Kiley Fischer
A&E
The finals of the X Winter Rock Showcase at the Hard Rock Café will be held Friday March 4 with doors opening at 8 p.m.
Seton Hill University (SHU) student D.J. Beckage will be performing in it.
The band in question – Long Time Divided, for which Beckage sings – won the semifinals last Thursday night. Up against four other bands, Long Time Divided came out on top. Judges votes counted for 60 percent of the score while fans took up the remaining 40 percent.
Long Time Divided formed in August 2008 when Beckage came across an ad from guitarist Bill Costello at the same time Beckage was running an ad for a band. After a few rounds of email tag, Beckage met his new band and the creative juices started flowing. They jumped right into writing their first three songs: “Take Me Away,” “Spiders,” and “Breaker.”
Beckage, the lyricist, said songs are written from day-to-day experiences. “I enjoy trying to incorporate ideas or stories I’ve heard into my lyrics. A lot of the lyrics are based on some portion of my life, though maybe not me specifically, and help give the music its honesty.”
The music is a collective endeavor, though. “Usually, when we start working on a new song, Bill will have a guitar riff in mind that he likes and will bring it to the band and we’ll build off of it from there.”
“It’s been a wonderful collaborative effort by everyone in the band. Whether it’s Bob Beveridge (bassist) giving a suggestion on how to end a song, Paul Terry (guitarist) adding a solo over a section, or [Jason] Slick (drummer) trying a different drum pattern, we truly try to build our songs together versus any one of us just writing a song by ourselves and then saying ‘Here’s what you are going to play.’ It gives us each that sense of ownership over the music,” Beckage said.
Beckage wants everyone to know that Long Time Divided is not “just another ‘faceless’ hard rock band.”
“We put everything we have into our music, heart and soul and we’ve been blessed enough to have an incredible fan base in Pittsburgh that has lifted us up time and time again because of our dedication,” said Beckage.
Tickets for the final round can purchased online at http://www.showclix.com/event/16309/. The show is limited to ages 21 and over.