Wake Up Bedhead
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Wake Up Bedhead

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"Local band needs your vote"

by SARAH ELMQUIST

When the members of Wake Up Bedhead --three guys from Winona and one from Fountain City-- started playing together in 2006, the band says it wasn't about becoming famous. It was more about making music, developing talent and sharing it with friends.
But one thing that Wake Up Bedhead didn't underestimate was how powerful the support of the Winona area could be for the young band. Making fans their friends, band members have harnessed a solid base of support here in bluff country, and that connection has just pushed the group into the national spotlight.
After entering into a SPIN magazine competition called SPIN Hot Pursuit on a whim, Wake Up Bedhead shot up to fourth place in the nation on Saturday night and has held strong since. The grand prize, one that still takes their breath away, is a record deal with the major label Epic and Original Signal Records.
Lead singer and guitarist Josh Lauer didn't start taking the contest, which tallies votes from listeners, seriously at first. He listened to other bands in the contest, voted for them and got votes for Wake Up Bedhead along the way.
"That's just friendship," said drummer Matt Corcoran.
But last week when the band went from the high 400s to 37th, Lauer and the rest of the Bedhead boys set to work. They rallied fans and friends to vote by either sending a text message or voting online, which anyone can do once per day.
As they made it into the 20s, SPIN's website took notice. All of a sudden the web articles, which mentioned acts from Seattle and upstate New York, now touted Minnesota's Wake Up Bedhead as one of the rising stars in the competition, and linked the band's new EP with a handful of other frontrunners on the site.
From there, Wake Up Bedhead was on the home stretch.
"My heart started racing," said Lauer of discovering the band had climbed to fourth place. Thinking it was just a fluke, Lauer and the other band members worked hard calling their friends and soliciting votes where ever they could.
Bass player Devon Towers' mom, Karen, listened to the EP songs on the SPIN website, pushing up Wake Up Bedhead in the ranks of most listened to tunes. She emailed the information to hundreds of friends and family, along with the other band member moms. "We pretty much give all the credit to our moms," said Corcoran.
But for all the further the band has come, it has to maintain and make a number one finish at the Sunday closing of votes at 11 p.m. Each week, one band is picked by voters, with the number one spot on Sunday night making to the finals, along with a band selected by the "label geek" judges. This week is the week that Wake Up Bedhead might have a chance.
Once the guys make it into the semifinals and finals, they will be judged solely by the geek judges, and will have to submit a music video. They are currently searching for some local talent in the form of camera and production artists to compliment their tunes and help get them in the running. Only sixteen bands across the nation will make it to the semifinals, and Wake Up Bedhead is banking that Winona will get to voting to secure them a spot.

The band
Lauer, Corcoran and Towers, along with guitarist Eli Beach make up the band, who started their live acts by performing in a friend's basement.
The band has played venues like Rascals and JB's Speakeasy in La Crosse since they started last year. "We love playing for our hometown," said Corcoran.
But the band's closest brush with fame happened at the First Avenue Seventh Street Entry stage in Minneapolis, when their first show at the club fell on the same night that Prince hit the Target Center and First Avenue stages. They ended up having to play their show earlier than scheduled because of the frenzy around the Minnesota artist's first time back at First Avenue since Purple Rain 20 years ago.
"How many times can you say you got bumped for Prince?" asked Towers. "I'll get bumped for Prince any day."
Winona's Bedhead boys started recording their first five-song EP, "Hook" last spring, recording and mixing at home, even folding up handmade CD envelopes. Now, with the SPIN contest garnishing attention across the country, "Hook" has become a sort of metaphor for the group.
"It's just a very happy feeling," said Lauer. "I feel like saying 'Thank you' all the time, to everybody."
Towers said that, while Wake Up Bedhead's shot at the big time is exciting, it's about more than just his band. "It gives hope to other small town bands," he said. "[SPIN] mentions Seattle and New York bands, it gives a little inspiration that you don't need to be from Seattle or New York to get noticed."
Corcoran agreed. "We're so humble and proud, at the same time." - The Winona Post


Discography

The Hook EP Streaming on Last.FM!!!

Photos

Bio

Wake Up Bedhead was formed in August of 2006. They've had a couple of different drummers over the last few years, and a few brushes with fame. One highlight in their career was 7/7/07 when they played the 7th Street Entry the same night that Prince decided to throw his after party there. Only 3 months later, they were mentioned in an article by Spin.com as a band to check out. In April, they released the EP, "Hook" and they're planning on recording a full length album during the month of July.

Wake Up Bedhead's music has been compared to many acts. The Beatles, Weezer, Jimi Hendrix, The Kings Of Leon and Wilco are all bands WUB is said to sound like depending on the song.

Spin.com said to check them out. What more incentive do you need?