Hailing from Fairfax, Virgina, Welbilt’s music may be defined as plethora of colorful hyphenated musical genres such as alternative power-pop, anthemic-rock, etc…but no matter how you choose classify the band, one word will ring true for anyone who experiences their sound….addictive. So what exactly is it about these guys that leave us always wanting more? It could be front man Nate Ihara’s powerful vocals, reminiscent of Switchfoot’s Jon Foreman, which make their often very simple lyrics sound very profound and emotional.

And all that I want
Is your taste on my lips, on my hands
Cause I need you like oxygen

Or maybe it’s the Bill, Buddy and Matt’s ability to draw packed crowds at Ned Divine’s, and other venues in and around Northern Virginia, with their rocking rhythms and wide range of covers that turn each show into an all-night affair. The band has accumulated quite a fan base with shows practically every other night somewhere in the DC area to satisfy their cravings. With no label under their belt…yet, Welbilt won’t sell out remaining loyal to their roots despite invitations to play alongside bands such as Nickelback, Default, Outkast, POD, Soul Asylum, Something Corporate, and other national acts performing at last year’s Sundance Film Festival in Salt Lake City, working with a big name record producer and hearing their tracks on both a WB television drama and even a video game.

We caught them last Thursday at Clarendon Grill where they dominated the bar, offering a few new surprises that we hadn’t seen at previous shows. While opening with tracks off their two LPs and full length 2003 critically acclaimed album, A Beautiful Mess, (e.g “Anthem”, “Everything’s Alright”), they played a significantly longer set including covers such as Aerosmith’s “Sweet Emotion” and The White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army.” In one of the highlights of the night, bassist Matt Waller stepped up to the mic and impressed us with his vocal talent. The band will hopefully take advantage of this more often in future shows and albums. DC101 predicted good things for the band back in 2002, and DCist expects even greater things to come very soon.

Check out our interview with the band after the jump.