A Thousand Horses flexes muscle
Band influenced by Allman Brothers, Marshall Tucker
Did you cut your musical teeth on the music of artists like the Allman Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Wet Willie and the Marshall Tucker Band?
For a period of time in the 70’s southern rock acts pretty much owned my turntable.
I’ve embraced many different kinds of music since then but still have a soft spot for acts that draw their inspiration in whole or in part from the same sources that inspired many of the southern acts I followed back then.
The latest act to find that soft spot is A Thousand Horses.
Hailed by Rolling Stone Country as the best up-and-comer at last year’s Austin City Limits Music Festival, A Thousand Horses is comprised of lead vocalist Michael Hobby and lead guitarist Bill Satcher, both of whom hail from South Carolina, bass player Graham Deloach and guitarist Zach Brown. Deloach, who’s Satcher’s cousin, and Brown are both from Georgia.
Their collective backgrounds, according to their label, ranged from classic rock to traditional country to punk to old-school R&B, but their common ground was Southern rock.
Pretty much a permanent fixture with the Nashville-based band are three female back-up singers, Kristen Rogers, Whitney Coleman and Brianne Angarole, who have a southern gospel/r&b sound reminiscent of the glory days of session singers like Clydie King, Vanetta Fields and Sherlie Matthews.
The music of A Thousand Days is a muscular mix of southern rock, blues, country, soul and gospel with a bit more grit in the mix than some of their contemporary Nashville counterparts.
They cite the Allman Brothers and the Marshall Tucker Band among their influences which gives you some indication of where they’re coming from.
Southernality, their first fulllength album since signing on with Republic Nashville, is a well-crafted effort that strikes a respectable balance between hard-hitting country rock and less raucous country pop ballads.
Those who follow the band more closely say A Thousand Horses must be seen live to be truly appreciated. But you certainly get an idea of what that live show could be like on tracks like First Time, which sounds like Exile on Main Street-era Stones, the title track, Southernality, Landslide, which remains me just a little of The Allman Brothers’ Midnight Rider and the potential party anthem, Trailer Trashed.
This is a well-seasoned band, toughened up
Doug Gallant, a reporter with The Guardian, writes his music review column for The Guardian every week. He welcomes comments from readers at dgallant@theguardian.pe.ca or 629-6000.