Trevecca student-led band advances to round two in local music contest

By Christy Ulmet

Phin, a band of Trevecca students, alumni, and a sibling of a student, advanced to the second round in Lightning 100’s Sixth Annual Music City Mayhem.

Music City Mayhem is an annual contest hosted by Lightning 100 in which over 340 bands auditioned for this year. The contest is set up in a bracket system, like March Madness, and begins with 32 bands. Bands are paired together randomly to run up against one another, and the contest goes on until four bands are left.

An additional artist that receives the most votes during the competition but didn’t make the final four will be named the “wild card” and will be added to the final competition, making it “the final five.”

The contest will conclude with a 30-minute performance by each remaining artist/band at a concert on Saturday, April 19.
The overall winner of Music City Mayhem is awarded with three days studio time with an engineer from Sound Stage Studios, a song played on heavy rotation on Lightning 100 for a month, a commercial schedule on Lightning 100 valued at $1,500 and most importantly a spot at Live on the Green 2014. Live on the Green is a free outdoor concert series that runs every Thursday from August thru September. This gives artists an opportunity to let their music be heard by large audiences.

“I mean who doesn’t want to play at Live on the Green?” Haydel said with a laugh.

Phin was named after Phineas Bresee, founder of the Nazarene church. Toby Haydel, the band’s founder and lead vocalist, saw the significance in Bresee and realized if it weren’t for him, Haydel wouldn’t be where he is today.
Everybody in the band has Trevecca connections. Two members of the band are Trevecca graduates, three members (including Haydel) are students, and one member is the sibling of a student.

The group has been working on writing music, putting together EP’s, and performing at concerts for two years.

Haydel, junior communication students major, made the first steps toward starting a band. He’d just finished writing his first song when he had some of his friends listen to his music. He and his friends knew they wanted to do more.
One of Haydel’s friends, Cody Garrow, had a friend who could help produce an EP for the group. Last year’s annual battle of the bands contest, Boonearoo, was the first time the group played together as a whole. They’ve been working at bettering their group since.

“Our goal as a band is to influence people in a positive way and reach as many people as possible,” Haydel said.
Nick Huddleston, senior music major, plays guitar for the band.

“The whole thing seems to be really picking up, and a lot of exciting things are happening. We hope that competing in Music City Mayhem will be another step to getting our music out to a broader audience,” Huddleston said.

The next round of voting for Phin takes place April 4 from 9:00 a.m. thru 11:59 p.m. central time. The band will be up against a group called Golden Youth.

To download Phin’s free EP, click here.

Who’s in the band:

• Toby Haydel: vocals, synthesizer

• Cobey Arner: drums

• Graham Scott: bass

• Preston Hunt: keys, synthesizer

• Nick Huddleston: guitar

• Cody Garrow: guitar

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