Background County

*"Nine out of Ten, would have again. Oh and the music wasn't too bad, either ;) "*-The Nu Vu

* **Label:** Shangri-La Productions  out of Minneapolis
* **Genre:**Primarily WizPunk with a Retrobilly  sensibility
* **Formed:**2065
* **Lineup:**Michael Leckie "Mike Lucky" on lead guitar, Roy Courdrey "Cordu-Roy" on keyboard/lead vocals and Cassandra Bachman "Sandra Box" on soundboard, rhythm and synthlink .
* **Debut Album:**"Background County Life" (2069)
* **Highest Rated Song:***Nobody's Nobody*(#148)

Background County has come a long way from their first post-Crash gigs at open-mike nights in the Block . Originally formed by childhood friends Mike Leckie and Roy Courdrey, Mike and Roy had been in bands together since they were kids, performing variously as "M+R Sound Machine" "My Crow" and "The Silence of Sound" throughout their adolescence, largely playing at basement gigs throughout the local Ergi  scene. Background County was formed the summer after they graduated from Fargo North High with Sandra Bachman, who had been in a Monsters and Mazes game with Roy originally and who's synthlink skills really merged Mike's WizPunk sensibilities with Roy's deep Retrobilly roots to form their unique sound.

Famously Background County's first show was across the river at Moorhead 's infamous Icehouse . But it wasn't until they won the Awakening of the Bands contest the next year that they really started to gain prominance locally. After a couple of years of being big fish in a small pond, they did what every successful act from the Zone  does sooner or later, headed out for the bright lights, big Twin Cities. Here they really had the room to spread their wings and fly. After a legendary show at the Temple of the Drowned Cat , Horizon's local affiliate, Shangri-La Productions signed them and in 2069 they debuted their first studio album "Background County Life" at a massive, sold-out release party at the Aurora . "Background County Life" contains several of the iconic hits people associate with them, including the big one *Nobody's Nobody*, as well as *Unawakened*and *Dancing for Ghosts*.

Although there's been some ups and downs, BC (as their fans call them) remain popular enough for their label to

   keep backing them. Although not as much of a breakout hit as their first album, their sophomore effort "Background Counting" had a respectable showing, with the initial lackluster performance of its single *SURGE Monkey*, achieving its own kind of cult status after it was featured in the ad campaigns for the disastrously flawed Ares Excalibur. This was followed by the critical darling, and their most poorly performing album to date "Background Check", which gave the world the twelve minute epic *Obsidian Opera* and the haunting *Riverling  Chant*. As if to rebuke themselves for the arty, pretentious "Check", their most recent album, 2075's "Background Countdown" has been widely panned by critics and gone on to be downloaded almost as much as "BCL", inflicting such earworms on an unsuspecting public as *Hot Tub Summoning*and *Effigy*. The "Countdown" tour has been extended due to its continuing sold-out shows and the kids have even managed to convince the label to include their own hometown, Fargo , as a stop on the tour....

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