BY ALLISON RUSSELL

Newsroom Intern

The fans of the band Almost Perfect get what they want.

When they called for the release of the local band's first CD, the four members found a studio and spent the next eight months recording songs for their CD, "You Asked For It."

"It's pretty cool, because back in the day when I was growing up, you couldn't just make a CD," says Robert Enloe, a Robbins native and the group's guitarist and lead vocalist.

The group, which includes Enloe, Matt Kuhn, Andy Roberts and Robbie Singletary, celebrated the release of "You Asked For It" Friday, June 17, at The Bell Tree Tavern in Southern Pines.

Family and friends, as well as fans and anyone else who wished to -celebrate, joined the band.

Enloe says the CD is a "hodgepodge," and it spans the genres of country, rock and blues. He wrote all of the songs, some of which he had "tucked away" for several years.

"It's music right from the heart," says Cecil Monroe, the studio -drummer who recorded the CD with the band. "Robert writes from his life, which is what you're supposed to do. It's not -perfect: What you see is what you get."

Almost Perfect began three years ago when Enloe and Kuhn, the band's bassist, met in Seven Lakes. They played -together for their friends as an acoustic band called House Call. Shortly after, they met Singletary and formed Almost Perfect.

As their name suggests, the members of Almost Perfect are not making music with the goal of attaining perfection.

"We have a bunch of guys looking to get -together to have fun," Enloe says. "Having fun is much more important than perfection."

"It's just real people -having fun," Monroe says. "It's simplistic, down-home music that everyone can relate to, and that's what I like about it."

Until several months ago, the group played mainly in local venues, singing cover songs and occasionally adding an original song to the set list. When the popularity of the original songs, such as " I Told Myself," began to grow, the band knew it was time to record a CD.

They chose to record at Lazy Ridge Music LLC in Concord, a place that Enloe says "rescued us from disaster."

They initially produced 100 CDs, mainly for friends and family. In -addition to hard copies, the band has made "You Asked For It" available on iTunes, CDBaby.com and Amazon.com

"I like playing in the studio because I can hear everything perfectly," Monroe says. "You almost lose some of the feeling of playing live [when you play in the studio], but you can hear things so differently."

The group recorded its album by tracking, a process that requires each part of a song to be played one at a time. The pieces are then layered on top of each other to complete the song. This process allows each musician to focus on his own part of the song, as opposed to orchestrating the entire band in a single take.

This method is similar to the way Enloe learned how to play the guitar.

"As a guitar player, when you're coming up, you just focus on the instrument," says Enloe, who began playing the guitar when he was 15.

Now, more than two decades later, the -members of Almost Perfect have harmonized their talents and played in Greensboro, Fayetteville and Charlotte, among other cities. Enloe says his most memorable venue was the Beaver Bar at the Myrtle Beach Biker Rally earlier this year.

Despite the out-of-town gigs, Enloe says the band most enjoys playing -locally.

"It's the most satisfying and fulfilling with family and friends there," Enloe says. "The real cool thing is when you meet someone you don't know, and they keep showing up to the shows."

The band's emphasis on playing locally reflects its down-to-earth approach to music.

As Monroe puts it, "It's real music by real people."

Allison Russell, a student at UNC-Chapel Hill, was a summer intern at The Pilot.

PHOTO CUTLINE:

CONTRIBUTED

Almost Perfect band members spent eight months recording songs for their CD, "You Asked For It."

SIDEBAR:

Almost Perfect will bring the sound its fans are asking for to the 56th annual Robbins Farmers Day entertainment stage Saturday, August 6, from 8 p.m. to midnight. Joining Almost Perfect on the Post Office stage will be Johnny and the Cadillacs and the Ross Coppley Band.