Caney native Jared Daniels returned to his hometown Saturday night to entertain concert guests in the very high school gymnasium where Daniels graduated more than six years ago.

The five members of the Jared Daniels Band, or known simply as JDB, dazzled guests with an array of music, ranging from southern rock and roll favorites like “Sweet Home Alabama” to even a few country tunes written by Daniels himself.

Sporting the red and blue Bullpup hat that he wore as a baseball player during his days at Caney Valley High School, Daniels maintained an electric atmosphere in the gymnasium as his band members delved into other music — including a few riffs from AC/DC, the Beatles, and even Tony Basil’s 1982 hit “Mickey.”

Daniels never thought of himself as a musician during his years as a Caney Valley High School student. But, after getting his start as a guitar player in a praise band at the First Baptist Church in Caney, the Caney product got bit by the music bug.

The Jared Daniels Band includes the namesake at lead vocals and guitar, Kevin Meier on bass guitar, Kenton Ashcraft on drums, Kevin Henrichs on lead guitar, Kendra White on fiddle, and Jason Mann on keyboard. Jason Bird is manager, and Andy Vanmeter is the sound engineer.

Via an e-mail interview this week, the Montgomery County Chronicle talked to Daniels about his band and its future in the country music scene.

Q. We remember you in football, wrestling and baseball at Caney Valley High School. We don’t remember you in band or choir. So, how did you get started in music?

A. I got started at the First Baptist Church playing in the praise band. I also spent many afternoons and evenings in the living room of Barney Burnett because I was friends with his son Levi and he taught us a great amount about playing the guitar.

Q. Do you think this will lead to a full-time career in music?  Where do you go from here?

A. I’m really hoping it will lead into where it’s my living.  I love doing it.  Nashville has crossed my mind a lot, also Austin, Texas.  As for the band: we’ll keep playing and we’ll just let it take us.  We have a lot of great people around us who are helping us and pointing us in the right direction.

Q. How far have you traveled to play?

A. We’ve played all throughout Kansas, about every corner of the state. Also Nebraska and Missouri.  We are currently scheduling dates in Amarillo, Texas, and Fort Worth, Texas, for 2010.

Q. What has been the band’s greatest moment thus far?

A. You can’t ever beat playing in front of your hometown and especially since a lot of the songs I write are about Caney in some form.  Other than that probably playing a sold-out venue with Eric Church, who is one of the country’s biggest acts right now and who is an amazing songwriter I look up to.

Q. How do you describe your music?

A. The way I write I guess you could say is “small town and real.” If you really listen to the words, you’ll get a feel of who I am.  We also like the shows to be very entertaining. The guys in the band help make all this possible.

Q. Because you are based in Manhattan, you’ve got a following from the college-aged crowd. What is that like?

A. We do have a large following in Manhattan.  The people here are great.  They appreciate the small town country music.  It’s a very neat place and they bring a lot of big acts through this town. It’s almost surreal sometimes when we’re just walking around town or at Wal-Mart and we get recognized and people ask questions or say, “You are in the Jared Daniels Band.” I never would have imagined it like this. When you get to live your dream out with some of your best friends, it’s an amazing feeling.