HUNTINGTON -- Earlier this year, St. Louis-based rock quartet Cavo was named one of the "seven local bands to watch" by its local paper.

Boy, that's really going out on a limb.

This year, the Reprise Records recording artist has ripped up rock radio with its smash debut single "Champagne," which went to No. 1 on the rock charts and is following that up with an equally hot single called "Crash."

Armed with a rock-solid debut, "Bright Nights Dark Days," the band (singer Casey Walker, guitarist Chris Hobbs, drummer Chad La Roy and bassist Brian Smith) has its first arena tour slot opening for Daughtry and Theory of a Deadman on a tour running Oct. 19 through Dec. 20.

The tour touches down at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 14, at the Big Sandy Superstore Arena.

Tickets are $31.50 and $41.50.

Walker, who started the band in 2001 with Hobbs and La Roy, said the band was equal parts stoked and nervous about hitting the arena stages playing for thousands of people.

"The tour is going amazing. At the first start of the tour, I walked on stage and was really nervous because we've never played a stage that big, and I was like, 'OK, I can see a few people through the lights that's not so bad'," Walker said. "Then, all of a sudden, all of the lights came on, and you see the thousands of people, and I was like, 'Oh crap'."

Making Walker and the rest of Cavo less anxious by the minute is the fact that, thanks to rock radio, the band has gotten legions of fans on board. In fact, Cavo is the first new artist to hit the mainstream rock chart's top slot since Trapt did it in 2003.

"Everybody's singing it and knowing the words and screaming it back," Walker said. "I hear the crowd singing it louder than I hear myself. That is incredible."

Walker said what's maybe even more incredible is that fans are digging deep into the new CD, produced by David Bendeth (Breaking Benjamin, All Time Low and Paramore) and following along.

"The people nowadays are starting to attach to different songs, too, like 'My Little Secret,'" Walker said. "We'll start that and the place goes nuts, so people have the album and that's a great sign."

Although working in a digital world where songs are consumed one by one, Walker said the group is really proud of the strength of the 11-song CD, which features band-built originals as well as songwriting collaborations with Bendeth ("Blame") and "Ghost," co-written by Nixons singer/guitarist Zac Maloy.

Maloy and Espionage also wrote "My Little Secret."

"I had been a fan of the Nixons and followed them on tour for a bit but never got to meet them, so the label asked if we wanted to co-write with Zac and yeah, of course I do," Walker said.

Walker said he's excited that fans are digging into the whole of the record.

"I think that fans are evolving along with the music industry, and I think fans care more about great albums," Walker said. "One thing when we sat down with the Reprise president, he literally looked at us and said, 'OK, you have 'Champagne' which is a smash hit, and you've got 'Let it Go,' what else do you have. We started staring at each other -- we thought that would be enough. But he said, 'You have to have other great songs. I don't want to put it out there for you to be a one-hit wonder. I want Cavo to build a career.' That blew me away, that somebody cared that much. I think that is a reflection on the fans and artists like (Chris) Daughtry. Yeah, he was on 'American Idol,' but he's got a great band, and he's just a super talent. His voice is amazing and so are his writing skills. His albums are stacked with hits."

Walker said the band, fresh off of tours with Cruefest, Shinedown and Sick Puppies, is finding success just at the right time.

"Oh yeah, timing is always the whole thing," Walker said. "It is happening during a time when we are all settled down and have families and stuff, and I truly believe in my heart that everything happens when it should. I don't think I could have handled this 10 years ago. We're more grounded and more driven to success and know that it's more than just going out on the road and partying. We've been around for 10 years, so we've kind of seen it. We know the industry and how fickle it can be, and we know we have to really enjoy ourselves and know that it is something we can't take for granted."

Courtesy of Cavo and Reprise Records

The rock band Cavo will perform Saturday, Nov. 14, along with Theory of a Deadman and Daughtry at Big Sandy Superstore Arena.