Rockers Runner Runner have no finish line in sight

Runner Runner lead singer Ryan Ogren likes coming to Utah.

"I've always been a fan for Salt Lake and Utah in general," Ogren said by phone from Florida. "It's a nice area, and we like playing Kilby Court."

This time, however, the band will play a bigger venue — Thanksgiving Point's Electric Park — and open for Secondhand Serenade and White Tie Affair.

"We're really excited for this tour," Ogren said. "We'll be playing to new people and, hopefully, getting new fans."

Alternative Press called Runner Runner — Ogren, guitarists Nick Bailey and Peter Munters; bassist Jon Berry; and drummer James Ulrich — a "band to watch." They've racked up more than 8 million plays on their MySpace page (www.myspace.com/runnerunnermusic).

Runner Runner got its name from a poker term because both Ogren and Berry are major poker players.

"I grew up in South Jersey and learned poker from my brother," Ogren said. "I love it still, to this day. And I try to play cards when I have some off times."

The name means "going against the odds," Ogren said. "Two perfect cards have to line up to beat your opponent. And we like to think we're the two perfect cards that are going to line up and beat everybody."

Runner Runner was one of the original names on the list for the band, said Ogren.

"We had a big dry board in our house," he said. "Runner Runner was the first name we had on the board.

"Our friends would come and write stupid things, but when it came time to decide on a name, it seemed the right fit for us."

Ogren said the band members are passionate songwriters. In fact, when it came time to record the new album, which will be out Sept. 28, the band waded through 60-odd songs.

"We narrowed those down to 15," Ogren said. "And narrowed them down to 12."

The band is now ready to take the songs on the road.

"We put the album together with what we thought would capture what we did as a band," Ogren said. "We looked at the songs that had the best flow together."

Runner Runner was also the first band to sign to David Letterman's C.E. Music.

"Worldwide Pants, David Letterman's production company, started a management company called Clear Entertainment. ... It was the next logical step for us.