South 70 - Country. 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Aug. 8 and 9, Saint Andrew Festival, 724 Mulberry St., Murphysboro; free. Also at the festival both days: Catfish dinners, 4-7:30 p.m., $9 and $4.50; raffles, kids' games, model car race track, silent auction, quilt bingo.

MURPHYSBORO - It's been a long road for Simone Simonton, a road stretching from Southern Illinois to Atlanta, touring with nationally known acts and helping form one of country music's hottest bands.

As crazy as the ride has been, it's really just starting. Simonton returns to the area next weekend at the Saint Andrew Festival for two performances with a band, South 70, that represents culmination of her experiences as a musician.

Growing up in Carlyle, the seeds for Simonton's musical career were sown early. She can remember seeing the planter, which looked like a giant drum kit, on her family's farm. Simonton's father would get a couple of sticks and lift her up to bang on the grain tubs.

"From then, I think they knew," Simonton said. "It wasn't long after that, they bought me a little drum set and I just started playing."

Country music was the soundtrack of these years, in her parents' house as well as in her home town.

"I can remember going to parties with really � country people, where there's just a dirt floor with guys with banjos and guitars just sitting around," Simonton said.

Her first experiences in country music came in high school. But upon discovering jazz while a music performance student at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, she left country behind. Simonton didn't get back to her roots until after graduation, when she moved to Atlanta to start a musical career.

Finding other musicians wasn't hard. Simonton was quickly able to connect in the local music scene, with bands such as Indigo Girls, who were regulars at the Little 5 Points Pub in the early 1990s and were just breaking out with mainstream success. Simonton toured with Indigo Girls and appeared on two of their albums, "Back on the Bus, Y'all," and "Rites of Passage."

"It was a great experience, playing all over the country for thousands of people," Simonton said.

Around this time, Simonton met songwriter and performer Kristen Hall. The two played together on and off during the next few years, crossing paths in the studio and in clubs for several years as part of a circle of musicians that also included Kristian Bush. Eventually, this circle tightened in 2002 to become the group Sugarland.

Simonton was with the band for a little more than a year. But looking for her own creative outlet, she left the group before they became country superstars.

"I really realized how much I wanted to be a songwriter as well as a drummer," Simonton said. "What better way than to start your own band and really feel that need to create for it and to have an outlet where it's your vision and you can kind of control, as much as you can, how the songs come out and what you do with them."

South 70 came together piece by piece during the next few years. Besides Simonton, the other cornerstone of the band was singer/songwriter Geoff Reid. The two became writing partners, intentionally penning tunes with male and female perspectives. As other musicians were added to the mix, it was evident Reid should sing alongside a lead female vocalist, to give voice to the different sides of the stories.

"We didn't set out to do that, it just materialized," Simonton said.

The current lineup was fully completed in 2007 with singer Kylie Bengo, bassist James Cromer and guitarist JD Davis.

Simonton is not tied to any one particular vision of where South 70 is headed. For her, it all comes down to one thing.

"My dream has always been to be as big as possible and to play for as many people as possible," she said. "I love small crowds, it's cool to have an intimate crowd; but I am most energized when my drums are perched on a big riser on a big stage, and there are thousands of people out there. That's where I want to go, that's where I want to take the songs."

South 70 has previously played in Carlyle and Marion. Coming back to Southern Illinois is always a special experience for Simonton.

"I love the idea of going home and going back to my roots," she said. "The irony is, I had to move to a big town to have the opportunities to write about my small town life and upbringing."

brent.stewart@thesouthern.com

351-5074