Jared Cole got the star treatment — for a while — after he started his first band in middle school in Tipton County.

“We called up The New Daisy here in Memphis,” he said. “We were like, ‘Hey, we’d love to come play up here.’ We didn’t know anything about it. We didn’t know what the Daisy was.”

When they said their band name, the man at The New Daisy told them they’d get a show and they didn’t even have to send a demo.

“So, we walk on Beale, man. I’m like 16 years old, dude. And the big marquee over the Daisy said, ‘From New Orleans, Roadrunner Recording Artist Floodgate.’ We didn’t know there was another band named ‘Floodgate.’’”

They walked inside and saw the man they talked to frantically asking people where Floodgate was. “We’re over here like, ‘That’s us, dude.’ We’re a bunch of kids. I think my old guitar player took red paint and made ‘Floodgate’ across a white T-shirt to make it look all hardcore and bloody. He looks over and goes, ‘Oh, they’re gonna kill you guys.’”

But, Cole said, “Believe it or not, people were pretty cool with it.”

Now a veteran Memphis musician, Cole, 26, is lead singer of Surrender the Fall.

Growing up, Cole and others his age were serious about music, but there weren’t any venues near them where they could play. “It’s like everywhere you turn there was a church on the corner and there’s a band room on the corner. Everybody’s trying to make it.”

When he graduated from high school, Cole moved to Memphis. He formed a group Evolver, which evolved into Surrender the Fall.

The name means “letting go of everything that has ever held you back from your dreams and the things you want to accomplish in life.”

Guitarist and backing vocalist Eddie Tyre, 29, is the only Surrender the Fall member who was in Evolver with Cole. A Hurricane Katrina victim, Tyre, who played in God’s Little Toy in New Orleans, moved to Memphis from St. Bernard Parrish in Louisiana after his house was damaged. “My wife and I were just driving around living wherever we could and staying where we could with a couple of outfits that we took on the road with us when we evacuated,” he said.

Cole’s vocals on an Evolver CD attracted him to the band. “It had good melody to it, but there was a good raspiness.”

Rhythm guitarist Anthony “Tronie” Pitts, 21, who played football at Christian Brothers High School, might have become a professional athlete instead of a guitarist. “I tore my MCL, ACL and PCL all in one go,” he said. “It was in a scrimmage game. It was a freak accident. Somebody’s entire body fell on my knee and (it) just snapped. After that it was pretty much like, ‘Thanks for playing football. It’s over.’”

While recovering, Pitts concentrated on playing guitar. Cole heard about his guitar ability and asked him to join Surrender the Fall. “He had great taste with colorful ideas,” Cole said. “And he was determined.”

Drummer Zack Horvath, 26, came to the group after being in a punk band, Purple Monkey Dishwasher, and a rock band, One Bullet Booth.

“He had a really nice flair to him,” Cole said. “I think we possessed him with some certain kinds of demons.”

Bass player Devin Hightower, 24, who also is in his own band, Shaved, is “solid,” Cole said. “And he brings a chemistry to this band.”

Cole, who writes the majority of the lyrics, said many of his songs are personal. “Someone once told me the best songs you’ll ever write are the ones you don’t want anyone else to read. That’s been etched across my heart and will remain there for the rest of my life.

“We have songs about past members that didn’t work out, past relationships — just things we’ve gone through, personal struggles and addiction. I used to deal with addiction.”

“Under” is about “a relationship gone wrong. I met this girl. I didn’t realize she had as many problems as she did with substance abuse and things of that nature. It seemed every time she wasn’t medicated or abusing anything she never wanted to be around me. But when she was high, everything was cool.”

Surrender the Fall shows are high energy. “I’ll attempt to walk out on the crowd’s hands in the middle of a song,” Cole said. “You’ll see a bunch of people rush over to hold me up so I’m not falling over.”

“It’s worked better sometimes than others,” Pitts said.

The band currently is working on a CD produced by Chris Austin. They’ll release an EP with several of their new songs at Saturday night’s show at Newby’s.

Click here to hear music by Surrender the Fall.

Surrender the Fall performs at 8 p.m. Saturday at Newby’s, 539 South Highland. Cover: $8.

Listen Up spotlights area performers. Michael Donahue can be reached at donahue@commercialappeal.com or 529-2797.