The Carry-Ons, a punk rock band out of Nashville, Tenn., is on their way back to Martin for a concert on March 26 at The Stables. Band members include Mike Healy on lead guitar, Neil McCarty on rhythm guitar, Will Greene on bass guitar, Steve who–the–heck–knows–his–last–name on drums and AT Mesaris on lead vocals with the whole band singing back up. (Not knowing Steve’s last name has become a running joke with the band.)

When asked in an exclusive interview for The Pacer how the band got started, Mike replied, “Alcohol.” He went on to say that he and AT were room mates. Neil works at a bar called The Drunken Fish and lives in the same appartment complex. The three became drinking buddies and decided to form a band. Abe posted an ad at Guitar Center in Nashville looking for another band member and Will was the only one to answer. They had a different drummer at first; however, he would not show up for practices so they had to let him go. Will had a friend, Steve, who played the drums. They invited him to a Halloween gig they were playing and have been playing together since.

“It felt like we were family right away. We all clicked immediately,” Mike said.

When asked what strengths the band has, AT said, “We all grew up in the Punk Band era, but we’ve been in all types of music. Steve was in a jazz band, but his roots are punk. We all have a really good sense of rock and pop. We all feel really comfortable about playing with each other, but we have to come to a conclusion first.” Band members admitted to a few arguments, but that its all in the process of making good music.

Band members said that Mike and Neil have played together for so long that they can play off one another on stage.

“We’re all about the music,” Mike said about the group. “We really want people to listen to what we have. We adore people who come to the show. They become part of the show.”

“We’re not saying that we are reinventing the wheel,” AT said. “We’re all about the music. Whether we are playing for 15 or 100 people, it doesn’t matter. We appreciate our fans and at many times we buy them a beer.”

The Carry-Ons have been together for under six months. “We’re new to the scene. We played three practices then went on tour right after. We had stuff already written and we write new stuff all the time. We write new songs and within a couple of days we play it in concert,” Mike said.

When asked about their sudden rise to fame, they said that they did not expect it. They are in the process of writing new material and their new CD will hit the stores around Oct. “But if someone wants to throw us cash, it could be sooner,” Mike said, laughing.

In fact, The Carry-Ons have started their own recording label and they are looking for good local Nashville talent. Their label is called At the Brink. “When we book shows out of town, we bring other bands with us,” Mike said. When The Carry-Ons come to Martin, they are bringing the bands Stuck Lucky, Public Disturbance and Bailey Shea with them, promising to be a star-studded show. “They are two really good bands that we hang out with,” Mike said. “When we met, we had a few drinks together and played together. We felt the connection right away. Now we do lots of shows together.”

The bands have also noticed an increase of interest and exposure since the advent of MySpace.com, an on-line resource allowing the bands to stay connected with fans. “We can easily talk to people close to Nashville,” Mike said. “Every time we come back from a show, more people are added. We try to write personal messages to our fans ourselves. We would like to keep our relationship with our fans close, no matter how big we get. MySpace.com is free. We are also in the process of making our own web page.”

When asked about coming to The Stables in Martin on March 26, Mike said, “We can’t wait to play in Martin. We loved it there before and we hope that all the people who came out last time come out again and bring friends.”