Kentucky native band tours southern states
Where a person is from, oftentimes has influence and is a large part of who they are. For the band Sundy Best, it’s what also made them famous.
The duo, consisting of Nick Jamerson and Kris Bentley from Eastern Kentucky, recently struck gold with their song “Home (I Wanna Go).” CMT discovered the video and it has been at the top five at CMT Pure since it’s release.
“It really set in that we had a chance to do something really cool about a year ago,” Bentley said. “We did a kickstarter campaign after people started listening to ‘Home.’”
Bentley said the campaign was established to raise $6,000 to cover costs to record in a studio and make CDs.
“We were really shocked and in awe when we met our goal of six grand in the first eighteen hours,” Bentley said.
In the remaining days of the campaign the group reached double their starting goal and earned $15,000. According to Bentley, there has not been one defining moment but the group does know how far they have come and will always stick to their Kentucky roots.
Jamerson and Bentley were just two kids in who grew up in Prestonsburg, Ky. They formed a lasting friendship based on many common interests in elementary school such as sports, church and music.
“Nick and I grew up together playing music in church,” Bentley said. “We had a Christian rock band in high school.”
In 2009, Jamerson and Bentley started playing together as the duo Sundy Best. According to Bentley, the name is pretty self-explanatory.
“We started playing music in church,” he said. “That’s where you get the Sunday best. Where we are from we spell things the way we talk.”
As reminiscent of home as the band name is, the group’s songs reflect fond memories of Eastern Kentucky life as well. However, their music is hard to categorize by just one genre, mostly because of their wide array of inspirations including folk, country, rock, soul and blues.
“Early on, we drew inspiration from the people around us. Later we drew from the Allman Brothers, Tom Petty, Bob Seger and, the Eagles. We listen to what we relate to.”
Sundy Best understands the importance of relatable music. With that, they strive to give their listeners something with a lot of truth behind it.
“We write really honest and genuine music,” Bentley said. “We write what we know and what we experience.”
The band continues to put their music out by playing venues for their album that was released on Tuesday, August 27. The album includes their old songs previous released independently and new live and demo tracks.
“We have built a good name in music around Kentucky,” Bentley said. “Now we want to get our music in the hands of people who haven’t heard it.”
In order to make this a reality, recently the band finished recording in studio a new album, which will be release in early January.
For now, the band is busy touring the southern states such as Kentucky, Georgia, Texas, Tennessee and North and South Carolina. In addition to those stops, the group will be making a visit to Chicago.
Story by Hunter Harrell, Staff Writer