Southeast Engine reserves tour stop for home sweet home

Going on tour is never an easy or simple task, but members of the Athens-based band Southeast Engine like to lighten the mood by listening to Dr. Dre between destinations.

The band will be reaching the halfway point of its current tour and making a stop in Athens to play a show this Tuesday evening at Casa Cantina on East State Street.

"We always love coming back to Athens, especially to play shows," said drummer Leo DeLuca. "It feels like home every time we are here to perform."

It all started over a decade ago Adam Remnant (lead vocals), DeLuca (drums) and some other local musicians started SEE as a mainly alt.country band. They even had a steel guitar, though that was jettisoned relatively quickly. Jesse Remnant (bass) and Billy Matheny (piano, organ, banjo and guitar) later joined in 2007 and 2008, respectively, and the band is now praised for its devotion to thoughtful, regionally inspired songwriting, production and atmospherics, as much as the music itself.

The release of Southeast Engine's most recent album, "Canary," signaled that it was time to take their show on the road with the nationally known band, These United States.

"It will be really nice to show These United States our hometown since we have all become good friends," DeLuca said. "It's kind of a remarkable thing for us to bring them to the place where we started."

The band was discovered in 2006 by The Wrens and signed shortly after by Misra Records. The first album, "A Wheel Within a Wheel," was released in 2007 by Remnant and DeLuca. This was followed by their second album in 2009, titled "From the Forest to the Sea."

"We are able to be part of a pretty big tour right now, which is awesome support for our latest album, 'Canary'" DeLuca said. "We are just rolling along, playing our music and getting bigger as time continues."

The members of SEE have been perfecting their sound since they were 19, and their ultimate goal was reached when they realized people really were listening, DeLuca said while reminiscing on a show Southeast Engine performed at the old Baker Center.

"We put a bunch of Sunkist in front of my kick-drum to help with the sound, and then it started spraying all over the audience in the middle of the show," DeLuca recalled.

Though the band's name came more from spontaneity than any drawn-out analyzing, it has proven to be worthy of he band's success, and apparently the name of a delicious Avalanche pizza as well.

"The name was very last minute in preparation for our first show in Athens, but it has seemed to stick well after 12 years," DeLuca said. "And the pizza named after us is an honor."

The local origins of SEE have allowed them to play at all of the venues that Athens has to offer.

"We love all of the venues for different reasons," said DeLuca, who now lives in North Carolina. "They have each been great in their own right and good for varying types of shows and audiences, plus they always lead to different experiences and memories."

This is the last show Southeast Engine will do in Athens until Oct. 9 where they will be performing with the Jayhawks, Hot Tuna and Ha Ha Tonka, among others, for "Mountain Stage Live" in OU's Memorial Auditorium.