Band to bring own style of Red Dirt sound to DeKalb

By Kenny Mitchell
kmitchell@bowiecountynow.com

The DeKalb Kiwanis are set to spice it up this year for their 4th annual BBQ Cookoff Scholarship Fundraiser and will do that with a concert Friday night, March 22 as they will bring in the Justin Merritt Band.
This high energy band blends a fusion of country and rock with a little red dirt sound thrown in to make up their own unique brand of music with original recordings and remixes of some old favorites.
Merritt and his band members are about to launch a new album tentatively titled “Another Shot” that he says leans heavy on the red dirt sound, and has the kind of feel that the band has been searching for. They have been fine tuning the tracks on the CD since June of 2012 and Merritt says it is now ready.    

The band, which includes Trent Procell on bass, Steve Wilkinson on percussion, Waylon Salter at the lead guitar and Merritt cranking out the lead vocals and playing rhythm guitar, will be introducing some of the tracks off the new album when they hit the stage at DeKalb City Park next week.
They are also set to open for JB and the Moonshine Band the next weekend at Mudtruck Madness in Negreet,LA.
The band has opened for JB and the Moonshine Band before as well as other artists well known to the genre including Justin Moore, Ty Herndon and Casey James.
The Justin Merritt Band will take to the stage at 7 p.m. and will play a three hour set to entertain the crowd and the teams of cookers coming in to get ready for the festivities all day Saturday.
If you would like to get a preview of the band, check them out on Facebook  at www.facebook.com/TheJustinMerrittBand or you can listen to them on their Youtube channel at www.youtube.justinmerrittband