Holman Autry Band
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Holman Autry Band

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"Southern Rock-Madison County Style"

Southern Rock — Madison County style
Local band shares name with county road
BY BEN MUNRO
When it came time for these guys from Madison County to select a name for their high-amped southern rock-fueled collective, the Holman Autry Band looked no further than a familiar road sign. After all, Holman Autry Road — located off Hwy. 29 South near Danielsville — is the headquarters for this home-spun band, where it hangs out, practices and writes songs at the home of guitarist Brodye Brooks’ parents.
“Everybody thinks like, ‘Who’s Holman Autry?,’” says rhythm guitarist Daniel Sartain as the band gathered this past Wednesday evening at the Brooks’ home. “Well, nobody. This is all of our band.”
Madison County’s Holman Autry Band, which is drawing crowds for shows as far away as Augusta and the north Georgia Mountains, is Casey King (lead vocals), Brooks (lead guitar), Josh Walker (rhythm guitar, background vocals), Sartain (rhythm guitar, background vocals) and twin brothers Nathan Myers (bass) and Brandon Myers (drums).
And with its name, this ambitious band takes a piece of Madison County with it each time it takes the stage.
Drawing influence from whiskey-drenched rock standards like Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Allman Brothers, Gov’t Mule and blues virtuoso Stevie Ray Vaughn, HAB (Holman Autry Band) says it lands somewhere between Southern rock and country rock on the rock-n-roll spectrum.
But the “black label country” tag fits best says King, who says he draws equal vocal influence from both Metallica’s James Hetfield and Hank Williams, Sr. Whatever the musical classification, there’s no lack of energy and drive welling up from HAB who’s already thinking big.
Championing “black label country” with a clinched fist, the members of the Holman Autry Band say they’re out to lay waste to all they find objectionable in pop country. The stylings of Kenny Chesney, Big and Rich and Rascal Flatts are clearly taboo around HAB. “That’s what we’re smashing,” King says. “I think we’re trying to bring back Southern rock, how it should be, like real music,” Sartain says.
This band of self-taught musicians in their early 20s marks its one-year anniversary today (Thursday), a short time for it to have already written 50-60 songs, played all over North Georgia, beaten over 70 competitors in a 2006 Athens battle of the bands contest, performed before as many as 5,000 fans at fall festival and recorded an album.
What’s more, on Saturday, June 2, HAB and its three-pronged guitar attack will headline Athens’ renowned Georgia Theatre, holding the same stage once graced by such icons as the Police, R.E.M. and The Red Hot Chili Peppers.
It’s been a whirlwind year says Brooks, the great grandson of an Autry, for which Holman Autry Road was named. “We’ve never thought about how much we’ve accomplished until like, just now,” he says. Like most bands, Holman Autry, which said it sees 50 to 100 of the same fans at each show these days, rose from assorted parts of various bands and other informal musical affiliations. Brandon Myers and Brooks, who had played together in a previous band, merged with Sartain and Walker, who have shared guitar jam sessions since middle school. The group then invited Nathan Myers to sit in on bass one evening — broken wrist and all that night — and he’s been playing ever since. “For some reason, they just never asked me to leave,” he says. “Now, I’m the bassist.” HAB added the final piece by recruiting King, a former member of Road to Nowhere and Pale Horse, for emergency vocals the night before an April 5, 2006 show.
“It was amazing,” Nathan Myers remembers. “ … After that night, from then on, it was the Holman Autry Band. We never gave it a second thought.”
“Creative night” for the band may run until 2 a.m. The guys of HAB can be found regularly working on material at the kitchen table of Don and Jan Brooks, who double as practice space providers and managers.
By now, the band has written around three albums worth of material, not counting the one they just finished. “On a bad week, we write one song,” Brandon Myers says. “Dark Haired Woman” is the most often requested of the catalog of originals according to band, while HAB also speaks proudly of cuts like “Whiskey Wagon,” and “Fruition,” both which are included on the debut album, a 13-track self-titled CD recorded between October and January and due out in the middle of this month. (The band thanks its management for putting away enough money from each HAB show to fund the production costs).
While the first CD is all HAB originals, covers are part of the band’s repertoire. But they try to make you perhaps forget about the original while they’re at work.
“We don’t cover a song,” Brooks clarifies, “we make it our own.”
Adjourning to a small make-shift practice space marked only with the disclaimer, “Caution: High Voltage,” the Holman Autry Band breaks into an impromptu set on this night.
The guys start by ripping through their own AC/DC-tinged rock - Madison County Journal


