Five Way Friday is a

pop-rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, ear ...

band based out of Greenville and

Columbia, South Carolina Columbia is the capital of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 census, it is the second-largest city in South Carolina. The city serves as the county seat of Richland County, and a portion of the ci ...

. They have been compared to

Train In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and transport people or freight. Trains are typically pulled or pushed by locomotives (often k ...

and

Matchbox 20 Matchbox Twenty (also known as Matchbox 20 and MB20) is an American rock band formed in Orlando, Florida, in 1995. The group currently consists of Rob Thomas (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Brian Yale (bass guitar), Paul Doucette (drums, ...

History

The band formed in 1997, playing gigs in Greenville,

Charleston Charleston most commonly refers to: * Charleston, South Carolina * Charleston, West Virginia, the state capital * Charleston (dance) Charleston may also refer to: Places Australia * Charleston, South Australia Canada * Charleston, Newfoun ...

and Columbia, South Carolina, and releasing a full-length (''Moon Driven World'') and two EPs over the course of the next three years. In 2000, ''Run Like This'' reached #4 on

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

's Top Internet Albums chart. Subsequently, the band toured with such bands as

Vertical Horizon Vertical Horizon is an American alternative rock band, formed in Washington, D.C. Vocalists and guitarists Matt Scannell and Keith Kane started the band in 1991 when they were students at Georgetown University. The band have undergone multip ...

and

Cowboy Mouth Cowboy Mouth is an American band based in New Orleans, Louisiana known for fusing alternative rock with album-oriented rock, roots rock, and jam band influences. Formed in 1992, the band saw early mainstream success in the 1990s, including th ...

, and had several songs including "Homecoming" and "Everyone" featured in episodes of

Dawson's Creek ''Dawson's Creek'' is an American teen drama television series about the lives of a close-knit group of friends in the fictional town of Capeside, Massachusetts, beginning in high school and continuing into college that ran from 1998 to 2003. ...

. Though the band nearly broke up after the making of ''Run Like This'', when founding guitarist Michael Helmly departed, in 2003 a full-length entitled ''Wrecked'' was released, produced by fellow South Carolinian

Mark Bryan Mark William Bryan (born May 6, 1967) is an American musician. He is a founding member, songwriter, and the lead guitarist for the band Hootie & the Blowfish. In 1986, Bryan and his friend Darius Rucker formed a duo called The Wolf Brothers w ...

Hootie & the Blowfish Hootie & the Blowfish are an American soft rock band that were formed in Columbia, South Carolina, in 1986. The band's lineup for most of its existence has been the quartet of Darius Rucker, Mark Bryan, Dean Felber, and Jim Sonefeld. The band ...

.A New Beginning
Upstate Beat, March 4, 2003. Accessed April 27, 2007. While most band members now have full-time jobs away from music, the band continues to play a limited tour schedule throughout South Carolina. All Five Way Friday albums are available for download at iTunes. In 2009 Five Way Friday teamed up with the Share Our Suzy (SOS) Foundation, an organization that provides financial assistance to cancer patients from diagnosis to remission, and began the ''Back to Her Campaign''. FWF is donating a percentage of every download of its song Back to Her from iTunes to the SOS Foundation
Official Webpage
Guitarist Mac Leaphart is now touring the Southeast with his band, Mac Leaphart and My Ragged Company. Mac's debut solo album Line Rope, Etc. was chosen as one of the best albums of 2008 by the Charleston City Paper.
Official Webpage

Members

*Randy Helmly - vocals *Michael Helmly - guitar/vocals * Mac Leaphart - guitar/vocals *Gibbs Leaphart - bass *Joe Good - drums *Rivers Pearce - guitar/piano *Michael McWhorter - hammond organ/piano

Discography

*''Twice This Year'' (Self-released in 1997 under band's initial moniker Exit 199) *''Five Way Friday'' (Demo) (1997) *''Moon Driven World'' ( Mile Marker Records, 1998) *''Run Like This'' (Mile Marker, 2000) *''Wrecked'' (

Redeye Label Redeye Distribution, is an American independent record label based in Hillsborough, North Carolina, United States. It was founded in 1996 by Tor Hansen, Kim Hansen, Glenn Dicker. The label focuses on independent music. History Redeye is represe ...

, 2003)

References

External links

Official MySpaceOfficial Facebook Page
Musical groups from South Carolina