Buddy Holly-esque Jeremy Clinger and his band mates stare ahead at something in the distance; the black and white photo revealing an attitude of expectancy. Red Top Road, Sacramento’s newest aspiring talent, is kicking back waiting for the success that will hopefully follow the release of their debut CD, “Firefighter.”

Manager Eric Rushing saw the local band’s first show, and recognized their anomalous blend of poetry and guitar-driven mania as something special. Guitarist/vocalist Joe Atkins and bass player Jaydn DeWald collaborate to create their unusual style, Atkins rifling through his original poems for lyrical inspiration.

“We usually come up with the music first, then see which poems fit and do a little revising if needed to make it into a song,” Atkins said.

Originally named Starter Kit, Red Top Road came up with their name while driving toward San Francisco for a recording session.

“We had just found out that a band in Portland already had the rights to our name, so we were trying to think of something else. We said, ‘It will just come to us,'” Atkins said. “That something else turned out to be the name of the first exit before Vallejo, Red Top Road. We all saw the name and said, ‘That’s it!'”

Together now for a little over a year, the band caught their first break recently when Rushing cut a deal with 720 Records to produce “Firefighter,” an album with an aggressive, rock-based, power-pop kind of sound.

“It’s pretty much my dream. I’d like this to go as far as it can,” Atkins said of the experience so far.

Just starting out at Sac State, Atkins is a little different from most freshmen.

Instead of just worrying about finals, term papers and life in the dorms, Atkins and the band have recording contracts, songwriting and live shows to think about.

Red Top Road will take their show on the road in December, including a benefit for the popular nightclub, Bojangles–which was severely burned in a fire–at The Crest Theatre in Sacramento Thursday, Dec. 14, and a concert in SES Hall in Elk Grove hosted by Loaves and Fishes Friday, Dec. 15.