From left, Brad Hull, Matt Lopez and Tim Gates makeup Due West.
The new country trio known as Due West has been added to Nashville radio station WKDF’s “Wall of Fame” after being chosen as a fan favorite for five consecutive nights, thanks to their brand-new single, “I Get That All the Time.”
Being “retired” as a fan favorite from fan voting on the local station is something that’s quite a significant accomplishment for these local indie artists, who prefer to consider their fans as friends over any other definition.
“We don’t even like to call them fans,” says Wyoming-born band member Matt Lopez. “We want to just befriend people. We want to share our message, share our music, and make a real connection.”
Apparently, the Music City-based lineup, which also includes lead vocalist Tim Gates and Arizona native Brad Hull, is doing just that on its now-in-progress, first-ever national radio tour in support of the players’ first single, "I Get That All the Time.” (Along the way, they mesmerized at least one radio station receptionist, too, based on the video evidence.)
“Whether we’re a parent, a child, or an adult looking back on our lives growing up, there’s just something to be said about walking in the front door of your home and feeling the weight of the day whisked away by the chaotic familiarity and peacefulness of family,” Gates has said of the song.
All tunesmiths with full-time staff writer gigs and cuts by artist’s such as Lady Antebellum, Bucky Covington and the Gaither Brothers, Due West’s debut number is securing early radio adds and set to be contained on the act’s forthcoming, full-length release on their own label, Bigger Than Me, which is being produced by Jason Deere.
Initially, the talented players, with their trio of harmonies and from-the-heart songwriting, were signed to a development deal with RCA, thanks to help from Deere, the group’s honorary fourth member. However, they were seemingly dropped overnight, they report, when Sony BMG merged in 2006.
“The very week we turned in our sides (to the label),” Gates recalled, “Sony BMG merged and we became this tiny, tiny dot on the map”
As a result, Due West was faced with waiting for a couple weeks to have its CD release or to be released from the band’s contract and pursue commercial success on the player’s own. In short, they chose the latter, and now, country radio’s getting a first glimpse—and listen—to the group’s “I Get That All the Time” single and harmony-laden sounds that are influenced by greats such as Vern Gosdin, Blackhawk, Alabama, Shenandoah, McBride & The Ride and Diamond Rio, among others.
Some of those same musical idols, in fact, have become fans of Due West. Says Hull: “It’s a surreal thing when your heroes become your peers, and then become your fans, and then your friends. It’s a humbling experience.”
As for the group, whose music is founded on friendship first, then solid songwriting based on real-life, commercial success will come, if it’s meant to, they’ve concluded. And if not, the musicians’ modus operandi will remain the same, with no deviations.
“If the world wants real, if the world wants genuine, and if the world wants sincerity, Due West is going to be gigantic,” Lopez said. “The cool thing is, though, that if the world doesn’t want what we have to offer, we’re still going to do it. We love doing what we do. We’ll do it ’til the day we die.
“Brad and Tim are my best friends,” he continued. “There’s nothing cooler than getting to do what you love-play music and write songs for a living-than to do it with your two best friends.”
For more info: Due West Web site and Official Due West MySpace page, which includes tour dates.
Comments