"Holman Autry Band™"

Holman Autry Band™
Saturday, June 2 @ Georgia Theatre
Originally published May 30, 2007

Holman Autry Band
Danielsville’s Holman Autry Band sounds as if its members were raised on a hearty diet of brown liquor, black vinyl and lots of Skynyrd. Named for the Madison County stretch of road some of its members call home, the Southern-rocking Band has only been together for a little over a year, but is beginning to cultivate an enthusiastic following around the Athens area.
Vocalist Casey King, drummer Brandon Myers and triple-attack guitarists Brodye Brooks, Daniel Sartain and Josh Walker won Last Call’s 2006 Battle of the Bands competition and released their first album last month. A self-titled slab of big 'n' meaty heavy rock featuring originals like “Dark Haired Woman,” "Whiskey Wagon” and “St. Andrews’ Cross,” the disc isn’t just an endless showcase of riffs and bravado. King and his band mates prefer to think of the band as a heavy metal meets hardcore country meets redneck rock hybrid and that description’s not far off base at all.
“I usually tell people we play black-label country music,” says King. “If they ask what that is, I usually tell ‘em it’s like Southern rock, but with a heavy metal tinge. The guys in the band are all from different musical backgrounds. Some of us like the blues, some hard rock, and some metal. When we cover a country song, we tend to make it more our own and rock it up a bit, then I throw the heavy metal vocal style in there.”
The H.A.B.’s originals send an open invite to raise the devil fingers high - the members know their hardcore country and also have been known to cover iconic badasses like Coe and Cash. With black label proudly affixed, the boys from Danielsville will likely become more familiar to Athens audiences in the next few months. They started out here in 2006 at small venues like DT's and J.R.'s Baitshack and have moved on up; this week's CD release show takes place at the Georgia Theatre with the band Diamondback opening.
Michael Andrews - Flagpole Magazine (May 30, 2007) - Michael Andrews, Flagpole Magazine


"Holman Autry Band NOW on WNGC"

The Holman Autry Band, by popular request, is now heard on North Georgia's 106.1 WNGC! The Holman Autry Band can also be heard worldwide on the internet broadcast at www.1061wngc.com. - 106.1 WNGC


"Southern Vibrations"

