Rosco Bandana COURTESY: PROUD LARRY’S
Every so often a local favorite, dive-bar-playing band makes it in the crazy world of the music industry. Over the past few years, it has been Rosco Bandana’s turn for time in the spotlight. The Mississippi Gulf Coast-based group, featuring Jason Sanford on lead vocals and guitar, Jenny Flint on vocals and percussion, Emily Sholes on vocals and keyboard, Patrick Mooney on bass, Jackson Weldon on mandolin and guitar and Sean Murphy on drums, has proven its worth in the music community and shown that it is a force to be reckoned with.
Since signing a deal with Hard Rock Records after winning the Hard Rock Rising contest in 2011, Rosco Bandana has been on a roller coaster ride that has yet to stop.
“It’s been an interesting journey,” frontman Jason Sanford said.
But the band’s humble, down-home roots are part of the appeal that brought them to the top. Starting out in Gulfport, Mississippi, Rosco Bandana was formed in what could have been a scene from a movie.
Lead singer Jason Sanford, who was raised in a very straight-laced Christian home, was in the midst of a rebellious stage when he discovered his love for music outside of the religious variety. Taking influences from artists such as Elliot Smith, Iron and Wine and Bright Eyes, Sanford began teaching himself how to play the guitar. With a high from his newfound musical freedom and plenty of angst from a recent breakup with a former fling, Sanford began writing his own songs and creating a style of his own that leaned toward alt-folk music.
The initial forming of what is now Rosco Bandana began with the reconnecting of Sanford and an old family friend, who happened to be playing music at the time as well. The two began playing together, creating a sound for themselves, and testing the waters of independent music. Then the search for new, core band members ensued. As they played in several wine bars and open-mic nights, different members were picked up along the way, one of them being Sanford’s past darling Emily Sholes.
Playing at small venues and bars created quite a local following for the motley crew, but the band’s real jumpstart occurred during the Battle of the Bands contest hosted by Hard Rock Records. This marked just one of many peaks in the small-town band’s musical career, being the first act to be signed to Hard Rock’s new label. The rest is simply history.
Since then, Rosco Bandana has released their first studio album “Time to Begin” and has been touring the East and West Coast, even gracing the Double Decker Festival stage in Oxford this past April. The group was met with an incredible reception, becoming an instant crowd pleaser.
“We have an eclectic sound,” Sanford said. “It’s something that everyone can be a part of.”
And Oxford residents can be a part of the southern rock fun that is Rosco Bandana on the evening of Friday, Oct. 10 as Proud Larry’s welcomes the band to the stage.
“We’re a young band, and young folks can relate to our music,” Sanford said.
With a bluegrass and gypsy rock style, Rosco Bandana takes a little trip reminiscent of “O Brother Where Art Thou’s” Soggy Bottom Boys. Priding themselves in their high energy and diverse stage presence, the band knows how to bring the music while not taking themselves too seriously.
“We’re a part of a young generation that has a short attention span, so we like to jump from different style to different style,” Sanford said.
This rings true as the group takes influences from artists such as My Morning Jacket, Band of Horses, Bob Dylan and Neil Young. With such a wide range of genres being implemented in their music, Rosco Bandana has a little something for everyone.
Following in suit of groups such as Mumford and Sons and The Lumineers, Rosco Bandana has begun to write in a radio format in order to make a name for themselves among the mainstream community. But at the end of the day, the band remains true to its folk and alternative rock origins and only wishes to inspire and uplift through their music.
Rosco Bandana has battled the nightmare that is the music industry and has come out on top. Despite what they croon in their gospel-esque ballad “Woe is Me” declaring “Lord, I pray to stay in Mississippi,” this is one band that appears to be going big places.
Doors open at 8 p.m. and Rosco Bandana will take the stage at 9 p.m.
