Probably one of the best aspects of digging a local band that's made it big is being able to say you were a huge fan way back when. Well, we're proud to present you with you're newest opportunity to fall in love with a group who're all but ready to leap off the precipice of local fame and land smack dap into the big leagues.

Mostly made up of Allen Park natives, Annabelle Road are nothing short of hometown sweethearts. The four-piece country music outfit is well known for playing local festivals like the Detroit Hoedown and Mount Clemens' Stars and Stripes and even venues as big as Comerica Park. But after they release their newest EP Five Speed on 7/13 at Hard Rock Café Detroit, their tours could be taking a national turn sooner rather than later.

Recorded in a Nashville studio with producers behind quite a few country music heavy hitters, the group's lead singer and sole lady member, Amanda Bailey says she is not only incredibly proud of their sophomore release, but eager to share with their fans the album that could really shoot them into stardom.

"I'm so excited about the EP, we've got some killer songs on it. The people that we recorded with and the extra players who came on to do some work with instruments we don't play, they're the guys you hear playing in top 20 songs on country radio. The producer, the engineer, the mixer – they're the guys who've been working with Kenny Chesney, Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood. And to have the opportunity to do a project with those people, I'm feeling really good about things right now. I can't wait to release the EP and see what happens," says Bailey.

The group's been performing together for about five years, according to Bailey, and they've already got one album under their belt, but their love of music certainly wasn't an adulthood development.

"We've all been doing music forever, we were all in band in elementary and junior high and high school," says Bailey. "All of the guys work at the same music store in Allen Park. Music has just always been a huge part of all of our lives. All of our parents are super into music and either played in a band or their families would pull a guitar out at the holidays and do sing-a-longs. Music is just something we don't know how to live without. "

And while there is certainly a huge country music following in not just metro Detroit, but across the state presumably, it might seem like an odd choice for a local Michigan group considering all the roots of not just rock and Motown, but electronic music as well. But it's those influences that Bailey says have made their sound not only well-balanced and eclectic, but something as deft as it is different.

"We have so much fun when we sit down to write music. Normally it gets pretty silly. I think one of the neatest things with the creative process is that all of us, we all love country music, but we all are really inspired by different niches outside of country music and when you pull all of those things together, you end up with something really cool. Like the rock influence and a little bit of the blues in country, and I don't think we would get that if all of us weren't part of that process," says Bailey.

With the passion, talent, guts and ambition this four-piece packs, we can't say it will be long before they're debuting on national radio, making a music video for CMT or headlining their own tour. So, if you'd like to say you know this Michigan-made band way back when, we suggest you head to the Hard Rock on 7/13. | RDW

Annabelle Road with Paulina Jayne • 7/13, 7:30 p.m. • Hard Rock Cafe • 45 Monroe, Detroit • 313.964.7625 • hardrock.com • $5