Eight Dollars to Eminence

By Carrie Morrison

It's the kind of kismet known to inspire rock musicians.

A few years ago, a down-and-outer haunting Old Louisville approached Scott Sullivan with an elaborate story about how he'd run out of gas and needed $8 to get back to Eminence, Ky. Sullivan soon discovered that the same man had spun the same yarn to Scott's friend and musical counterpart Steve Hawkins on several separate occasions.

Hawkins and Sullivan agreed that it probably doesn't take a whole $8 to get to Eminence. They also agreed that they'd found a name for their band.

The Music

The band established its popularity with a repertoire of covers ranging from Chuck Berry to Coldplay, and sealed it by focusing lately almost exclusively on original compositions, melodic modern rock songs that show a lot of range.

The Players

Sullivan, 24, and Hawkins, 25, both University of Louisville students, had been entertaining their friends with original acoustic works for a few years, but their fans got demanding, and they got serious.

A few summer gigs at the Granville Inn near the UofL campus under the moniker Sullyhawk produced lines that stretched out the door.

"That was where we picked up a ton of popularity," Sullivan said.

Sullivan sings lead and plays rhythm guitar, with Hawkins on lead guitar. A marketing major, he hopes the trend continues with Eight Dollars to Eminence.

They pulled in Fort Knox native and student Aaron Brown, 19, on drums and Kris Short, 24, a bassist who had played in Another Day, a hard-rock band from Covington, Ky., Sullivan's hometown.

The Sound

Inspiration comes from Barenaked Ladies, Seven Mary Three, Blink-182, Bush, Queen, Led Zeppelin and Van Halen, to name a few.

The band's songs often have vocal harmonies up to three parts, melodic choices that tend toward the interesting and not the obvious and refrains that will undoubtedly stick in one's head long after last call.

"Captain" is a bouncing, rolling sea shanty of sorts that tells a story of pirates, robbery and rum. "Revival" is about crashing an old-style church tent revival, and it incorporates the names of some 50 rock bands in its lyrics ("No doubt it was a quiet riot ... Widespread panic but the preacher preached on").

There is a more serious side.

Sullivan "doesn't like to write lyrics that are fake or easy," Short said. "Why" is a deeply personal song about searching for faith. "Words" is an acoustic ballad about the physical and emotional distance plaguing a relationship between two lovers.

"I just went with the flow," said Hawkins, a law student. "I'm kind of surprised to be where we are now." - Velocity Magazine