Acoustic songs have been played and positively received for years. A soft guitar and consistent drumbeat are familiar to many a music aficionado.

But McKenna Selissen’s voice is a completely new commodity. Her vocal expertise, along with the guitar of Cavan Denning and the drum beats of junior Dylan White, combine adeptly in folk-rock band August Blues. The talent inherent in the group comes through on their first album, Out of the Blue.

White recalls his friendship with Denning, with whom he has been best friends since early childhood. “Once we got around to fifth, sixth grade we both started playing instruments, and then we just started playing around together,” White said.

From there, their musical endeavors took off. “We formed a few minor bands. We ended up getting a singer and bassist and played a couple of talent shows and we realized that we really liked it. Afterwards, we heard this girl sing at a couple of the talent shows we played and we thought that she sounded absolutely amazing. ” White said.

That girl was Selissen.

“Dylan, Cavan and I have played music together since 8th grade, but formed the band last January,” Selissen said.

Perhaps most instrumental in the creation of this band was the shared love of performing in each others’ company. “I love hanging out with them,” White said. “We always have a really good time whether we’re just playing in concerts or practicing at someone’s house. The atmosphere as a whole is really fun.”

A few months after their formation, August Blues played at SPA’s 2012 Battle of the Bands. Their performance was received overwhelmingly positively. “I remember everyone watching starting to die down, but as soon as they came on everyone ran up to the stage,” sophomore Mansuda Arora said. “They were so amazing. At first, we thought it was a recording.”

The trio looks to continue their work hot off the release of their first album.”We’re going to keep practicing, taking it day-by-day,” White said. “We’ve got a couple of gigs already coming up in November and December. Hopefully we can learn a lot more songs and even create some more, and, if all goes well, a second album should be in the works.”