In college towns, bands come and go. Whether they are cover bands or play original music, the lifespan of college music groups often fade with time. But for the bands that outlast the others, uprooting from Tuscaloosa is sometimes part of the process.

Lead singer and guitarist Adam Naylor of Nightfires and fellow band mates, Kyle Goodin, Andrew Lambeth and Joseph Edwards, decided moving from Tuscaloosa to Nashville would be the next step in their pursuit of music.

“Moving to Nashville provides us with a lot more opportunities as far as networking goes,” Naylor said. “We have a few contacts there now, and our goal is to get in touch with them.”

Originally, Naylor, Goodin and Lambeth played in a different band but decided to change things around, bringing in Joseph Edwards as the drummer and creating Nightfires.

“When we came up with the band name, we wanted it to be something neutral so that people didn’t think of something else when they heard it,” Naylor said. “We wanted the name to be visual, but we may have to change it when we move to Nashville.”

Naylor said they are sad to leave Tuscaloosa but excited for the opportunities that await them.

“If you love [music,] and it seems like a wise decision, pursue it,” Naylor said.

However, changing music scenes doesn’t always require moving to a big city. For members of Boom City, relocating from Tuscaloosa to Chapel Hill was ideal.

“We have definitely been successful here,” Steven Lane, co-lead singer for Boom City, said. “It was cool to watch the process of starting over, playing once a month to now playing several times a week.”

Lane said Boom City started in Tuscaloosa, but as members moved away from there, the band needed to move as well.

“We were scattered and needed a home base,” Lane said. “Tuscaloosa is amazing, but we wanted to try something new.”

Boom City plays pop/rock music that differs from many of the cover bands in town.

“Tuscaloosa has a hunger for original music; cover bands thrive there,” Lane said. “We started off as a cover band, but now we have started this new thing in Chapel Hill.”

Lane said he believed the lack of original music available is why many bands choose to leave their beloved starting place.

“Tuscaloosa is in our hearts,” Lane said. “We got our start playing in the corners of bars for basically free beer and loved it.”

For others, however, Tuscaloosa will remain a permanent stomping ground. Blaine Duncan, a Tuscaloosa songwriter who played his last show with his band the Lookers before an indefinite hiatus last Saturday night, said the shortcomings of Tuscaloosa’s music scene are more about the available fan base as opposed to the variety of music.

“The crowds fluctuate in college towns, and you have to reestablish a following every two years,” Duncan said. “The following is also limited because crowds want to hear cover bands, and many of the bars are 21 and up.”

Although these factors play major roles in a band’s success, Duncan said moving to a city like Nashville is not the only way to achieve it.

“Nashville is very saturated, and you’re going to be fighting in a very competitive place,” Duncan said. “With the advent and push of the internet, you could be successful in Marion, Ala., if you have a few contacts and spend some money on public relations.”

Duncan plans to continue residing in Tuscaloosa and sharing his music with the community. “I fear change too much to move,” Duncan said. “I have no hidden agenda. For a couple of years I stayed here to be with my band mates, but now this is home.”