Heritage

Destin-based band Heritage came out on top in GoPensacola.com and TK101's final showdown for "Take Your Shot at the Opening Slot" last Friday at Seville Quarter. The band's high-energy performance earned Heritage the opening spot on the GoPensacola.com Stage at DeLuna Fest at 11 a.m. Saturday.
"Like tonight, we've got to keep the energy up (for DeLuna Fest)," guitarist Hunter Dawson said. "I definitely feel like if we won this then we've got to take advantage of it and not let it go to waste and really make sure we rock this show harder than we've rocked any show, period."
The reggae/rock band, which consists of Dawson, Tony Verrecchia (vocals), Damien Kealoha (ukulele), Matt Moore (bass), Dave Posey (percussion) and Rosendo Hernandez (drums), is already preparing a set list and thinking of ideas for its upcoming performance.
"We're going to definitely shake it up," Verrecchia said. "The one thing we always want to do is keep things fresh. We've realized how important that is, and we want to keep people coming back for more."
Heritage always "keeps it interesting" by moving around on stage and changing and switching instruments throughout the show. During the competition, this movement was most noticeable during their song "Hawaiian Superman," which sounds exactly like a perfected jam session and most often serves as the closing song of a live performance. Heritage confirmed that the DeLuna Fest audience will definitely get a dose of "Hawaiian Superman."
Heritage members all have different musical backgrounds, but they all came together about a year and a half ago to record their debut album "Natural High," which was released last year. At the time, the guys made up two separate bands, but they clicked so well together while working on the album that they just decided move forward as a united band.
Heritage plans on redoing some of their songs and have already been working on a few, but it's a matter of finding the time and money to do another recording right now.
"Our biggest goal is to help larger amounts of people than we are right now," Dawson said. "Good music equals sales equals money equals the ability to help people who need help. Our number one goal is longevity. There are a lot of bands that will be a flash in the pan and have one great hit. The longevity of how are we going to make this long term, not just be famous, get signed, rock it out and then that's it."
Heritage recently won "Best Musician/Vocalist" from Emerald Coast Magazine's "Best of the Emerald Coast" awards, and the band will be making an appearance in WSRE's "StudioAmped" concert series in January.
"It's a snowball effect," Verrecchia said. "We're constantly taking bigger steps; we're constantly doing bigger things. We're constantly trying to find ways to broaden what we do and try to touch as many people as possible, in the sense that we're all about good vibes and positivity. There's no sales point behind that. You don't need one."
Heritage competed against local bands Mr. Fahrenheit and Eerie Rockwell in the showdown at Seville.
Hip-hop group Phunk Blue Moon won the Alabama showdown at The Soul Kitchen in Mobile last Friday, earning the 3 p.m. slot Friday on the GoPensacola.com Stage.
ManDown and Crooked Devil were also finalists in the Alabama competition.






- www.gopensacola.com

http://www.thebeachcomber.org/heritage.htm - Beachcomber Destin, Florida