LEWISTON — Tyler Bosse had a band name picked out two years before he had a band.

The Skidmarks.

No one else had taken it first, he said. He checked.

The group finally came together this spring: Bosse on drums; his brother, Hunter, on bass; Josh Chessey, lead guitar; and Mike Brackett, lead vocals and rhythm guitar.

The Skidmarks, who boast a cringe-worthy dirty underwear logo, opened the Liberty Festival’s Veterans Memorial Park concert on Saturday night.

They’re 11 and 12 years old — a degree of cringing is definitely the point.

They also rock. 

Saturday was their fourth gig outside of two school talent shows. The boys are all from Auburn. Hunter is going into the sixth grade, and the others, the eighth grade. The group practices twice a week in the Bosses’ living room.

“We play everything from the Beatles to Nirvana,” Brackett said.

Anything from the ’60s and later is fair game, he said. They’re looking to add country and pop to the classic rock favorites.

For now, it’s all covers, but the group is at work on its first original song, gearing up for a 20-and-under Junior Battle of the Bands at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee in August. As part of that competition, bands are vying to have their song picked for the new L/A Fighting Spirits’ anthem to be played at all of the new hockey team’s home games.

The goal after that: Stretching The Skidmark’s 35-minute set into two hours, learning enough new songs — especially slow songs — to start booking school dances.

They were nervous ahead of Saturday night’s show but came out confident at sound check with the Beatles’ “Twist and Shout.” 

“They’re young and they’re new and someone approached us about them coming,” Liberty Festival President Cathy McDonald said. “We thought it was a great addition to the night.”

Tyler said he’s enjoyed most that he gets to do, “what I love, being able to play the drums in front of people. We’re not even getting paid and we still love it.”

Hunter said he likes “playing gigs, getting people happy.”

“When we take breaks (during practice), we all switch instruments,” Josh said. “Hunter will try and sing. We have a lot of fun doing what we do.”

The Bosses’ dad, Gerry, is band manager and Tyler said he, his brother and father all came up with the band’s dirty underwear logo that’s now printed on T-shirts that they sell.

“My sister has one but she says she’d never be caught dead wearing it,” Brackett said. “It’ll grow on her, though.”

kskelton@sunjournal.com