By JESSICA A. BOTELHO

“We went from being the bar cover band to writing our own songs, getting on local radio stations and then getting heavy rotation statewide,” said Alan Jones, founding member of Fifth Freedom, a hard rock/southern rock band from Portland, Maine.

In fact, they’ve earned airplay on 106.3 The Bone, 95.3 The Edge and 105.1 WTOS The Mountain of Pure Rock and have been featured on sell out shows, including 2009’s Bone Bash and multiple WTOS “School of Rock” shows.

Additionally, they’ve partnered with a group called Conquer Entertainment, an up-and-coming business that’s helping them market their music.

But, the excitement doesn’t stop there. Jones, along with band mates Nicholas Little, Mike Scarpelli and Gary Marston, recently made a website through Kickstarter, the world’s largest funding platform for creative projects, this spring. By late May, they hit their minimum goal of $5,000.

“Thank you to our supporters and fans who helped this dream start to come true,” the band posted on their Facebook page May 25.

Since they were able to raise $5,000, the band will be heading into the studio to record an album with producer Beau Hill, who has produced music for bands such as Fleetwood Mac, Twisted Sister and Ratt, to name a few.

“For us, it’s a once in a lifetime thing,” Jones said. “He happened to come across our music, and just e-mailed our manager and then called me out of nowhere and said, ‘Hey. I really like your sound but your music needs more production behind it.’ He genuinely wants to work with us. We’ve been sitting on this material for years and have more material ready to go.”

Jones, the lead vocalist, who is also one of the band’s two guitarists, formed Fifth Freedom with his younger brother, Dan Robert, in 2003. When Robert left for the Army in 2006, Jones promised he wouldn’t end the band.

“If I stop pursuing the dream he’d kick my ass,” said Jones. “We have these basic freedoms – freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from fear, freedom from hate,-and being in the band is the ultimate freedom. It empowers us. Through members coming and going, girlfriends, wives, ex wives and everything else, we’ve always had this-we’ve always had the band. It’s our outlet. We can say what we want to say and people understand that.”

Yet, there is one more thing that makes the quartet feel empowered.

According to Jones, opening for major-label acts gives them a rush like no other. A personal highlight for him was when they got to open for Adler’s Appetite, which is comprised of members from classic glam rock bands such as Quiet Riot, Faster Pussycat, Enuff Z’Nuff and, of course, Guns N Roses, as former GNR drummer Steven Adler leads the band.

“Guns was the first band that I heard that I was like, ‘Yeah, this is what I want to do,’” said Jones. “They became my heroes, not just a band. Meeting him was like, ‘Whoa,’ let alone sharing the stage with him. He was the most humble person I’ve ever met. It was so refreshing to see that.”

Fifth Freedom has also shared stages with other well-known acts including Godsmack, Theory of a Deadman, Sevendust, Alter Bridge, Empathetic, Shinedown, Puddle of Mudd, among others.

To learn more about the band, as well as tour information, visit them on Facebook at facebook.com/FifthFreedom or on Reverbnation at reverbnation.com/fifthfreedom.