Local Band Lands International Award Nominations Ahead of Album Release and Tour

Fans of Night Owl Country Band have plenty to hoot about.

As the guys continue working in the studio on their latest album “Somewhere in the Country” and launch their tour of the same name, it’s all set against an exciting backdrop of several award nominations for the 2023 Red Carpet Award Show in Holland.

“I was thinking it was Holland, Michigan,” NOCB guitarist Tim Dooley says. “But, no, it’s the real Holland. I didn’t know they knew about us over there. It’s awesome.”

Although it is still a mystery as to who put the band’s name forth for nomination, the guys couldn’t be more excited and are happy to be a part of it, says NOCB lead singer Matt Lee.

Presented by the Fair Play Country Music Media Group, which is a promotional company and music publication that supports and recognizes independent artists worldwide, the guys are up for awards in several categories during the August 2023 awards show.

Lee says he will travel to Holland for the event where the guys’ song “Cool Gentle Wind” is nominated for Best Traditional Original Band/Trio/Duo and Best Country Voice of the Year Band/Trio/Duo – Original and Cover and their ever-popular “Country to the Bone” is up for Best Modern Country Original Band/Trio/Duo and Best Song of the Year Original Band/Trio/Duo.

“We are excited those two songs are popular overseas and we are definitely blessed for that,” Lee says. “What is cool is with the awards show, internationally speaking, it has helped the band reach out internationally.”

Meanwhile, the guys are spending some quality time in the studio working to complete their next album “Somewhere in the Country,” which is set for release later this year, Lee says.

Lee adds this album, in part, is a nod to the band's previous releases and gives a glimpse as to where the band is journeying moving forward.

The band has journeyed from playing local venues and parties to going “somewhere in the country,” Lee says. Now, the guys are playing as a national act in all different states, he adds, and the upcoming tour will add some new venues and states to the guys' repertoire.

“'Somewhere' is one of our feature songs we play all the time,” he says. “And ‘Country to the Bone’ is one we released last year and named our tour after.”

The band’s first two albums enjoyed recognition during the 2019 Josie Music Awards “Here to Somewhere” was named album of the year and “Off the Tracks” took Album of the Year at the 2022 International Singer-Songwriters Association Awards Show.

The latest 18-song album will feature new material by Brett Denney and Lee, respectively. The previous two albums were recorded at two different studios, and this time, they guys are working with David May at Music City Studios in Nashville, Tenn., Lee says.

“We aren’t too far into it yet,” Dooley says. “But what we’ve done so far, I’m really happy with.”

Dooley says he is anxious to hear the final version, but the process to get there is one he is enjoying.

“It is still us,” he says. “We haven’t changed the flavor of the music; it is going to be great.”

With the help of new band member, John Barr, the guys are prepping for an amazing time on the road, Lee says. Touting Barr as the backbone of the band, he’s helping out tremendously as the band's equipment and transportation guru.

Irrespective of the notoriety that comes with being the Night Owl Country Band these days, the guys remain humble and mindful of what has made all this possible.

“It’s exciting all this is happening,” Lee says. “Being from Hope, for us, it is fun and something we get to do on the weekends together. All the accolades that go with it is exciting, but, when it comes down to it, the relationship the five of us have makes it all worth it. We are a bunch of friends traveling together.”