Anthropology, Archeology, Philosophy and Psychology brought Mike McCoy, Caleb Hutson, Vaughan Brenner, and Matt Dunaway to pursue degrees at Mississippi State University. Music and a common goal brought them together as the Starkville-based ‘southern-delic’ jam band “Tesheva.” 
Tesheva, originally composed of MSU philosophy and psychology major Dunaway, former MSU student Brenner, and MSU anthropology major Hutson, formed around two years ago when the trio lived together in rented house in town. Around a year after they first started hitting gigs, McCoy, who graduated MSU with an anthropology degree and was a constant presence in jam-sessions and shows, was officially brought into the fold. 
Now, after countless shows and multiple leases, Tesheva sits at a crossroads many young bands find themselves in – whether to pull all their chips together and shoot for big time shows and tours or splinter to pursue individual careers or continue seeking degrees and graduate programs. 
As of last Sunday morning, as the band sat on the back porch of the house they call headquarters kicking back beers and discussing Tesheva’s future, the consensus is to see how far the band will take them.
“We’re gonna ride this Tesheva train off the cliff, baby!” McCoy said. His commitment was mirrored in turn by each member of the band, who all agree that, if they can swing it, they would love play as long as the money to support the musician’s lifestyle keeps them going. 
“We’d like to make enough money to afford to live and play music,” Brenner said. “But I mean, if we were rolling in cash that’d be cool too.”
The biggest challenges facing the group are the same as any small band trying to grab a glimpse of the big time – getting some recordings done, getting a booking agent, and getting closer to an area with a more lucrative music scene. 
While not necessarily in that order, Hutson said once they have a quality EP recorded, booking more public gigs for themselves (shows big enough to attract talent agent scouts) will be significantly easier and the biggest hurdles between them and relocation is waiting on a lease to run out and coming to a consensus as to where they should try and strike out – about the only thing the four piece band disagrees on aside from what pack of cigarettes to split. 
“Our lease here ends in August, and we are contemplating moving,” Hutson said. “Starkville is a great place but it isn’t really centered around a lot of music-heavy places.”
As far as where said music-heavy places exist is the easy part. The difficulty lies in finding a place that satisfies all four members and is not to far from the place all four call home. 
“I’d love to be out of this region,” Dunaway said. “But we can end up as close as Jackson at the end of the day. Not really sure where it’s going to fall.”
While there are obviously challenges associated with growing a band in small town Mississippi, Tesheva counts their blessings and considers themselves to be in a lucky situation uniquely conducive to a creative process. 
“One of the advantages we have is we all live in this house,” Hutson said. “There is no other band in town who lives together like we do.”
Hutson said around the time of their first gig, when they realized they had something they could develop, the band set loose goals for themselves and Tesheva’s progress. He said having opened for the major act “Tauk” and looking down the short road to their first out-of-state show in Tuscaloosa, They have hit just about every mark they set for themselves. 
“I think we’ve been over rewarded for the amount of work we have put in,” Hutson said, quickly seconded by McCoy.  
The members of Tesheva  are not the only ones who think they have a good thing going. Keatzi Gunmoney, a musician native to Louisville who said he skipped over to Starkville and started playing Open Mic Night at Dave’s Darkhorse Tavern around 10 years ago is now deeply ingrained in the Starkville music scene and now runs the same weekly singer/songwriter night he started playing a decade ago. 
According to members of Tesheva and most anyone else making music in Starkville, Gunmoney is one of Starkville music’s greatest facilitators as he often works with local bands, lending out sound equipment, running soundboards, and producing recordings. 
“Y’all (Tesheva) are the best original band in town right now,” Gunmoney said. 
In addition to voicing his support of the band, Gunmoney has reached out to Tesheva along with several other local acts to collaborate on an upcoming tribute album dedicated to one of Starkville music’s fallen champions Del Rendon. 
Gunmoney said a lot of aspects of the tribute project are still on the drawing board, but is planning to start initial recordings with a few acts as soon as tomorrow. 
As for Tesheva, the band plans to keep doing what they love doing as long as they can, and are always looking to pick up new gigs and get themselves out there. To find out more about Tesheva, their upcoming shows and recording progress, take it straight from the horse’s’ mouth by following them on Twitter @TeshevaBand or on Facebook.