Josh Gummersall was dining with his girlfriend when he received an urgent text from Mike Shanahan imploring him to call him immediately. The pair, along with Spencer Belcher, are members of the local hip-hop group, The U Crew. Seeing the text, Gummersall feared an emergency.

"I'm freaking out that this dude's pinned under a semi-truck or something, so I stepped outside and called him," Gummersall said. (Shortly after he began producing beats in high school, Gummersall's began calling him ‘Gumbo'; he now uses the stage name J. Gumbo, adding the extra letter for uniqueness). "He told me, ‘I just signed us up for this thing.'"

The "thing" turned out to be the College Battle of the Bands, a competition where contending bands vie locally before advancing to a regional and then national contest. The competition is sponsored by the textbook-rental company Chegg and Gibson Guitar among others. National winners will receive an iMac, Final Cut Studio, iPod Touches and will have the opportunity to conserve with music industry executives.

Shanahan, Gummersall and Belcher quickly learned that while the judges would choose two bands for the Seattle competition, a third would be selected based on fan response. Each group chose a song to place on their battle webpage, and whichever group's song received the most plays would win a spot in the local showdown.

Currently, the U Crew's "Break It Down" has received more than 6,000 plays, far outstripping their competition and securing them a place in the April 21 battle at the Vera Project.

"Just the online response has been promising," Gummersall said. "And the fact that we might hopefully get to go to the regional battle, and if fortune and talent are on our sides, hopefully [get to] the national battle, too."

"It's just a good feeling that something that's so fun to do can take you places like Battle of the Bands," Belcher said. (Belcher's stage name is Spike; friends gave him the nickname in high school.)

J. Gumbo, Spike and Shanahan— who derived his stage name Tawmy Bahawma from the tropical shirts his late grandfather, and later he, wore—first began rapping and laying beats during their adolescence. A trio born and bred in Seattle, they met in kindergarten and remained close until one fateful afternoon when they were fourteen, they ceased to be merely friends and became a band.

"It all started one day in [J. Gumbo's] upstairs," Tawmy Bahawma said. "Bro got a USB microphone and just went to town."

Initially, J. Gumbo, Tawmy Bahawma and Spike formed a larger group with other friends, but when those members dropped out, they became the U Crew.

When it came time to enroll in college, J. Gumbo came to Seattle University, Tawmy Bahawma went to Washington State University and Spike chose to attend the University of Washington. After spending his freshman year at Pullman, Tawmy Bahawma decided to return to Seattle, and The U Crew approached their craft with a renewed vigor and a fresh focus on performing professionally.

"I was like, we actually have to push this," Tawmy Bahawma, who now attends Seattle Central Community College, said. "We're going to get into the studio a whole hell of a lot when I get back."

"It all starts, in my opinion, with making good music," said J. Gumbo, who produces the beats Tawmy Bahawma and Spike rap to. "And having an online presence helps a lot. It's all about connecting with your fans, and inspiring them to connect with their friends."

Aside from emceeing, Tawmy Bahawma and Spike also write their own lyrics. Hours of practice led to the release of "University," the group's first album. Although fans and newcomers alike can listen to the album on the U Crew's website, the trio contends that they're at their best live.

With their diverse beats—"Sweet Caroline" slows and restyles the melody of the Neil Diamond classic while "Rumble in the Jungle" employs vibrating electronic rhythms—in union with their smooth, laid back lyrics, the U Crew aims to have fun whenever they get in front of an audience. When they're having fun, it isn't long before the audience gets pumped up and shares in their good mood.

"I think we engage the crowd so well," Tawmy Bahawma said, addressing a skill that will doubtlessly aid them during the upcoming band showdown and which they've employed at numerous frat parties. "We're being judged on exactly that."

"I've been to certain shows where they're walking back and forth, not so into it," Spike said. "Then I go to a different show where they're jumping around, and I just get so much more into it, and I think that's what we bring."

The Seattle segment of the College Battle of the Bands will take place on April 21 at the Vera Project, beginning at 8 p.m.

Sam may be reached at skettering@su-spectator.com