Georgia Bands Take the 40 Watt Club Stage

Recently at the 40 Watt Club in Athens, three Georgia-based bands took the stage to perform a mixture of their own music and covers of performers that have influenced their sound. The Sweet Heart Beets kicked off the night followed by Summer Sonics and headliners Kick the Robot ended the night’s set. Opening bands The Sweet Heart Beets and Summer Sonics both hail from Athens while band members of Kick the Robot are Dacula natives.

The Sweet Heart Beets are composed of five members. Shannon Kirk plays the bass and lends her voice to the band’s vocal track. Jeffrey Vernon also assists with vocals in addition to playing the guitar and keyboard. Jonah Allen also plays the guitar while Cameron Lee plays the drums and harmonica. Last but not least, C.M. Drury plays the saxophone, keyboard, guitar and also contributes to the vocals. Their first single, “Day and Night”, debuted on April 14th of this year. As the opening band of the night, The Sweet Heart Beets wired up the crowd and got everyone in attendance ready to hear more great music.

Summer Sonics raised the energy in the 40 Watt Club as the second group to perform. Their band consists of Brad Gerke on guitar and vocals, Sawyer Guthrie on the trumpet and back up vocals, Russell Tindol on the drums, Ian Armstrong on bass and Joey McLane on guitar. On their Band Camp site, they have tracks available for free download. They performed some of these tracks as well as a rendition of the Beatles classic “Eleanor Rigby”. The band joined the audience after their set to support headliners Kick the Robot.

Kick the Robot greeted the crowd by performing a song from their upcoming album, “Whenever You’re Blue”. The band consists of Jess Scarpone on guitar, Dan Remel on bass and Rufus Yahooty on the drums. All three band members contribute their vocals to their songs. The crowd reached a new level of excitement which only increased throughout their set. This was Kick the Robot’s first 40 Watt performance and they certainly did not disappoint. Kick the Robot closed with an encore performance in which they played their song “Machine Gun” from their first album, Music to Fight Future, available on their website and on iTunes. They then performed a brief cover of “Purple Haze” by The Jimi Hendrix Experience.

Overall, the night was filled with good music and high energy. All three bands will continue to perform at various venues and times. For more information on the bands mentioned above, search for their social media accounts such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Written by: Brancey Montgomery and Kristina Fowler

Twitter: @TheVRO

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