Musicians have makings of rock stars

Musician Graham Colton has all the makings of an up and coming rock star. Performing songs from his debut self-titled album he showcased his unique style and talent Thursday night at Axis.\nStudents filled the club for a charity concert featuring Better than Ezra. While most are familiar with the sound of BTE, the opening act, The Graham Colton Band, was a creative surprise. \nThis was the second time the Dallas-based band played in Bloomington this year. The Graham Colton Band came to IU touring with the Counting Crows in October. Opening up the set, 21-year-old Colton commented to the crowd, "Last time we were here we were awakened to hear about the infamous IU porn scandal."\nThe five-member band played songs from their independently recorded CD. Colton sang mesmeric ballads like "Killing Me" which was reminiscent of an Oasis sound. Drum-driven songs like "Jessica" featured a catchy chorus that brought even first time fans to singing the chorus by the end of the song. The Graham Colton Band has the ability to create songs that sound comforting and somewhat familiar, while using a creative and fresh style that's purely their own.\nAfter listening to their set, it was evident by their artistic style who some of their influences are. \nColton said, "I think that we're influenced by everywhere from Tom Petty, Travis, and Coldplay to Oasis and The Beatles." \nColton said he describes their music as "roots rock." \n"It is under the broad spectrum of pop rock which is basically any band that isn't playing death metal," Colton said.\nSince forming the band last year, Colton said they have written between 30 and 40 new songs. For their next album, they plan on focusing more on an organic sound with piano and acoustic guitar driven songs.\n"Cigarette" is one of the new songs that was played Thursday night. It's beautifully crafted and was written with the help of Kevin Griffen from BTE. \nColton said, "It was one of the easiest songs to write. We wrote it in less than eight minutes."\nCurrently, fans can only buy The Graham Colton Band's CD online at their Web site, www.graham colton.com. However, lots of fans are trading songs on the Internet. Colton said he is supportive of the Internet as a tool to download music.\n"Some of the songs we play that aren't even recorded yet have great fan support. Going half way across the country and having people sing songs back to us is pretty remarkable." \nWhile they are thinking about record label options, Colton said he does not want to rush into anything. Instead, he said the band would like to focus on new material and create another album.\n"Everything is happening so fast for us right now. We're just taking it one day at a time because this is all new to us."\nThe Graham Colton Band will be back in Bloomington some time after the new year. This is a great new band to check out.