A chance encounter changed the direction of the lives of Matt Lopez, Brad Hull, and Tim Gates---who collectively make up the trio known as Due West. Matt remembers the night that fate brought them together. "We were all at a party," he recalls.

"Dan Truman of Diamond Rio was having a house party at his sister's house, and he had invited a bunch of people that he knew were in the music business and people who were trying to break into it. So we all happened to be at that party that night. Everybody was just sitting around playing guitar, and we started doing some Restless Heart, Shenandoah, and Diamond Rio tunes. Brad and I jumped right in there on the harmonies."

What people heard that night made quite the impression according to Matt. "People came up to us, and said 'Man, you guys are great. What's the name of your group? How long have you been together?' Little did they know that we had just met a couple hours ago. It just clicked. It was instant. We've been together ever since."

That unique style of harmony is a special ingredient of the Due West sound. As Brad explains, "It's a major part, because that's what we're all about. We love the harmonies, and those harmony bands were really our heroes."

That sound is very evident in their Top 20 hit single from last year, the moving "I Get That All The Time," which was the highest-charting single from a self-released act on the Music Row Country BreakOut chart in 2009. The video for the song, which included the members' families, also made a mark, hitting # 3 on the GAC Top 20 Countdown.

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