A battle of the bands competition has led the band Heavy Denis to be the musical performance at the Homecoming tailgate on Saturday. 

Heavy Denis, a six-person band, performed at the Sept. 22 tailgate for the Charleston Parks and Recreation Battle of the Bands. 

Jake Edwards, the lead singer, said Heavy Denis was formed about three years ago.

“It is, in a sense, a family band and two good friends,” Edwards said. 

The other members are Kaleb Edwards, bass; John ‘Jay’ Carson, guitar; Jesse Fustin, guitar; Mike Gingrich, drums; and AJ Howell, trumpet.

Edwards said he did not start playing music until he was older. He said his other brothers started before he did. 

“My younger brother, he may not know it, but he is the one who inspired me to play guitar,” Edwards said.

Edwards said music has been in his family for a long time.

“We all just grew up with songwriting parents and grandparents,” Edwards said. 

Edwards said the band was formed three years ago when Edwards’ brother, Kaleb Edwards, asked him to watch him and Carson play to see if they could start a band.

“We wrote a song that day, and it’s just taken off ever since,” Edwards said. 

Edwards said music has always been there.

“It’s been there kind of laying dormaint and then we had a kind of explosion in songwriting and musical creativitiy in general,” Edwards said.

He said they have about 20 to 25 songs that they have written and one cover song, “Freebird” by Lynard Skyard. 

Edwards said they performed “Freebird” during the first round of the battle of the bands on Sept. 22.

“I think that is the direction we are going in, at least for now,” Edwards said. “We want to have about 50 to 60 percent covers, because you are a little more bookable if you play stuff people know.”

Edwards said they have had some success with their own songs, which are written by four of the members of the band.

“I think that having four song writers has been a strength of ours,” Edwards said. “For a band that does original music, it doesn’t get a lot of same sounding songs, whereas a lot of original bands you get a set of 10 songs and it’s hard to tell the difference between them, because they might only have one writer or they are stuck in a box of one style of music.”

Edwards said he never wanted to be in a band that plays a certain type of music. 

“My philopshy has been, if the song is good, then we play it,” Edwards said. “If a song had heart and it came to us honestly, we try to put it together.”

Edwards said the band is not a main priority for many of the members, who have regular jobs and families. 

“Four of us are fathers and on a good month, we see each other twice a month to rehearse or write,” Edwards said. “It’s been three years and we only have 20 to 25 songs, which has been pretty productive because we rarely see each other.”

Edwards said they rarely see each other even twice a month. 

“I think that what has held us back the most is life in general; (we’re) busy life with our families,” Edwards said. 

Edwards said they stuggle to juggle their lives and try to find a balance, so they can continue playing music together. 

Edwards said they have set their priorities. 

“We all have our love of music but family is family,” he said. 

Edwards said they are looking forward to playing together. 

“I don’t think any of us takes for granted that we get to play together,” Edwards said. “I really appreciate getting to play with these guys when we can play.”

He said what has held the band together has been a common interest. 

“Everyone loves it so we keep it up,” Edwards said. 

Edwards said the band plans to bring their families to the Homecoming tailgate. 

“I know my daughter hasn’t seen the band play, which does stick with kids,” he said.

Edwards said they enjoyed their first performance.

“We were unsure when we saw the stage, it was a tiny stage, and there were six of us,” Edwards said. “It actually worked out great, playing outside, since there are six of us, it can get noisy if you are in the wrong space.”

Edwards said they were worried about the competition because they  have had little time to practice. 

“We’ve had a lot of rejection, so we got use to hearing ‘Yeah, you’re good  but we picked someone else,’” Edwards said. “So finally we feel validated.”

Samantha McDaniel can be reached at 581-2812 or slmcdaniel@eiu.edu.