Madison County Band Rides Southern Rock Wave

Southern Vibrations

By Wayne Ford | Staff Writer

On a late evening in October, five guys who always have called Madison County home, gathered in a small room with their guitars and drums. When the door was shut, the sound resonated through the walls, but inside it was a force to be felt in the flesh.
The pinched strings and the pounding percussion spewed forth vibrations from young men inspired by the likes of Southern rock musicians Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Allman Brothers, bluesman Stevie Ray Vaughn and country legend Hank Williams.
They gather here at least twice a week in a house located on a dirt street off Holman Autry Road to polish their sound, to create new songs and to plan their next road trip.
This Saturday, they will perform on an already familiar stage at the Georgia Theatre in Athens, a venue they have sold out on two previous occasions.
The Holman Autry Band is just a year and a half old, but these guys already find their weekends booked for concerts and have their first CD on the shelf. Their rising success is not built on a breakthrough song, rather they have gained a following by repeated performances in a college town chock full of fledgling bands.
When the Holman Autry Band began in April 2006, they started playing wherever a stage afforded itself.
"We played three or four times a week in Athens whether it be DT's (Down Under,) the Library or JR's (Bait Shack). It didn't matter as long as we got to play," said the band's drummer Brandon Myers. "We'd play as much as possible. There were times we'd play Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. That's the biggest reason this band is still together. Everybody here is committed to doing what we have to do."
On this evening, the band had gathered for practice at the home of their manager, Don Brooks, who is the father of the band's lead guitarist Brodye Brooks. Besides Myers and Brooks, the other members are vocalist and bass player Casey King, guitarist and vocalist Josh Walker and guitarist and vocalist Daniel Sartain.
These guys all graduated from Madison County High School. While Brooks was raised on Holman Autry Road, Walker is the from the Shiloh community north of Danielsville, while Myers grew up in Ila. King lived in the Paoli community until he was 13 and moved to Colbert, while Sartain grew up off James Adams Road near the Franklin County line.
Some are boyhood friends.
Sartain, Myers and Walker, for instance, went to the same church. Sartain and Walker played guitars together long before Holman Autry. And the Walker and Brooks families have long known each other. Myers and King played together on the same baseball team. And their musical influences reach back to varied beginnings.
"My grandpa and my grandma had a gospel band and I'd go and watch them play and wished I could play," Walker said. "I got a guitar for Christmas and I haven't' stopped (playing) yet." One day he heard Stevie Ray Vaughn on the radio.
"It's like 'who is this on the radio?' My buddy's dad told me and he had like five CDs. That was it. I fell in love with it that night and I bought a (Vaughn) CD the next day. And my guitar playing changed."
Brooks remembered that about five years ago, his sister's friend brought a guitar over to the house and his father picked it up and played a tune by Grand Funk Railroad.
"I was like, 'what's that?' “He said, adding he started learning the basics for guitar and hasn't stopped."
Myers never played music through high school, but his roommate at Montreat College in North Carolina was a drummer and introduced him to the drums. Then his brother got a set to play at a church in Danielsville. When his brother stopped practicing the drums at home, Myers would then take over and it didn't matter if it was midnight, he'd practice until 4 a.m.
"It fell right into my lap," he said about his leap into music.
It was almost the same for Sartain, who was given an Allman Brothers Band CD in the sixth grade. That sound was all it took for Sartain to get hooked on Southern rock and expand his way of playing the strings.
Holman Autry had its beginning in early 2006, when Sartain, Myers, Walker and Brooks got together to form a band, with the idea of practicing every day. When King was recruited as lead singer, the band was complete. King also plays the harmonica.
Sartain stated that the band's name came from the road where they congregate every week to make music, Holman Autry Road, right here in Madison County, Georgia.
The guys then began discovering each other's musical skills and talents.
"I never knew Josh could sing," Myers said.
"I never knew I could sing," Walker interjected with a laugh.
Their first show as the Holman Autry Band was at the Library in downtown Athens. The band admits they were nervous about that first show, but when it ended they felt good.
"After that show I was like - things will be all right," Walker said.
When the first CD was relea - Athens Banner Herald


"What Some People Are Saying"

Becca
January 7, 2008
Just wanted to say ....all that missed the Smith's Olde Bar show last Thursday, missed a golden opportunity....the guys sounded fantastic....although I have to say...45 minutes is never enough.......Rock on....love you Casey!

Tina Roberts
January 4, 2008
There were about 11 of us who went to the Dec. 29th show. AWESOME!!!!!!!! We will be coming to more shows in the future! ROCK ON guys!!!!

Cody
December 17, 2007
Just wanted you guys to know that we were all "awestruck" at the private party Saturday night (Dec.15th). Most everyone that was there had heard of the Holman Autry Band but had not heard them perform until that night. I speak for everyone there when I say that everyone was truly amazed at your talent! Let it be known that you guys gained the respect of some very talented musicians and various members of other bands that were in the crowd that night (myself included). The sky's the limit for you guys! See you at the Georgia Theatre on Dec. 29th!

Kayla
December 17, 2007
Y’all rock and you know it... lol y’all are totally awesome like your songs are like all my ring tones... but y’all keep doing your thing and hopefully Tanya will bring me again to Holman Autry Road but HAB is the best… peace and love...

Chelz S.
December 2, 2007
Hey! Ya'll are the BOMB! Rock on! :-)

Yolanda Shelton 'A.K.A.' Bo
November 27, 2007
Keep up the good work you guys. I hope life always treats y’all good. God bless. Thank you Casey for the dance!

Denise Nation
November 16, 2007
Someone's dad from the group told me about the group. I came to the web site and your music is really great!!

Jenna
October 18, 2007
I think you guys are awesome! I always look forward to seeing your shows! Thanks for signing my shirt.

Joy
October 18, 2007
When is your next CD coming out?
Ps: love your music

Shellie
October 4, 2007
Love you guys!!!

Tiffany Graham
September 26, 2007
I love you guys! Y'all are awesome keep up the good work.

