In the side room of The Independent Bar, a group of fans stood shoulder to shoulder as The Applebutter Express took to the stage. Soon, a cheery bluegrass tune filled the air accompanied by singing and cheers from the crowd. Before the end of the first song, patrons pushed back tables and chairs to make room to dance in the cramped seating area.

  This is nothing new for The Applebutter Express, who have experienced some great success in the last four years. The band’s catchy lyrics and upbeat melodies have earned them some prestigious opportunities in the music industry, including a song featured in a new Ron Howard film, The Good Lie.

  The four-part band started as a duo. Kyle Biss and his wife Shannon Biss began with nothing but their voices and Kyle’s ukulele. After performing by themselves for a year, they teamed up with Matt DeSear on the upright bass, and Joe Trivette on the fiddle. Since then, the band has played at venues of all sizes, from tiny local bars to huge music festivals such as Bonnaroo.

  They keep a hectic schedule, playing multiple shows every weekend, sometimes without rest between gigs. This has been the band’s key to success. Playing at various venues every weekend has allowed them to accumulate a wide range of fans of all ages and walks of life. “It’s a little bit of everybody,” Kyle Biss said. “We’ve got fans that are multimillionaires and we’ve got fans that live in sheds.” This broad popularity is what would eventually take The Applebutter Express to Hollywood.

  After signing with Kompas Music, a publishing company, Kyle Biss was informed that one of the band’s songs would appear in a new film. At first there were very few details on their involvement in the soundtrack. “They just told us your song is gonna be in a movie, and little by little we found out more and more and more information until we knew which song,” Kyle recalled. The song is called “Hey My Brotha” and appears for 57 seconds in the new Ron Howard-produced film, The Good Lie.

  The Tampa musicians attended the movie premiere of The Good Lie in Olathe, Kansas. This was a new and strange experience for the band, whose previous musical engagements were much less personable. “We just had to get dressed up and be human beings,” Kyle joked. “No ukulele can save us now.”

  Amid all the social pressure, the musicians still had their craft in mind and used this opportunity to forge new business relationships. “We were really trying to meet the people that put us in the movie,” Kyle said. “Those are the people you want to have face time with.”

  Shannon agreed, “You can send them your music all day, but until they make that connection with you personally; that helps you more than just having a good product.”

  Another confirmation of the group’s talent came recently in the form of a sponsorship from Armadillo Enterprises, who awarded Kyle Biss with a brand new 8-string ukulele. This will open new doors for the band, including the possibility of their first tour.

  With all this fame at their fingertips, Kyle and Shannon Biss are still very appreciative of the recognition they get every day from their fans. They are delighted when fans respond to their Facebook page, and were pleased with the response to their new Twitter account. When speaking of a recent event at the Mahaffey Theatre Kyle said, “Seeing people tweeting pictures of us, and the Mahaffey Theatre retweets it, and all these people are retweeting our pictures and stuff, is really neat.”