Juke of June, a band composed of Belmont alumni, recently won the Inaugural Titans’ Battle of the Bands. The band will be playing a halftime show at the January 2, 2022 Titans vs. Dolphins game.
Band members Jackson Hahn, Jackson Kilburn, Ben Ballard, Zach McCoy, Bradley Crowe and Emily McCreight all came together in typical Belmont fashion.
Bassist Emily McCreight said, “The band was first formed in 2017 when Jackson Hahn, Jackson Kilburn and Ben Ballard first met in their first classes at Belmont. After that, Zach McCoy came into the band through meeting Jackson Kilburn in Patton because they lived on the same floor. Two years later, Bradley Crowe and myself joined the band ultimately completing what is now Juke of June!”
After defining their musical style, which McCreight describes as “surf-psych-funk,” the band began releasing EPs. Their most recent July release, Good Weather, helped the band gain enough traction to bring them to the Top 5 in the Titans’ Battle of the Bands.
Once in the Top 5, the competition was just beginning.
“The Top 5 bands had the opportunity to play on the rooftop of 5th & Broadway in front of five judges who were well-respected musicians/songwriters/executives in the music industry. We were judged on originality, audience interaction, songwriting and performance for the three original songs we performed,” said McCreight.
For their performance, the band chose to perform three songs they felt expressed their originality and sound. After much thought, the songs they chose were “Cry Through the Drywall,” “Boy Named Paul” and “Good Weather.” The band clearly chose wisely because their performance led to them being brought on stage and declared the winner.
While winning was a euphoric feeling, it wasn’t the most memorable for McCreight.
“The most memorable part had to be the performance itself. We played the best show we’ve ever performed and we couldn’t be more proud of the results. We had the best crowd there to cheer us on, and nothing beats the feeling of performing in your hometown for all of your closest friends and family,” McCreight recalled.
McCreight says that the band is so excited and couldn’t be more grateful for the opportunity to perform in both the Battle of the Bands and at the Titans game.
Aside from their upcoming Titans performance, Juke of June has a lot of upcoming projects and performances.
“Our future looks very bright! We are playing a lot of shows this fall and can’t wait to play at more Nashville venues that we’ve been dreaming of playing! We also just released our 3rd EP in July, “Good Weather.” It’s out on all streaming platforms and we are currently working on an album now, due to come out sometime next year,” said McCreight.
To find out more about Juke of June, visit their website. Don’t forget to go to the Titans game on January 2, 2022, to support the band and see them play the halftime show.
