If you’ve ever been to Jake’s on a Wednesday night, it’s highly likely you’ve heard four-piece pop-rock band, Seventy Six and Sunny.
The band, consisting of Austin Lang (vocals and lead guitar), David Kesling (drums, vocals), Jawann Stuckey (bass), and Tim Byrd (keyboard), have been together for almost two years now, and have only been getting more popular as time goes on. Known for playing covers of some of the catchiest songs from the early 2000’s, seeing the band perform live makes it clear that the four have some of their best moments on stage with each other.
This is probably because, as they admit, the time they share on stage is the most fun they have together. No matter what problem might be going on externally with the band, at the end of the day, they are four best friends who share a love for the music they perform. “When we’re on stage, it doesn’t matter what happened, you know, five minutes before, even in between songs, we have a freaking ball,” Kesling said.
Not only does their obvious talent in music make them memorable, but their name is something that sticks with audiences as well. The back story behind the name though, they admit begrudgingly, is not as stirring as people might think it is.
“We threw a bunch of names back and forth, this was one we kinda maybe thought people would remember,” Lang says. Kesling adds in, “Some people like to make a connection because we’re from a town around here and there’s one road that goes through it and it’s 76, so some people are like, ‘oh that’s where you got it?’ and we’re like ‘no, but I mean it works.’”
The group’s influences come from all over the map: in fact, any discussion about who influenced them to become musicians leads to a discussion about great music from every decade. Kesling cites his father, who was also a musician, Paul Stanley, Kiss and Carter Beauford as his musical inspirations, and Lang said that since he grew up listening to Hootie & the Blowfish, when he saw them live it was an incredibly inspiring moment: the moment he knew he truly wanted to be in a band. Byrd began as a classical pianist, due to the fact that after learning the piano, he would be able to pick up any instrument. He says his main influence, despite learning the guitar from a Lynyrd Skynyrd CD, is Dave Matthews Band. Stuckey also started out on a different instrument: the drums. He transitioned to the bass at about 16, but various drummers and gospel music were what really influenced him.
The group has been fortunate enough to experience success in Columbia, which means getting approached by different venues to play on certain nights, and being able to do things on a somewhat larger scale. All four say that playing the benefit concert for Martha Childress on Strom Fields this past fall, was probably the best venue they ever played. “It was cool for her, but it was really cool that that many people came out to a concert,” Lang said, laughing about the fact that although the four tried to play it cool on stage performing in front of so many people, they couldn’t keep from looking back at each other with wide grins.
This past spring was also a landmark in time for Seventy Six and Sunny; they released their debut album, “Italian Night Club.” The band is constantly writing and creating new content for a possible second album, though it might be a year or two before anything comes to fruition. What are the bands plans for the future, then? To better themselves and always work toward becoming a better band and playing as much as they can, according to Lang.
Though the band can get serious when talking about their music and their plans for the future, it is hard pressed to find a group so upbeat and fun. Constantly laughing and sometimes breaking out into a rendition of “Y.M.C.A.” or “Dirty Pop,” these four are clearly having the time of their lives. Ask them about their favorite TV show and they will tell you all about “That Metal Show,” and how they’re obsessed with it. Ask them about their guilty pleasures and Kesling will tell you about Demi Lovato, Lang about Kelly Clarkson, Sara Bareilles, Byrd about The Black Eyed Peas, and both Kesling and Lang will discuss their love of the show “Nashville” and the music that comes with it.
Seventy Six and Sunny has quite the future ahead of them: with an ever-growing following in Columbia and more venue dates in the upcoming months, the group is just getting started. “The best time we ever have, is when we’re playing together,” Kesling said. Lang agrees, pausing for a moment before continuing, “It’s a cool thing to do. We’ve always been extremely grateful that we’ve been able to do this.”
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