Harmony laden Hillbilly Country seasoned with raucous guitar.

14 MP3 Songs
COUNTRY: Traditional Country, COUNTRY: Country Rock



Details:
Formed from the vestiges of the Minneapolis-based Lo-Fi Indy Rock group the Wobblies, Roy Hubbs began their search for Country purity in the late fall of 2000. The name "Roy Hubbs" comes from a pen name that Soley used when writing Country tunes, mainly because he thought the name sounded like the legends he had grown up with (one part Roy Acuff, one part Ernest Tubbs, perhaps?).

After several years, four releases, and three national tours playing Rock a/o Roll, both singer/guitarists Erik Soley and Andy Strom were a bit burnt out on the local rock scene. Since both had been writing Country material for a few years, and because they had listened to it since their youth, it seemed a natural place to turn for inspiration. They had already released an EP with the original Country tune "Right Time of the Night", featuring local steel wizard Joe Savage (Trailer Trash, Ménage-A-Twang), and had a thirst for more.

Enter drummer/guitarist Sean Gilchrist, who actually answered an ad to replace the vacated skins slot in the Wobblies. He had recently acquired a taste for that Classic Country sound, and was very interested to see how things would work out.

Roy Hubbs was ready to put together a recording, and started collecting songs. Originally intending to record a 5 or 6-song EP, the 3 person writing team produced an excess of 20 songs, and were truly obligated to put together a full-length album. The ground was more fertile than expected. Much more.

Off to New Moon Studios in South Minneapolis to record with their old pal Brad Moe. Brad had recently acquired a 2" reel-to-reel machine (affectionately named "Big Bertha"), and had no idea what to do with his vintage 50's ribbon microphones that had collected dust for years. Roy Hubbs was MORE than happy to take advantage of this equipment, and recorded the basic tracks for the album in one day. Searching for that live-sounding, raw quality that many of their favorite artists had achieved, most of the album, later named "Essential" (out of print), was recorded in less than 5 takes with few effects, and fewer overdubs.

Recently, Roy Hubbs recorded their second full-length album "The Portable Roy Hubbs" with local recording veteran Rich Mattson at his Sparta Studios location. Mostly recorded over a three-day eruption, this long overdue record features original songs from all three of the original members, and Clay Williams on lead and steel guitar.