Hanson.net Gazatte: Musical Spotlight

justincase
By Hanson.net member, Stephanie Moore

I'm sure by now you've heard of the band Justincase, simply because two, very persistent Hanson.net members post about the band ALL the time - constantly inviting you to have a look at the website, http://www.justincasefans.com

If you aren't familiar with the band, you will be. These guys, and gal are blessed with amazing talent and they're just destined to be rock stars. Justincase, the rock/pop/alternative band from Charlotte, North Carolina consist of three siblings. Eldest brother Justin, who is 18 and graduating next week (congrats Justin!) covers guitar and vocals. He's considered the songwriter of the band although the other members have a large part in the songwriting process as well. Brother Nick (16) is the bands' drummer and backing vocalist. He's also the comedian of the group. While Justin is busy tuning or switching guitars, Nick entertains the crowd with jokes. And all you ladies out there who are aspiring musicians (girl rockers) here's your role model. Youngest member, Hannah at age 14 rocks on bass. Although all members are busy with their music, they still manage to be A students and participate in school activities such as theater and sports.

Now that you've been introduced to all of the members, let's talk about the band itself. Justincase has been playing professionally for about 4 years in Charlotte and surrounding cities. They've been to several music conferences including the EAT'M Music Conference (Las Vegas) where they met up with singer, songwriter Michelle Branch. They've also attended and performed at the Atlantis Music Conference in Atlanta. In the September, 1999 issue of Teen People, Justincase were selected by the magazine and Warner Brothers Records as one of the 5 finalists in the "Five Live Search" (a national songwriting contest). Justincase took Grand Prize in a national contest sponsored by Beyond Words Publishing, Inc. As a result, they are featured in the book So, You Wanna Be A Rockstar?. As the Grand Prize winner, their schedule included bookstore signings, television appearances, and radio interviews. The band has previously done some recording with gold album producer, Steven Haigler (Fuel, Oleander, TheNixons). They're currently planning to go to LA next month for more recording. So we can look forward to hearing some new songs soon. They currently have a CD out now titled, Upstart. You can get this by going to the merchandise section of their website.

In August 2000, the three siblings that form the band Justincase, got to meet the three siblings that form the band Hanson! Hanson were very interested in talking with the band and even have one of their CD's, Upstart. Pictures of the meeting are on the Justincase webpage.

HansonNet members justincase, Steph Burdorff (webmistress)(17) from North Carolina and steph, Stephanie Moore(show photographer and Street Team leader)(19) from South Carolina really have faith and high hopes in Justincase. Steph B came to know about the band at a festival that took place in her town in 1998. Since then, she's been to about every Justincase performance there has been. After she got to know the band a little, she then offered to make them an official website, which she has kept up and running for the past 3 years. The website has been going strong with many visitors per day. It was especially after Justincase were the Featured Band on Napster. After that, the hits for www.justincasefans.com increased an outstanding amount. And the visitors to the website just aren't Americans either. There are visits daily from places like, Mexico, Austria, Canada, United Kingdon, Japan , China, Australia, Germany, etc. So, we have webmistress Steph Burdorff to thank for keeping us up to date on all the latest Justincase news. I first heard Justincase in 1999. A song of theirs, "The Key", was being played on a local radio station. After the song, the DJ's began to talk about the band. I thought it was really cool that they were from my area.

A few weeks later, at a 3-day festival in Charlotte, after a Jonny Lang concert, I saw a man (who turned out to be Justin, Nick, and Hannah's father) backstage with a Justincase shirt on. I told my friends how I had heard about the band on the radio. He was standing with some kids and I figured that those must be the kids that I heard on the radio. So, I yelled out, "JUSTIN!", not knowing exactly who he was or what he looked like. (His was the only name I could remember from the radio show). Everyone turned around and looked, then a young guy walks over. Very modestly he asked, "How do you know my name?" I told them that I had heard his band on the radio. He thought that was really cool. He invited me to come hear him and his siblings play the next day at the festival. So, I bought a ticket and that's where it all began for me. After a few shows I started taking my camera. My dad is a photographer and it's something that I really enjoy doing. When Steph B got the official Justincase website up and running, she put my pictures on there. And that's how I became the 'show photographer'. I've also organized a Street Team for Justincase. Basically what we do is spread the word about the band. Anyone can join. All you have to do is be willing to tell all of your friends about Justincase and get their friends to tell their friends, etc. That's how you get the word out. I'm planning some special, new and exciting things for the street team, so join now!

Everyone please check the website out so you can learn more about this great band. I also hope that you'll get to see Justincase live one of these days. Their shows are so much fun. In the meantime, get yourself a CD, maybe a picture too and become a dedicated Justincase fan!

Official justincase Website: http://www.justincasefans.com

Official justincase Street Team: http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/justincasestreetteam