The Almost and The Starting Line are playing a free show Sunday night at Club Congress, 311 E. Congress St.
While the show is free, tickets are limited. Visit www.kfma.com for ticket availability. Doors open at 7 p.m.

Few bands are fortunate enough to have legions of fans right from the beginning.

Aaron Gillespie, drummer/vocalist of the scream-friendly band Underoath, had that advantage when starting a new group, The Almost, in 2005. While Underoath fans were already interested in hearing The Almost’s music, promotion was still an issue.

“”It’s all about the Internet,”” said guitarist Jay Vilardi. “”If you don’t have a MySpace (page), you don’t mean zip.””

Sharing members with an already established, popular band is not all fun and games. For instance, The Almost had to drop out of its appearance on the Vans Warped Tour for two weeks due to Underoath not feeling comfortable with Gillespie doing double-duty.

Still, The Almost’s short life thus far has been filled with achievements. The band’s first single, “”Say This Sooner,”” was a smash hit on music Web sites like www.purevolume.com. The song even grazed the top of modern radio charts.

The Almost’s debut album, Southern Weather, was released in April this year with positive feedback. Some guests show up, including indie rock legend Jeremy Enigk adding vocals to “”Dirty and Left Out.”” Vilardi had much to say about the Sunny Day Real Estate front man.

“”That dude isn’t even human,”” Vilardi joked. “”The song came out so awesome.””

Another interesting facet of the band is its overtly Christian lyrics and beliefs. Vilardi said that while the band is made up of Christians, The Almost is not Christian rock.

“”Christian rock doesn’t really appeal to me,”” Vilardi said. “”A lot of it that I’ve heard is garbage.””

For those afraid of being turned off by the band’s religious views, Vilardi notes that the band is “”not preachy”” and welcomes people of all faiths to shows.