Ducain

Ducain is a local rock band with soul, a unique-sounding group that brings original music to the table that reflects a love for the Mountain State.

Based in Hurricane and Huntington, Ducain features Jeremy Sargent on guitar and vocals, Austin Lewis on guitar, Jared Holley on drums and vocals and Rich Mills on bass and keyboards.

Mon Hills Records is the “independent record label and a professional component of the Music Industry Program at the West Virginia University’s College of Creative Arts.” Recently, the record label decided to hold a band competition, inviting many West Virginia-based groups to compete for the chance to record a new album at their Blues Alley recording studio. Ducain entered the fray.

“We signed up for the Talent West Virginia contest and each band had to submit a video of themselves playing live to start things off,” Jeremy Sargent said. “So, we sent one in as one of over 100 entries to the contest. Then, they narrowed it down to about 20 or so finalists who had to travel to West Virginia University and play just one song for the judges. There were awards given out to the top three bands and we won first place in the Professional Division. Our reward was winning a one-year record deal with the Mon Hills Record label and the chance to record a full-length studio album for free. They have a whole team there that we have met in the last couple of weeks and we are in the process of recording our new album.

“We just got the ball rolling and we are excited to see where it all ends up.”

Sargent grew up in a family that played music together in nearby Hurricane, including his guitar-playing father who has performed in many Tri-State bands over the years including the group Mindbender. His mother and two sisters also play music.

“When we were little, we didn’t have a whole lot of money, yet music was always there in our family,” said Sargent. “Playing music helped us through those times when we were having trouble making ends meet, which is kind of cool to think back on. Music helped to support us while we were growing up, although we didn’t really realize it back then. The style of music that my Dad was playing stuck with me over the years. Now, I would say the sound of our band Ducain is modern southern rock on steroids.”

Sargent was also led to become a special education teacher after his group of friends in high school befriended a young man who had special needs. After getting his teaching degree at Marshall University, Sargent now teaches special education classes in the Putnam County community of Winfield.

It is this kind of empathy for the common man as well as a love for West Virginia that informs the music of Sargent and the band Ducain.

“Our last single that we released last year was called ‘Mountain Mama’ and it talks about your strong West Virginia woman who was raised back in the holler and can take care of herself. She knows what she wants and was raised with the right kind of values and knows her worth,” Sargent said. “A lot of the songs that I write are based around strong relationships and family ties and about having each other’s back. I write a lot about the good and evil and the dark and light that everybody has inside of them, and which one gets fed depends on the song. I like songs about everyday life, about people I have met along the way and things that I have seen and experienced.

“We are all proud to be from West Virginia, where everybody in the band grew up. We are grateful for our family and the friends that we know that are like family here in West Virginia. We feel lucky to have that in our lives.”

Once Sargent or someone else in Ducain comes up with a new riff or song idea, the band works on the new material together so that it reflects the combined talents of the group.

“I have been in a few bands over the years, but with Ducain; this is by far the kind of music that I have always wanted to play,” Sargent said. “We are playing music that I would want to listen to if I wasn’t in the band. We have really nailed it down. We are influenced by a wide range of sounds, from bands like Kings of Leon, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Blackberry Smoke to Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Bad Company and Free. Yet, we don’t sound like any one of those groups. If you could put all of those bands together, that would be what we are as a band. But, we are not copying anybody else. I feel like we have our own sound, something that no one else is doing, and that is very cool because it makes us stand out.”

To keep up with Ducain and the band’s upcoming new album, visit facebook.com/ducainband/ and monhillsrecords.com. - The Herald Dispatch