Baton Rouge rock band Barisal Guns was formed in 2006 in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Somewhat existing in New Orleans before that, the band's members dispersed only to reconvene in Baton Rouge with new energies, new spirits and new members. This five-man line up now consists of Ashley Sutton, Ken Faucheux, Marc Cenac, and Liam and Ben Catchings.

"Everything else that happened before 2006 wasn't Barisal Guns," Cenac said.

Revived and ready, the band rented out studio space above The Caterie to hold regular practices and to begin their journey toward becoming one of the city's best guitar-driven rock bands.

Two years later, the band's dedication has paid off. They are released their first album, titled "No. 1," on Aug. 16 at The House of Blues in New Orleans.

The CD is definitely representative of the band's local success, but it is something more. Cenac related the release of the CD to the band's ability to stay together despite the hard times, saying it is "a culmination of everything that has happened with the band. To me, that's a success."

Ranging in age from 23 to 27, the band members are not coasting along the road to musical glory just yet. Basically, the shows they play pay for their expenses. Because of this, they all work jobs in addition to performing, but this does not mean they lack passion.

"I don't think for one second that anything else I do means that I don't want to play music," Cenac said. "I feel like there's this romantic idea that you have to be this starving musician who sacrifices all for the music for someone to think that you're really passionate about it. Like there's an extreme, and the amount of sacrifice equals the amount of dedication that you have."

However, Barisal Guns is 'making it.' They are just being responsible about matters. They are taking it slowly and building from the ground up. Starting with regional tours, they intend to circle the area and gradually expand, encompassing a wider range of fans along the way. There is even talk of bringing their performance to the East Coast next summer.

Although they are not signed with any label and are not scheduled for any official tours, the band has made a name for themselves locally and even virtually.

"It wouldn't make sense to do a tour right now. It's something I would love to do because it gets more people to hear your music, but you can tour on the Internet and have that take you places," Cenac said.

Uploading their music in the virtual world does indeed put their sound out there, a sound that is full of classic rock and influenced by greats such as Led Zeppelin, Jimmy Hendrix and Blind Melon. However, their online music does not do justice to their live concerts.

Cenac said the audience really gets into their concerts, adding that his favorite song to play is "Postal."

"That's a good song to play live because we do an 'improvise jam' in the middle," he said. "It's fun to let loose in the middle, and the crowd likes it. It's also fun for us, because we get to play something new each time we play it."

"It's just jamming. I like it," Cenac said.

For more information, visit the band's MySpace page.