Sequoyah Prep School

The five members of Sequoyah Prep School hail from Florence, South Carolina, where they began making affable, Americana-influenced pop songs in 2003. From the start, the group took influences from bands that had dominated the radio a decade prior -- Matchbox 20 and Counting Crows chief among them -- while keeping one foot planted in the 21st century, with MySpace and other social networking sites serving as the band’s biggest means of promotion. Following the release of their independent debut, Weights Are Heavy, in August 2005, the band began touring the East Coast, paying special attention to college campuses before venturing into other markets in support of follow-up albums like 2007’s We Said Hello... and 2008’s Ghost Town. ~ Andrew Leahey