Southern Grit, based in Marion, took to the stage at Hangar 9 on Jan. 16 for a night of live country music with a touch of rock and soul.
JaRon Roberts formed the band five years ago with different bandmates after he opened for another band, Slaughter. The band later progressed with Shannon Arview, Landen Billington and Jared Craig joining. They have now been together for almost three years.
The band describes its genre as country with a bit of rock ‘n’ roll. They said they were driven to the genre by their love for country music.
“I’ve always liked country music, so that’s….fun to play, it’s not even a job for me but I will say it’s fun to do songs that people wouldn’t normally think a country band would do,” Roberts said. “It’s kind of a curve on it. Keeps the show lively,” Roberts said.
The band says they thrive off energy from the crowd. If the audience is having a good time, so is Southern Grit.
“I feel like if you get up there and you’re prepared and other people are enjoying it and you’re enjoying it, you’re not really thinking about it, you’re just doing it,” Arview said.
While Southern Grit mostly perform covers, they said they want to eventually put out an extended play (EP) to see where it goes. They are currently learning about 20 more songs to cover.
Southern Grit’s next show is at Just Add Water in Marion on Feb. 7.
Photo Editor Emily Brinkman can be reached at [email protected]
