Sipping a Blue Moon and munching on sweet potato fries on the front lawn of the Swamp Restaurant wouldn't be nearly as enjoyable without the charming sound of two cute guitar-playing guys strumming and singing to some of your favorite songs.
Between Swamp Fridays, this year's Gator Growl talent night winner, will open for headliner O.A.R. on Friday with their first original single, "University Avenue."
While band members Chris Blackburn and James Deininger, both UF seniors in the business school, have known each other since preschool, they didn't start collaborating until late into the college experience.
"About a year ago we just said, hey, we can do what those guys at Swamp do," Blackburn said.
The two learned a set of popular songs and played a demo for the managers at Swamp.
Since then, they've been playing regularly to excited football fans, girls in sundresses and returning alumni on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
Deininger, who plays electric guitar, said the band almost missed talent night because of misreading the date on the Web site.
"We thought talent night was a week later than it actually was," Deininger said. "When we realized it was in two days we literally sat down with a handle of vodka to write the song."
But with a poetic buzz and the help of their Phi Delta Theta fraternity brothers, the two musicians created the perfect marriage of chords and lyrics.
Blackburn, who's on vocals and acoustic rhythm, said their first single is a reflection and celebration of their last four years at UF.
"We knew what people responded to, so we mirrored our experiences at UF," Blackburn said.
The original band name was The Big Black D, which was a way to combine their last names in a sly yet racy fashion. After winning talent night, they decided to choose a more appropriate band name for the event.
Aside from the chance to meet O.A.R. backstage at Gator Growl, the band is also playing a special VIP reception after the event where they'll have the opportunity to meet Dana Carvey, Danny Wuerffel and others.
They draw inspiration from Oasis, Nirvana, Eric Clapton and 311. So expect a soft rock sound on Friday night.
The two have plans to continue writing music together and will try to get more gigs around Florida while they're still in school, but as far as their future in the music industry is concerned, everything's up in the air.
"We've thrown around the idea to move down to Key West and be beach bums and play music for a couple of years," Deininger said.
But Blackburn said they'll still continue to prepare for life as if they're not rock stars.
Gator Growl tickets are $15 for students.
