On Autumn Drive signs recording deal

Nevada Daily Mail

Four local teens may well be on the way to stardom. They have recently signed a recording deal including a 21-date tour throughout several states.

Drew Bauer, a Nevada high school graduate, joined the already established band On Autumn Drive, last November. He plays bass guitar.

Other band members include Caleb Cox, a Bronaugh graduate who plays guitar and does vocals. Two Kansas youths were founding members. Huston Hamm plays guitar and Derek Early plays drums.

"I've known Caleb for a long time," Bauer said, "and I met the others while in college at Fort Scott."

The band had lost one member and when asked to join, Bauer jumped at the chance.

"My cousin Jeremy gave me a bass guitar years ago and I learned to play it on my own and with Doug Harper giving me some lessons," Bauer explained.

The band's sound is well-known to the younger audience. Bauer said, "I guess it could be called alternative music. It's somewhere between rock and punk.

"Our audience is high school and college age, mostly 18-19 year olds."

The band will next be performing at Mound City as part of the STAR program for the school district there. Check out the band's Web site www.myspace.com\onautumndrive or call (417) 667-8729 for more information about future appearances.

"We will be traveling a lot to promote our CD," Bauer said. "All the songs on the CD are our own original material."

The album should be available this summer.

Bauer said that with the upcoming tour schedule, he may have to postpone finishing college for a while.

"All the families have been supportive and have backed us with our decisions," he added.

When breaking the news to his parents about leaving college for the road, Bauer was pleasantly surprised.

"My parents kept saying 'we have faith in you and we know you can do this,' which was kind of surprising to me."

He encourages fans to keep checking the Web site for future appearance dates and a release date for the album.

"On Autumn Drive is a good band," Bauer said. "Come see us perform and you won't be disappointed. If you want to see a good show, I know you'll get your money's worth."