Few Hampton Roads bands ever get to strut their stuff nationally. One of the most ignored music scenes in the country, Hampton Roads doesn't seem to catch the eye of the American record industry too often. What's more, on the rare occasion when the powers that be happen to anoint a group with a national recording contract, the artists very seldom see the success of a Seven Mary Three or a Missy Elliot. This is quite a shame for a region that once churned out such musical legends as Ella Fitzgerald, Keely Smith, and Gene Vincent.Nevertheless, Hampton Roads' finest musical groups continue the struggle with valiant determination. One such group is Virginia Beach's Car 44. A band who's sound blends alt-rock with hues of metal, pop, and progressive rock, they have been one of the most promising bands to come up in the last few years. Formed four years ago from the ashes of guitarist John Conkle's band 44, Car 44 came together literally at the time when 44 were on the verge of recording their own debut album.

"The members of [44] just up and began quitting, wanting to move on to other things," says Conkle. "And it was in the studio for [44's first project] that Car 44 came to be. Each track came to be as each member came into the fold. We came to be because of the music." The first to come aboard with Conkle was the band's lead singer Dahna Rowe. "44's singer quit right after he laid all the vocal tracks so as to go into the military," says Conkle. "And I was like, "What am I going to do!?!' But then I remembered two weeks before I had heard this demo track of this girl singing and playing acoustic guitar. I went to our album's producer [Stacey Hayden] and he told me it was this girl by the name of Dahna Rowe. So, eventually I called her up and asked her if she'd like to be in this band called Car 44. She did the vocals tracks in two and a half weeks, which blew me away because the previous singer took two and a half months to do that. And from there, a new band came into being."

Before they were to play a single gig together, Car 44's first album came to be released to the praise of many area music critics. And it would also prove to be among the band's sharpest tools for getting notice outside Hampton Roads. "It was important for us to get the word out on the band most definitely," says bassist Rob D. "But still that album was most important in that it helped us become a band."

From there they went on the road nationally. Among one of their regular stops was the legendary CBGB's in New York City. Performing in a number of artist showcases, Car 44 managed to win over the crowd consistently when on stage. Eventually, they also won the attention of Thirsty Ear Records, who signed them to the label in the summer of 1999. "We didn't even know they were there," says D. "But they liked what they saw and asked to play for them again. They took us to dinner, it was great. After all the different labels we had met with, we found that they were the kind of independent imprint we could grow out from."

Within weeks of signing, Car 44 were at work on their second album, Platinum Holes. Choosing to record the album at Tom Benvenuto's B-Digital studios in Virginia Beach, they tossed around a number of names to produce the record. But the one who agreed to work with them ended up being none other than fomer Rollins Band guitarist Chris Haskett. "You cannot know how cool that was for us," says Car 44's drum wunderkind Billy Crawford. "Chris knew we had to make a record and make it quick, but he still was able to nuture us and find the best possible sound he could in us. Being a musician, he could understand where we were coming from perfectly." To be released June 20, Platinum Holes has already received intense buzz from local radio stations such as 93.7 The Coast. To help give the album as high a profile an introduction as possible, Car 44 have arranged a big CD release party at the Abyss June 25 as well as an opening gig for System of a Down's July 5 show at the Boathouse. Still, the odds aren't in Car 44's favor as far as big-time success is concerned. But despite this, the band remains quite confident of what the future holds for them. "Basically, we hope to touch as many lives as possible with [this album]," says Rowe. "We would love to sell millions and beyond for that reason. Realistically speaking, that's a lot to strive for considering it's only our second album, but I see no reason why we shouldn't remain hopeful and optimistic. For, you see, we love and believe in what we do and I think that will come through in the end."