St. Louis Rockers Cavo Check In From the Road, Before Their Hometown Show Tonight

Photo: Steve Truesdell

Cavo at Cruefest 2, 8/11/2009 See more photos from the show.

Since we profiled Cavo back in August, the St. Louis quartet has continued to tour with acts such as Sick Puppies and Motley Crue, in support of its major label debut, Bright Nights Dark Days. The band will be playing at the Chaifetz Arena tonight with Lifehouse and Daughtry. Vocalist Casey Walker checked in from the road about how things have progressed for the band.in the last six or so months -- from being recognized in public to dealing with being away from his wife and five kids.

Annie Zaleski: What have you guys learned so far from touring with Daughtry?
Casey Walker: Touring with him has been amazing! He's such a great person and musician. I try to watch the show every night, so I guess you can say I'm always picking up pointers on performing. You have to take it to another level to connect with an audience in venues as big as these arenas.

What's surprised you the most about touring with both of these acts?
How down to earth everyone is. Both Daughtry and Lifehouse are great people. There are no attitudes backstage at all. It really makes it easy to feel at home.

How did Cruefest end up going? What did you guys like or dislike about it?
Cruefest was awesome, very hot! It was a great tour for us at that time. We were getting to play for "rock" fans who really wanted to be impressed. It made us learn to up our game. Crowds like that can be unforgiving...they have so many other options.

You played in St. Louis clubs for several years but now have been consistently playing larger arena/amphitheater-sized venues. What's been the biggest challenge, in translating your music to these bigger rooms?
I'd have to say learning how to connect with the people in the back row. You're so far away, but you still have to make them feel like they're part of the experience. That's something I learned from watching amazing bands like Daughtry, Lifehouse, Shinedown and Sick Puppies.

Now that the record's been out since the summer - looking back on it, what's your take on it? Is there anything you would change or do differently?
I think things are going great for us, it's always an uphill struggle for any new band. But I think, that's important. If it came easy, i don't think a lot of people would appreciate it as much. We have been doing this for a long time, and are used to playing for 5 people and now 5000, it's a dream come true.