AVERY COUNTY, North Carolina -- If there is such a thing as the classic Appalachian success story, the rise in popularity of the outside-the-box band Cigarettes @ Sunset would be that story.

But nothing comes easy in Appalachia.

The five-member band, which includes Garrett Dellinger, Ryland Bagbey, Sarah Vann, Wells Whitman and Ethan Moore, was born in the winter of 2022, practicing their music in the cold, unheated seats of the EDGE of the WORLD Snowboard Shop in Banner Elk, North Carolina.

Four years later, they have amassed over 225,000 monthly Spotify listeners with a unique sound that blends lyrics about smalltown grit with an irresistible, undefinable beat that band members call "Possum Rock."

Dellinger, the lead vocalist, explains that they were playing at a bar one night when a drunk patron walked up to their merchandise table. "He said, 'Do y'all play possum rock?' I just kind of shrugged and thought, 'I'll go with that,' and the label stuck," he said.

Bagbey jokes that he hopes the "very drunk guy" doesn't come back looking for royalties.

As for the unique name of the band, Dellinger admits it was pretty impulsive: "I was enjoying a smoke at sunset on the mountain and thought it would make a great name for a band."

The story began in the rugged Blue Ridge Mountains, where childhood friends Dellinger and Bagbey started writing music........

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