650north makes return to Terre Haute

Not many bands coming to Terre Haute can claim to be world-famous acts, but at 10 p.m. tonight, The Verve will host such a band. In June 2006, 650north traveled to Warsaw, Poland, to open for Guns N' Roses and Sebastian Bach of Skid Row. "Going to Poland was great," said Matt Schuerman, guitarist and lead vocalist for the band. "We got to meet some of the Guns N' Roses guys, and Sebastian Bach was very cool to hang out with." 650north is a four-man set hailing from Osgood, Ind., about a two and a half hour drive from Terre Haute. The band is Schuerman, Andrew Vollmer, guitar and vocals, Chris Bultman, bass and vocals and Josh Lohrum, drums. "We have been friends through music since junior high," Schuerman said. At first, Schuerman and the other three members were in separate bands, but his band broke up when he went to college, Schuerman said. At the same time, the three members of 650north were looking for a new lead singer. "So I took the spot," Schuerman said. "We've been together for about three years now." The band has played in Terre Haute several times, including ISU, where they earned a first place victory in the fall 2004 Battle of the Bands. "The Indiana State show was fun," Schuerman said. "And we always like playing The Verve. The crowd is quite receptive to local, original music. We've had nothing but good experiences playing Terre Haute." People can expect a diverse show from the band, Schuerman said. "We always try to put on the most high-energy, musically accurate shows we can." The music they play is all original, with an occasional cover thrown in for fun, Schuerman said. "Our music is best described as melodic, sing-along rock in the vein of Foo Fighters and Jimmy Eat World," Schuerman said. "You can clap and sing along to some songs, and you can head bang to others." The band's plans for the near future include working on a follow up album to their debut, "Love and Its Progenies" and then hitting the road for a tour in the late spring and early summer. "We recently signed to Brooklyn Beat Records," Schuerman said. "Right now we're in the planning stages of our new EP." A sampling of the band's CD can be heard on their MySpace page at myspace.com/650north.