September Hase

September Hase
September Hase performing in August 2008 at the Cox Capital Theatre in Macon, Georgia
Background information
Also known as	Blackbird
Origin	Tifton, Georgia, USA
Genres	Alternative rock
Years active	2005–present
Website	www.septemberhase.com
Members	Al Janelle Adam Smith Matthew Heller
Past members	Joel Jones

September Hase is an American alternative rock band formed by singer/guitarist Al Janelle in 2005. Janelle formed the group as a three-man project with Adam Smith (bass/vocals) and Matthew Heller (drums) after the dissolution of his high school blues band.

Over the course of the band's career, they appeared in the audition rounds of Fox's The Next Great American Band in 2007. They also signed a one-year management contract with Alan Walden, Georgia Music Hall of Fame inductee and brother of Capricorn Records co-founder Phil Walden in 2008.

The band can currently be found touring the southeastern United States.

Between 2002 and 2005, all three founding band members were part of the blues band at Tift County High School in Tifton, Georgia, with Al Janelle playing guitar, Matthew Heller playing drums and percussion, and Adam Smith providing vocals. The blues band was dissolved in 2005 by school officials, and Janelle, Smith, and Heller teamed up to play in a high school talent show in November 2005. Their performance of "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" was well-received, and the band was born in Janelle's garage. In January 2006, Joel Jones was added as an additional guitar player and vocalist, and the band began working on original material as well as learning covers by artists including Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Allman Brothers Band, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and the John Mayer Trio. In May 2006, the band performed for the first time under the name "Blackbird", playing 10 songs at a free concert in Tifton. They began performing at bars and festivals throughout south Georgia, and enjoyed local popularity when radio stations WQBZ (106.3 FM) in Macon, Georgia and WGLF (104.1 FM) in Tallahassee, Florida played their original songs "Chase the Sun" and "Watch Me (Break Away)" on Sunday nights.