Prickly Pear, Yearbook of Abilene Christian University, 2008 Page: 52
239, [32] p. : ill. ; 32 cm.View a full description of this yearbook.
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~~11,111 IdiomIn the fall, Homer Hiccolm and the Rocketboys
triumphed over four other bands at Antone's in Austin
in a contest to play at Austin City Limits.
The band beat out 600 other bands to win the con-
test. Fans at Antone's voted to determine who would
win the chance to play in front of several hundred
fans on Friday morning at ACL. Also, each member
received a new Dell laptop, and ACL put the members
in a luxury hotel.
"It's been a wild 72 hours," drummer Philip Ellis,
senior management major from Van, said. "It's been
insane - the press has been all over us. Words can't
describe how amazing this has been."
The "Rocketboys" didn't believe they had won at
first, said guitar player Daniel Wheeler, graduate stu-
dent from Van.
"We were all in complete shock," Wheeler said. "It
didn't really sink in until about an hour later that we'd
won. It was a great surprise."
Wheeler also said that the band talked to the con-
test judges and found out that the judges' decision
was unanimous.
"We'd told ourselves that we weren't going to win,"
Wheeler said.
After the win, the band was assigned two publicists,
and they interviewed with the Austin Chronicle, about
five local TV stations and a few Austin radio stations."We're just so blown away by all the positive feed-
back we've gotten from all the fans and even the
people running the contest," Ellis said.
Several students from ACU and other "Rocketboy"
fans made the trip to Austin to be able to vote for the
band after the show was over.
After the win, the band went on to play Thursday
night at a pre-festival show, Friday morning at the
festival and Friday night as openers for Grizzly Bear.
"It was kind of surreal to be on a big stage," Wheel-
er said. "I was nervous before the contest show, and
especially before the festival show."
Friday's performance at the festival went really well,
Ellis said.
"It was exhilarating. It was incredible," Ellis said.
"As we began to play, more and more people started
showing up, and by the end, there were probably
about 500 to 600 people there."
The "Rocketboys" also released a CD on Sept. 27
called "Sing, Bird, Sing."
"Actually, I'm really disappointed, angry and tired,"
Wheeler said. "Just kidding. It's been awesome. We've
had a really good time."
By: Rachel Davis, adapted from the Optimist1
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Abilene Christian University. Prickly Pear, Yearbook of Abilene Christian University, 2008, yearbook, 2008; Abilene, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth284703/m1/56/: accessed April 20, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Abilene Christian University Library.