Emerson Drive, a band of surging popularity among country music fans, hit the grandstand Wednesday night, bringing a crowd of both young and old to their feet.

Playing favorites such as &uot;Fall into Me&uot; and &uot;I Should be Sleeping,&uot; the band was a crowd pleaser with their country and rock songs.

The band, which comes from a small town in Alberta, Canada, has made its way up the charts by touring constantly. They’ve become a very popular national country act.

Emerson Drive proved their growing popularity in May when they won the best new band award at the American County Music awards.

Wednesday, Albert Lea got a taste of what got the band that award.

Their song &uot;Only God,&uot; which had many in the crowd singing along, ranked as the 26th-most-popular country song in the last week by Crook and Chase, a popular national county music radio show.

The biggest hits of the night were the cover songs &uot;Fishing in the Dark&uot; by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and &uot;The Devil went down to Georgia&uot; by the Charlie Daniels Band.

On &uot;Devil,&uot; a song that revolves around a fiddle player’s musical duel with the devil, David Pichette, the band’s fiddler, went mad on the fiddle, playing fast and furiously. His playing pulled the crowd, which packed the grandstand, to its feet with cheers.

In the middle of &uot;Devil,&uot; the band broke into the bass line from of Led Zeppelin’s &uot;Kashmir,&uot; while singer Brad Mates got the crowd more riled up.

An instrumental jam later in the set had the bassist, Jeff Loberg, duel it out instrumentally with Allingham, which was another crowd pleaser.

For the fans who didn’t know Emerson Drive, the cover songs brought them in. County favorite &uot;Fishing in the Dark&uot; gave those who decided to see what the concert was all about something to sing along with.

But many in the crowd were there to get a taste of the band &uot;before they get big.&uot;

&uot;They were really great,&uot; Amber Wilson, 18, said. Wilson came from Austin with Darrin Christopherson to see Emerson Drive.

&uot;It’s great to get a band this big come to Southern Minnesota,&uot; Christopherson said.

Traveling to see Emerson Drive was not uncommon.

For Katie Wencl and her mother, it was a 70-mile round trip Tuesday night.

&uot;We came up just for this,&uot; said Katie, 11, who is from Forest City, Iowa. &uot;It was definitely worth the trip. They were awesome.&uot;

Katie’s grandparents, who didn’t know the band’s music prior to the show, said they were taken in by the band’s energy.

&uot;I’ve been coming to the fair to see bands since I was five,&uot; she said. &uot;I think this was the best band I’ve seen.&uot;

She was outfitted in a black Emerson Drive T-shirt with the pictures of all six band members on it.

&uot;I hope I can see them again,&uot; she said.

(Contact Peter Cox at peter.cox @albertleatribune.com or 379-3439.)