For many students, the final lazy days of summer are filled with packing, last minute visits with friends and finishing up jobs and internships. But for the four members of Auburn-based band Scooter McGavin, the last few weeks have been far from lazy.
The band has almost completed recording their first, full-length album, performed a marathon of shows in the Alabama-Georgia area and kicked off their fall line-up with a show at Spicer's Music in Auburn, all in the span of three months.
The band is comprised of vocalist, lyricist and guitarist Sam Harvey, bassist Jimi Greene, electric guitar and mandolin player Mitch McKoy and drummer Corey "Scooter" Spicer.
What started out as a simple jam session among friends has become an organized music group.
"I met Mitch at Auburn United Methodist Church, and he always kept talking about his roommate [Harvey] who was an acoustic guitar god," Spicer said. "We just started jamming at the beginning of last summer."
After being together for only a year, the band's success has come as a surprise to its members.
"It's kind of weird just because for the longest time starting out it's so hard to get gigs," McKoy said. "But now it's people calling us."
The group's first gig was performing at the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art, but soon afterward, they received calls to play at the Loft in Columbus, Ga., the Summer Swing Series in Opelika and the Taste of the Highlands Festival in Atlanta.
McKoy considered the Highlands Festival as his alltime favorite gig so far.
"The whole experience was so cool, meeting a ton of cool people and the family we stayed with. We didn't make much money, but it was still cool," McKoy said.
When asked about the unique name, McKoy laughed and said it's a combination of all the band members' names. Spicer contributed his own nickname, Scooter, to the band's first name. McGavin is a blending of McKoy and Harvey's real name, Gavin.
And Greene's contribution?
"Jimi is the space in-between," McKoy said.
Scooter McGavin has been described by its members as folk, funk and Southern rock, but according to Harvey, the band's genre is somewhat of a mixture.
"We always joke about how we call ourselves Americana because that could be anything," Harvey said.
Lyrically, the music of Scooter McGavin attempts to provide a sense of connection through shared experience.
However, Harvey said he is hesitant to write about real people.
"I made it a point to myself to never write about actual situations," Harvey said.
"It's too dangerous, you end up like Taylor Swift. I try to make them a story but they're always about some people who aren't actually real."
The fast pace that has defined Scooter McGavin this summer will continue into the fall with a line-up that will include shows at The Overall Company in Opelika, Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art and the Art, Food and Wine Festival in Atlanta.
The band's first album is expected to be released sometime this fall and will be available on iTunes and Spotify and as a physical copy. More info can be found at www.ScooterMcGavinBand.wix.com/ScooterMcGavin
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