The Lonely Friends, a band formed in 2011 for a fundraiser for their high school, won the UT Local Band Challenge to perform at The University of Toledo’s Music Fest 2013.

The band, described as “old-school rock with influences of blues and some metal to keep it fresh,” was selected from performance videos uploaded to the Music Fest Facebook page July 1-7. The community voted the next week for which local band they wanted to see perform at Music Fest Friday, Sept. 13 and the majority of votes – more than 8,000 – came for The Lonely Friends.

“I was surprised that we won,” said Travis Geiman, the band’s guitarist. “We kept posting the competition to Facebook throughout the week, and were in the top ten, but we didn’t think it would be us. Everyone is happy that we won.”

The band came up with its name from the game Rock Band. The Lonely Friends was processed one time by the name generator and band mates thought it was kind of funny. They have stuck with it ever since.

In addition to Geiman, The Lonely Friends features Michael Barlos on vocals, Anthony Kitts on bass and Nick Duszynski on drums.

The group formed in 2011 when Maumee High School needed a band to play for a marching band fundraiser. Alumni of the school, Geiman, Kitts and Duszynski had previously been in the marching band and Barlos in choir, so they gave it a shot, thinking at the time it was temporary.

They are currently in the process of mixing their first album, which will be released this summer, Geiman said. The band also has the first few songs finished for a second album.

The Lonely Friends has performed one or two shows per week since the summer started. Music Fest 2013 will be the biggest show they have played to date.

“I hope everyone enjoys Music Fest, and hopefully they take something away from the music we play and can relate to it in some way,” Geiman said.

For more information about Music Fest 2013 visit utoledo.edu/musicfest and for more about The Lonely Friends visit their Facebook page at facebook.com/TheLonelyFriends.

Media Coverage
13 ABC (July 17, 2013)
The Independent Collegian (Aug. 14, 2013)

Tags: Music Fest