With their song “More Than a Song” getting airplay locally and at stations across the country, things are solidly moving in the right direction for the band Lost Highway.
Lost Highway lead singer Jesse Steberg said at Ramble Jam 2012 that “More Than a Song” was written with the intent to be real and relatable.
“We wrote that song hoping that it would relate with a lot of people, and it has” Steberg said. “Any time you write a song, that’s what you want to happen.”
In addition to being played locally on K102, the song has been receiving airplay in southeast Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa, as well as Renegade Radio in Nashville. Fans can also request “More Than a Song on K102’s website as part of its Jelli user-controlled programming.
Not bad for a band that formed in a Minnesota shop about four years back.
Around that time, Steberg’s buddy from high school, Matthew Schwake, stopped by Steberg’s house and told Steberg he learned how to play guitar. Steberg said he had been kicking around the idea of starting a band and had been looking for some guys.
“We messed around in my shop for a while,” Steberg said. “Found some local guys that I knew played in a band and they started with us and we got going.”
Those guys were also in a metal band, which took off for them, Steberg said.
He restructured, and brought in Bronson Bergeson on lead guitar and vocals, Jake Galzki on banjo, guitar, harmonica, keys, and vocals, Tim Paulson on bass and vocals, and Aaron Seever on drums.
“They came on board about two years ago this fall, Steberg said. “We clicked real well with these guys,” Steberg added.
“We’ve got a real good solid core now.”
Rounding out the Lost Highway crew includes south tech extraordinare Nate Morris and lighting genius Billy Dyrdahl.
Looking forward, Steberg said he’d love to take the band to the next level. “We would love to go national with it, there’s no doubt about it,” Steberg said. “And we hope that happens. If it doesn’t, we’ll just put on the best show we can up in the Midwest and we’ll just tour up here on our own independently. We’d love to get picked up by a label, write some more songs, and get some good songwriters behind us, too, and just go from there.”
In addition to the songwriting, as with any live band, Lost Highway loves to build its fan base by performing live. “We love performing for as many people as we possibly can,” Steberg said.
“It’s always special when we perform around home. We’ve got our core fans that have been there since day one. There’s nothing better than that, but it is fun expanding the areas, too, and developing that fan base outside of your area.”
Having spent about a year working on an album, Steberg said that now that the album is out, it’s a great feeling when the band plays originals like “More Than a Song” and “Lovin’ On a Sunday,” and the crowd is singing back.
“It’s the most rewarding thing ever,” Steberg said.
Steberg and Lost Highway have also been utilizing social media to continue building the band’s fan base. “It catapults any band out there by several years,” Steberg said, adding that it takes some of the grind out of it.
“We do real well with social media,” he added. “It allows for interaction with fans and is a great way to get messages out about what we’re doing and where we’re playing next.”
The “Back 40 of Wanamingo”-based band has also released a music video on YouTube and accompanying social media, and is building its fan base young and old.
“The greatest thing about that is, our fan base is getting younger,” Steberg said, adding that the band strives to do all-ages or 18-plus shows when possible.
“That’s what’s really cool is seeing all the young people come out,” he added.
He feels one of the main reasons the younger generation is attracted to Lost Highway is that it is simply how they were brought up. “The Midwest is country,” Steberg said.
“You don’t have to be from Georgia to be a country guy or gal. I think a couple bands need to come out of Minnesota and make a statement in Nashville.”
Steberg said there are some great Minnesota-based bands, citing Hitchville, Rocket Club, Greene and Hurst, and said a lot of good bands are pushing to do as much as they possibly can.
He said Lost Highway is trying to elevate the scene and said it’s great to be in that circle. Being “in that circle” has led to some great opportunities for the band to date, including opening shows for Clay Walker, Hank Williams Jr., Josh Thompson, Lee Brice, and Sunny Sweeney.
He said the most fun the band has is when it is doing a street dance for a local festival and 1,500 people show up. “That’s what was really cool this summer, especially later this summer when we started getting airplay,” Steberg said.
He said he asks fans where they heard about the band, and some are now saying they are being recognized from the radio.
Even with a freshly-released album, Steberg said the band is going to start working on another album of original music in the near future, as well as continuing to spread its wings on the road, playing across the Midwest. He said he also hopes to make a couple trips to Nashville.
“We’re going to make it as big as we can independently,” Steberg said.
“We’re going to put on a show. As much as you’d love to think it’s all about the song, people want to see the show, too.”
He said, it’s been the band’s fans that have gotten them to this point, and said if the band is going to continue to move forward, it is going to be with the support of its quickly-growing fan base.
“If you don’t have fans behind you, you don’t have anything,” Steberg said.
A CD release party is scheduled for the Lost Highway Saturday, Oct. 27 at High Five Bar and Grill (14103 Irving Avenue South, Burnsville). The show will be 18-plus.
For more information on Lost Highway, you can simply click HERE.
Writer, Ryan Gueningsman can be reached at ryan.gueningsman@minnesotacountry.com or on Facebook.