Southern-rock band Kings of Leon [ tickets ] consists of three brothers and a cousin from Tennessee, but the family affair goes further. The band gets its name from patriarch Leon Followill, a traveling preacher, and that environment was likely key to developing the brothers' interest in performing; as boys, they were occasionally enlisted to bang on drums during sermons.

Since its founding just eight years ago, the group has been more enthusiastically embraced overseas than in the US. The band's latest CD, the September release "Only by the Night," is certified double platinum in the UK and triple platinum in Australia. The US is now sitting up and taking notice, with the album debut at No. 4 on The Billboard 200 chart.