Search - Whiskey Myers :: Road of Life

Interview by "The Messenger" an East Texas Newspaper

Texas Music Junkie | Texas | 07/23/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"'Whiskey Myers': A Singing Group For The Ages By PennyLynn Webb "Just make us look cool", is what John Jeffers Lead and Rhythm Guitarist of the band Whiskey Myers told me as we concluded an interview in my office. The irony is, I don't have to try to make them look cool, Whiskey Myers is the coolest Southern Rock band to hit the scene since the prime of The Allman Brothers, Credence Clearwater Revival and Lynyrd Skynyrd. Their music with its rich incendiary sound breaks through the barrier of time taking us back to when music made your soul feel free. For those of you who haven't been formally introduced, Whiskey Myers is the newest and brightest star of the Texas music scene. Lead singer Cody Cannon of Neches and Vocalist, Rhythm and Lead Guitarist Cody Tate of Grapeland met while working at Hibbits, a sporting goods store in Palestine. Cannon introduced Tate to his longtime friend John Jeffers of Palestine. Wanting to embark on becoming a band, in 2005 these guys began jamming at the homes of their friends and family, calling themselves "Lucky Southern". They were eventually joined by Cannon's cousin Gary Brown who plays Bass and long time friend Jeff Hogg on drums. When the group found out that there was already a band named "Lucky Southern" in existence, the name "Whiskey Myers"emerged and became their new calling card. Their humble beginnings in 2007 had them playing concerts for their friends and family on flatbed trailers. "They've since have made leaps and bounds in their career opening for Roger Creager, The Eli Young Band and The Randy Roger Band just to name a notable few. Now on the verge of signing a contract with Smith Entertainment, their first album is set to be released in stores on July 15, all the while readying themselves to lay down tracks on a second album. Lead singer Cody Cannon has a voice that could be likened to the sound of Gregg Allman lead singer of The Allman Brothers with a hint of Jon Bon Jovi and maybe a splash of lead singer of Guns n Roses, Axel Rose. Already seasoned for success, his voice is layered with wisdom well beyond his years. Cody Tate, who can give an on-spot impersonation of Billy Givens of ZZ Top, has this amazing gravely voice that is very alluring. John Jeffers and Gary Brown are no slouches when it comes to their vocal offerings. One of the truly amazing things about this group is that they've not had formal musical training. John Jeffers and Cody Tate learned their guitar skills from their fathers. Cody Cannon was taught by Jeffers' father. Their guitar prowess could be likened to that of the Counting Crows, the Marshall Tucker Band or Lynyrd Skynyrd. Both are adequately proficient with Lead and Rhythm Guitar, Jeffers and Tate exchange their roles throughout the concert, even during songs. Drummer Jeff Hogg is the only one who can read music. After learning to play the snare drum in band class, he taught himself how to play a drum set. And although Gary Brown has only been playing Bass for the past year, he effectively fills in the gaps. While these guys are wide eyed and euphoric, soaking up the experience of this wild and crazy ride, they remain grounded in the fact that they are not willing to cave into industry pressure. When asked if they would consider caving to industry pressure if the money was right, Tate answered, "It might change, but it won't be influenced. From the beginning to where you are ten years down the road, it's going to be different music, like it or not." He continued with, "We're not trying to sound like anybody else. Were just trying to play what we love. Even if it's ten years from now we are going to play what we want to play." When asked if they wanted to be famous, Cody Cannon replied, "Everybody wants to be famous. We're playing because we love it. This is all we've got, this is all we do." John Jeffers followed with, "We want to be up there playing. We want to do it. We are dedicated to doing this. We don't have anything to fall back on. We don't necessarily want to be famous, but we do want to be successful. We're doing what we love and we hope to continue doing it."

Their album is full of rock worthy songs that Southern Rock fans will want to listen to at full volume. Their fresh and in your face lyrics can be heard on "Summer 2005" the autobiographical song about how it all began, and "TYA", a song about a girl that is threatening to leave.

The band digs soulfully deeper with Russell's Song, an introspective song about the life of Cody Tate's childhood friend Russell Pennington who was struck by lighting. "American Outlaw", with it's wicked guitar intro, gives the listener the feeling of a front row seat to an old west gunslingers face off. Each song on the album has a sound uniquely it's own. While the sound on their CD Road of Life is a no holds barred spiritual offering to the altar of Southern Rock, the live resonance of this group is amazingly electrified as they feed off the energy of the crowd. At times they get so lost in the performance with a music high they forget the crowd is there. This group's sound and performance, even on a bad day, will out live your expectations. Not yet jaded by the attention of the crowd, they all profess a love of visiting with the crowd after their performances. If you haven't seen or heard of Whiskey Myers you can check them out at www.whiskeymeyers.com or www.myspace.myers/whiskey.

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