Local band Southern Fried Funk has found its groove, its rhythm, its beat. The song the band is playing hits its climax, the vocals hit their peak and the music explodes from the basement they practice in. As the song comes to a close and the sound diminishes to pure nothingness, all that can be heard is silence.

On January 11, Southern Fried Funk will receive a markedly different reaction, when it opens for the famous '70s rock band, Mountain, at the Starland Ballroom.

Southern Fried Funk, a self-proclaimed "funk-rock band with a Pink Floyd feeling," has four members: Alex Bubnov, a sophomore at Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School, and three other high school students from Westfield. Bubnov, the drummer, helped found the band three years ago.

No performance in its history has ever compared to the prestige of the band's upcoming show. "It's like...Starland Ballroom," said Bubnov, "It's the beginning of the path to fame. It's the real deal." Up until this performance, Southern Fried Funk's largest show took place on the small stage at Westfield's street fair, Festifall, where the band's jams were only background music for most of the passersby.

While searching the Internet for possible gigs, Southern Fried Funk saw that Mountain was playing at the Starland Ballroom and needed a few bands to open the concert. Having nothing to lose, the band contacted the Sayreville venue but did not hear back for three weeks. "After we had lost all hope in the cause," said singer, guitarist, and band manager Daniel Zavaro, a junior at Westfield High School, "we got an e-mail saying we would be perfect for the gig."

At the concert, Southern Fried Funk will play about five original songs, spanning the genres of rock, funk and blues. After their performance, Mountain, whose most famous song, "Mississippi Queen," is featured on Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock , will take the stage in front of an audience of about one thousand people, according to Starland Ballroom estimates.

The doors to the concert open at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, January 11. Tickets can be purchased for $15.50 in advance or for $18 at the door. Southern Fried Funk will also release a thirteen-song album at the concert, which will cost ten dollars.

"Right now, we have no reputation. We're just trying to make a good first impression," said Bubnov, "Hopefully, afterwards, we will have made a great one."