Provided by Will Bradford

Laura Reed and Deep Pocket.

Laura Reed and Deep Pocket are about to embark on a high profile tour. Later this year, the band is going to be a part of Green Train, a concert and train tour with musicians such as Willie Nelson, Jewel, Dave Matthews Band, Cher and John Mayer. Reed got her band the gig by being spontaneous. She was at the tour organizer Bob Wolf's house in Nashville, Tenn., and approached him about joining the tour. She then started singing for him, on the spot.

She described it as a do-or-die moment. He was skeptical at first, but after hearing her sing, the organizer signed the band up for the full tour.

Laura Reed and Deep Pocket came together in 2006 and they haven't looked back at the old lives they left behind, working 9-5 in an office and playing music on the side as a bar band. The band formed in Boone, N.C., where Reed attended college. After graduation, she worked at an environmental public relations firm doing marketing in Asheville, N.C. The manager of the band convinced Reed and the other members of Deep Pocket to quit their jobs and pursue music full time.

Lead singer Reed is a completely self-taught musician, playing rhythm guitar and lead harmonica. She writes the music and lyrics to her songs with some help from band members Ryan Burns (keys, organ) and Ben Didelot (bass). The other members of the band are Jim Bon (drums) and Debrissa McKinney (vocals and sax).

"You reap what you sow. We are earning our reputation as a hard working, touring band," she said.

So hard in fact, that Reed agreed to do an interview with me while on her honeymoon in Miami. The band is now working on their third album, which will be released in the spring of 2009. Reed said she wanted to "spread our music as far reaching as possible and help people feel good. To make people happy through music is the ultimate success."

Reed said she is inspired by Bob Marley, Grateful Dead and Aretha Franklin. Her goals? "To perform with Erykah Badu or Lauren Hill and have a platinum album," she said.

The band has an upbeat, soulful sound that mixes R&B, jazz, and hip hop. They play tomorrow night at the Pour House.