Last Thursday, the Hard Rock Café on McKinney Ave. hosted an event featuring several bands, including those familiar to the SMU campus. The line-up included Darby, Sometimes it Rains, Red Letter Holiday, Andrew McKinney and our very own Kessler.

This is the third time Kessler has performed at this venue and they were instrumental in getting the other bands involved.

“I started last year, with Kessler headlining the show and they wanted me to come back and do it again this year to make sure people were having fun and let people know what I’m personally doing with my music,” says Andrew McKinney, a solo artist and the MC of the show.

A large portion of the crowd was SMU students and alumni supporting their fellow mustangs. Jonathan Ogle, the drummer for Kessler, graduated from SMU in May 2006 with a degree in creative advertising.

Charlie Berry, the guitarist and lead vocalist of Red Letter Holiday and Andrew McKinney are current students and members of the SMU football team.

Kessler’s career took off after two of their songs were featured on a Buzz Oven Sampler, Coca-Cola’s attempt to introduce up-and-coming local music.

Recently after their debut, they were signed to a record label, Your Music America.

“A label out of California heard our music on MySpace and eight days after we signed, we moved to California for two months to record,” said Ogle.

The boys of Kessler are still based out of Dallas, but travel back and forth to California to finish their first album, expected to be released early in 2007.

The event at the Hard Rock was a great opportunity for the newly signed band to showcase their new music. In order to ensure a widespread turnout, bands were chosen for their diversity and unique music style.

Kessler will be performing again in Dallas at the Curtain Club on Dec. 22.

All of the acts from the show can be found on MySpace.