Emerson Drive has received a nomination for a Campus Activities Magazine Reader's Choice Award in the category of Best Major Performance.
The band has been playing the college circuit for several years and performed at the National Association for Campus Activities' national convention in 2006 and 2007.
Lead singer Brad Mates tells Dial-Global he believes it's important for the group to take their music to students by playing those venues. "We do have a lot of young fans out there and I think that the college market is very untapped when it comes to country music. In the last four years, we've done a pile of college and university dates where people are just excited to have country music come back into their campus because it doesn't go through campuses very often."
Brad points out that the concerts also introduce new listeners to the genre. "People that don't turn on country radio, that don't listen to country music, that have never seen a country live concert, come to our show, come up to us after and tell us how much they enjoyed listening to the music. So I think that it helps the industry in a way where you're hoping to gain more young fans and more young people listening to country music."
Fans can vote for the Campus Activities Magazine Reader's Choice Awards online by visiting campusactivitiesmagazine.com. Emerson Drive will take a short break from the road as they record a new album set for release in 2008.