar, synth, trumpet), John-Keith Culbreth (keys, guitar, vocals), Coleman Sawyer (bass, banjo, fiddle), Louis Duffie (guitar), Luke Withers (drums), and Will Blackburn (lead vocals)—has done exactly that.

The social media aficionados entered the fan-driven Road to Roo contest, beating out hundreds of other bands to win a coveted slot at the Bonnaroo music festival in Tennessee this past June. “Fans voted and pushed us up to number one in the contest and then came in packs to see us perform,” says Garey.

With two members still in college, SLO plans to keep writing, recording, and promoting its March release, Radiation. Tracks are reminiscent of The Black Keys, The Rolling Stones, R. L. Burnside, Jack White, Arcade Fire, and Delta Spirit with hints of soul, vintage folk, Celtic, and Motown; in other words: original. Hear them live this Saturday, August 10, at the Music Farm, where Heyrocco opens the show.

To enter to win a copy of Radiation, click here (one winner will be chosen at random).

To buy tickets ($10-$12) to Saturday’s concert, click here.

For more local music news, click here.