by KIM HILSENBECK
Many bands think they rock. But for In the Works, a band with two former and one current Hays High School students, four contest judges think they do.
The five-man alternative music band won the Fox and FIAT of Austin “My Band Rocks Fox” competition as the hottest under 21 band, securing the group a gig at the upcoming South by Southwest (SXWS) music festival in Austin.
In the Works will perform at the BMI and Whole Foods Market presents “Live At Lamar Unplugged” show on March 14 during SXSW.
“We are ecstatic for this opportunity. It’s mind boggling!” said lead singer Austin Yount, 20.
In the Works formed in the fall of 2010 when Josh Delgado, 20, met Yount, 20, in a piano class at the University of Texas at Austin, where they are music business majors. Yount is the group’s lead singer; he also plays guitar.
Band members Delgado, drums, and Hayden Thomas, 19, lead guitar, are 2010 graduates of Hays High School; they’re now at UT Austin. Augie Gmitter, 16, bass, is a junior at Hays; he played in Delgado and Thomas’s former band, Texas FX. Cameron Pessarra, 20, piano, rounds out the group. He is studying biochemistry at UT Austin.
With diverse influences like John Mayer, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Red Hot Chili Peppers and the Allman Brothers, In the Works has a piano-driven soft rock and pop sound.
In addition to cover tunes of Michael Bublé and the Eagles “Desperado,” the group members also write original tunes such as “Live a Little,” “The Doorway” and “Imperfect Timing.”
The guys say the band’s name was an accident.
“We were recording our first demo,” said Yount. “The producer asked us the band’s name to put on the CD.”
Here Delgado picks up the story.
“I said, ‘it’s in the works,’ meaning, we’re thinking about it,” said Delgado. “But that’s what the guy put on the label. It stuck.”
As part of the contest prize, In the Works also gets an 8-hour recording session at Willie Nelson’s Pedernales Studio and will appear in a commercial spot for Fiat.
Be sure to support the band when they perform at noon on Wed., March 14 at the Whole Foods terrace, 525 N Lamar Blvd. in Austin. You can also visit the band on Facebook to become a fan: www.facebook.com/intheworksmusic.
