Hillbilly Herald

The new video for "Rock N' Roll (It's All I Wanna Do), from the Full Throttle Summer tour is now available at our official site: HillbillyHerald.com

From the backwoods of America to the streets of Los Angeles, a 4-piece rock band known as Hillbilly Herald has taken the US by storm.

In the last year, they've completely revived the classic, head-banging sound that once echoed up and down the trashy Sunset Strip, but now with a Southern twist. Packing in world-renown venues like the Viper Room, Roxy Theater, and the House of Blues, Hillbilly Herald seems unstoppable.

UL Magazine calls them, "A modern edged, raucous all-you-can-eat auditory buffet."

Legendary recording engineer, Bryan Carlstrom, says, "This is the first music I've heard in 20 years with genuine attitude".

The San Antonio Current says, "The entire album could soundtrack an action-flick super-star cruising in a convertible, getting pumped up to save the world."

Other critics called the music, "Kick ass. Catchy. Hard thumping drums and bass rhythms, alive and vibrant - an energetic mix of rock with a Southern flavor, reminiscent of pre-crash Skynyrd but with a funky modern groove."

The hillbilly bad boys have just returned from their Full Throttle US tour in support of their self-titled debut album and they continue to create more buzz each day with a show that has been described as “"an arena performance in a small club.”" Several rock stations across America have already started spining tracks like, "Yellow Belly", "Scream" and "Rock N' Roll (It's All I Wanna Do)" without any major label support. And things just keep accelerating.

It all started back in 2008 with the charismatic, out-spoken, "rough-around-the-edges"” lead singer, Jimmy Herald. Raised in Elkhart, Indiana, and inspired by bands like AC/DC, KISS, Motley Crue and Guns N' Roses, Herald sought out bring rock n' roll back to life. His goal was to bring the fun back and leave out all the sappy shit you hear on the radio today. No more love songs, sad stories or political agendas. Just simple rock n' roll based on real life experiences with one intention: To put on a great fuckin' show and for people to have a great fuckin' time.

Herald quickly got together with long time friend and Texas guitar player, Mark "The Cat" Hill. Mark was an Austin musician, new to LA, but well seasoned in the art of rock n' roll. Together they wrote and recorded everything that would be on their first 6 song EP out of a tiny apartment studio in North Hollywood.

The next addition to the band was the ZZ Top bearded bass player, Adam Wolf, an LA native who brought the aggressive, slamming bass licks the band was looking for. The core of Hillbilly Herald was formed.

The name of the band originates from Herald’'s own background. His family is from West Virginia and Indiana, and his mother told him to never forget where he came from when he moved to Hollywood to follow his dream. In response to that, Herald got the word, “"Hillbilly"” tattooed onto his wrist and a silhouetted image of his deceased father on his other wrist which soon became the band’'s famous logo.

The three band mates along with various hired-gun drummers started playing shows right away, packing in the Viper Room on their first appearance just by word of mouth. They continued playing up and down the Strip, working day jobs and slinging EPs to any open hand. Herald personally handed out a handful a day while waiting tables at a cafe in Studio City. Their audience draw was growing and people we're talking about the shows.

"When Jimmy Herald sings he lets loose with electrifying intensity; a combination of Bon Scott meets Axl Rose." - Taylor Van Arsdale, Santa Monica Press

That's when a phone call came in from Urbas Music Group. The CEO had been a recipient of one of those CD's Herald had handed out and wanted to get the band in the studio right away to record a full length album. One problem though. They still didn’t have a drummer they were happy with. Word was that no one could hit hard enough to meet the band’s criteria for a huge, classic rock n’ roll sound. They needed an animal back there and animals were hard to come by in LA. To many Emo wannabes and Dream Theater copy cats.

Herald wasn't going to let that stop them though. He called up an old friend and before the band knew it, they were rehearsing with Tommy Clufetos, Modern Drummer's Hard Rock Drummer of the Year and full time player for guys like Rob Zombie and Slash. Clufetos had played with Nugent, Alice Cooper and Bob Seger. No one could have thought of a better drummer for the album. He knew rock n' roll and knew how to play hard and steady. It was the perfect combination. Hillbilly Herald was ready to record.

The studio was massive and to top of that, Bryan Carlstrom was at the helm. Carlstrom had engineered and produced records for artists like Alice In Chains, Social Distortion, The Offspring, Billy Idol, the list went on and