Coming up with the right band name is hard. For a good example, look no further than Blacksburg's own DecembeRadio.

"You sit around and brainstorm things," lead guitarist and songwriter Brian Bunn said. "You kind of look at a wall and say, 'Hey look, picture frame or skillet, or that kind of thing. So we had one called Electric Drywall. So that could've been the name."

Fortunately, the band chose something more marketable. And it's almost a perfect Christian rock band name -- the month of Christmas, combined with an outlet for the band's songs. That higher concept was actually an afterthought, though, Bunn said.

"Originally, we just ... saw a calendar sitting on top of a radio in a room and said, 'Look: December radio,' " said Bunn, whose band headlines Saturday's HigherGrounds Summer Music Festival at Rocky Mount's Callaway Church of God.

No need to wonder if Bunn and his bandmates would have experienced the same success as Electric Drywall. The reality for DecembeRadio has been good -- a Grammy nomination (in 2006, for best rock or rap gospel album) and two Gospel Music Association Dove Awards. The band's latest disc, "Satisfied," earned it this year's Dove for best rock album. Its self-titled debut disc won the same category in 2007.

DecembeRadio has done it by meshing lyrics of unabashed faith with a post-Southern rock, post-hair band sound that sets it apart, not just from other Christian rockers, but from much of the mainstream rock music out there.

"Of course, we did grow up in Southwest Virginia, so we had everything from bluegrass, to ... country music ..., besides the rock," Bunn said. "So naturally, years down the road, when you start writing and doing records, that kind of stuff just comes out sometimes, subconsciously.

"And of course, we love the Southern-sounding stuff, especially since that's where our roots are ... And that definitely helps define us."