BYU NewsNet - Provo Band Shares Stage with Bob Dylan

Local Provo band Elizabethan Report played with music legend Bob Dylan at the American Eagle Outfitter's New American Music Union festival Saturday in Pittsburgh, Pa. The festival lasted two days and featured bands such as The Raconteurs, The Roots, Spoon, The Black Keys and others.

"It [was] kind of hard to wrap my mind around it," Elizabethan Report vocalist Tony Petersen said about playing at the festival with Dylan. "I tended not to really think about it. For the past couple of days I would get kind of googly in my stomach, so I just stop thinking about it. ... It [was] pretty exciting."

Elizabethan Report was one of 15 college bands hand selected from around the country by Anthony Kiedis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, to play at the Music Union festival.

"A BYU student referred us to someone who was working for American Eagle," Petersen said. "[Associates at American Eagle] checked out our MySpace and ... liked what they saw. They contacted us and asked if we'd be interested. It was pretty random and out of blue. ... We were somewhat skeptical that it might have been a scam, but it turned out that it was legit and we were pretty excited."

The 15 selected college bands played Saturday at the festival for a chance to win a full-day recording session in a Los Angeles recording studio and a chance to have their music promoted at American Eagle stores throughout the country, an prize with an estimated value exceeding $10,000. The bands were judged by a panel of music industry experts, journalists and fellow musicians.

Although Elizabethan Report didn't win the competition, the band agreed it was well worth the trip to Pittsburg.

"Apparently we were really close, but it was The Black Fortys [who won]," Petersen said. "It didn't really matter if we won or not. It was a great experience either way. We were just really grateful that we got to come out here and play and make some contacts. Who knows what will come of it."

The band has been around for about three years, consisting of BYU alumni Peterson and Aaron Hatch, BYU student Spencer Petersen and UVU students Hillery Hathaway and Thomas Carroll.

"They are pretty popular," BYU student and friend of the band Amy Nelson said. "If people are familiar with the local music scene, they will know them [Elizabethan Report]. They've played a couple of shows at The Velour and Muse. ... I enjoy their shows, and I'm not biased just because I'm semi-related to them. I truly enjoy them."

A few weeks before the music festival, American Eagle held a promotion to help support the music festival. In all American Eagle stores, anyone who tried on a few different styles of jeans received a free Music Union concert T-shirt. No purchase was required.

"We started to give them [the free T-shirts] on Friday and by Monday we were pretty much out of them," said Tanya Mitchell, a BYU student and assistant store manager at American Eagle in the Provo Towne Center. "People are really big into music and bands right now. It was a fun way to get our jeans out there and support [the] musicians."

Elizabethan Report will play a few more shows before returning to Provo.

"I'm really glad to be touring with this cool group of people," Petersen said, describing his fellow band members. "We are feeling really positive and we had a great time [at the festival]."

"I just think it's really funny," Petersen added jokingly, "that [BYUSA] never accepted us to play Guitars Unplugged or any of BYU's battle of the bands."