PITTSBURGH, Pa. (EYT) — North of Mason Dixon is ready to release its first new music in six years, and they are seeking the support of their fans.

The Pittsburgh-based band, with a local connection in Luke Zacherl, a former Marble native and 1999 Keystone High School graduate, has been together since 2004.

Zacherl plays the fiddle and mandolin while singing backing vocals. Their current lineup includes vocalist David August, of Monroeville; lead guitarist and backing vocalist Jason Pfeifer, of Latrobe; rhythm guitarist ‘Suitcase’ Johnny Waclo, of Dormont; bassist and backing vocalist George Elliott, of Pittsburgh; and drummer and backing vocalist Bobby Kunkel, of Greenfield.

“We’ve all played together over the years in some fashion or were friends while in other bands that disbanded at one point or another,” Zacherl said.

Since their release of their self-titled album, the group has done a few EPs (extended play).

“We pushed our self-titled album for probably a little longer than we should have,” Zacherl said. “We released an acoustic ep and a Christmas ep the last few years. Of course, life always gets in the way at times, too.”

“We’ve been at arms a little bit over the past few years with the direction of the industry and whether or not it’s smart to release full albums anymore, or just individual songs.”

“We all still buy vinyl and CDs, and we love the physical aspect of actually owning something. Holding a record or CD and looking at the lyric, pictures, and artwork is almost just as important to us as the music itself. So, it’s a little hard sometimes for us to let go in this digital age,” Zacherl said.

NOMaD partnered with pledgemusic.com to help release their new EP, “A Day Late…” It has been in the making for about two years.

According to the pledgemusic.com site, fans can lend a helping hand by pre-ordering any of the packages that are listed on the PledgeMusic page. By doing so, fans can help them reach our financial goal (as determined by PM) and fund the completion of this project.

“The new EP is called ‘A Day Late…’ and hopefully, we will have another coming out late this year or early next year called ‘…A Dollar Short.”

“We have five new originals, and we are working with Grammy award winner Joe West in Nashville. We decided to try PledgeMusic as a means to be a little more personal with our fans and have them join us and be a part of the process.”

“Social media only goes so far, and PledgeMusic is really a tool to help us get a little farther. I hate words like crowdfunding, but that’s really what it is.”

“However, it’s not like we are asking for donations or anything,” Zacherl said. “People are getting items that are only exclusive through the campaign, and aside from the new EP itself, these items won’t be made available after the campaign ends. You can get anything from autographed items up to NOMaD playing at your party. It’s a fun, creative way to presell our new EP.”

“So far, we’ve been fortunate enough with this campaign that we are finding support all over the United States with pre-orders even coming in all the way from California.”

“There’s something to be said for a relationship between a band and their fans. Even up to the highest level, we are all just people, and we make ourselves completely attainable with everyone we come in contact with,” Zacherl said.

The deadline to reach their goal is fast approaching with less than a month to go.

To see what is available, go to www.pledgemusic.com/projects/nomad.

The band has several tour dates scheduled for the next few months. This weekend, they will be playing the Cancun Cantina in Hanover, Md.

They will be the headliners at Meadows Casino in Washington, Pa., for Cinco de Mayo.

Also, they will play Waves of Thunder in Kittanning on June 9.

“We all have day jobs for the most part, so going on tour for weeks at a time doesn’t happen so much anymore, but we still play year-round and are still hitting between 75-100 shows a year,” Zacherl said.

NOMaD was also selected as Kenny Chesney’s Next Big Star in 2008. They have opened for or supported more than 100 national artists including Kenny Chesney, Keith Urban, Leann Rimes, Rascal Flatts, Brooks & Dunn, Toby Keith, Big & Rich, and George Jones.