Amy Sue
September 25, 2007
Yesterday I was listening to 106.1 and heard y’all!! I couldn't believe it! That’s awesome guys! I can’t wait to see y’all soon!!! Y’all are amazing and have great talent! Keep it up! Love each of y’all loads!! My fav band… :o) I’m Good At Loving You guys!! HeHe y’all rock so much :0)

Shana Vaughn
September 20, 2007
Hey y'all!
Be listening during the 12 o'clock hour today
(9/20)...WNGC/all request lunch.
I’m going to play "Good At Loving You"
Have a great day!
Shana
106.1 WNGC
Athens, GA

Kevin Carey
August 5, 2007
Greetings from Osan Air Base, South Korea. I just wanted to thank you guys for the call during Georgia Theatre show! Your music has helped me through hard times being without wife/kids/family/friends. Thank you for bringing a piece home to me!

Marilyn Collins
July 30, 2007
When my best friend Stephanie & I decided to go to Cowboy Bills Friday night (almost a 2 hour drive for us from our hometown of Cobbtown), we simply wanted to "do something new". WOW... we FOUND something new alright... we found one of the best bands I have ever seen live... Had never heard of them before, but will NEVER forget them... Casey and all the guys were awesome and we have let lots of our friends listen to the CD we bought and look at all the pics we took and are definitely coming to see y’all again soon!!!! Need a T-shirt to commemorate it!!!

Marshall Murphey
July 16, 2007
Man you guys rocked the cove at Lake Hartwell. We where across the way and danced like we where there. What would it cost to get you guys to play a private party gig in the ATL? Marshall Murphey

Jacob
July 16, 2007
I’m 13 years old and you guys are good...

Kim
June 15, 2007
You guys rock! I love your music, especially
Wildest Dreams. Keep it up!

Katie Miller
June 13, 2007
Best band ever!!!!!!!

Mary
June 12, 2007
You guys were awesome at the Georgia Theater! That was the best show I've seen yet! Good luck in the music business!

LeeAnne
June 10, 2007
You guys rock. You are great. Keep it up!

Joey
June 4, 2007
You guys brought down the house Saturday night. One of the best concerts I have EVER seen. I have never been to a concert where the fans got so much out of a band, and gave just as much back in return. Keep up the good work.

Kelley Garrett
June 4, 2007
Ok...there is nothing else I can say that hasn't already been said by others about the Show on Saturday! Basically you guys ROCK! Keep up the good work! And remember all the little people when you guys get big...lol!

Kenneth House
June 4, 2007
The show Saturday night at the Georgia Theatre was one of the best I have seen in a long time. I would like to buy some of the band's t-shirts, window stickers, etc. Please let me know when these items will be available and where I can buy them. GO HAB!!!!!!!

Billy
June 4, 2007
You guys rocked Saturday

Norma
June 4, - Individual Comments


Discography

Self-Titled Holman Autry Band CD-13 tracks.
visit www.holmanautryband.com for a preview of these songs.

For booking info contact:
Don Brooks, Manager-Ph-706-795-2255 or
don@holmanautryband.com
www.holmanautryband.com
www.sonicbids.com/holmanautryband
www.myspace.com/holmanautryband

Photos

Bio

The Holman Autry Band is comprised of members from Madison County, Georgia (near Athens, GA) that have been playing together to create the original Holman Autry Band sound and style. Holman Autry Band - a little bit of Hank, a little bit Metallica, and a healthy dose of "Southern Rock" and "Classic Rock" - that is all a part of the Holman Autry Band sound. If you like Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Allman Brothers, and Gov’t Mule, you are sure to love the Holman Autry Band. They have been friends now for many years. The lead guitarist is 20 and the oldest band member is 26, as of January 2008. Whether you call their style Southern Rock or Country (some call it “Black Label Country”) they’ve got what it takes. Their favorite pastime is performing live on stage. They practice a lot and tend to spend a lot of time together just hanging out. The members of the Holman Autry Band, with a touch of background, on each follows:

Brodye
is the lead guitarist with the Band. He solos with the best of them and continues to amaze everyone. He creates new music and lyrics as well. His lead guitar lines are original and his style is unique. You’ll see Brodye perform with his Les Paul sidekick. He has been playing guitar for about 4 1/2 years now, and can hang with the best of them.

Josh
(alias Lucky) is rhythm guitarist and a vocalist with the Band. He’s found his own with the band and writes music and lyrics as well. Josh adds a vocal magic all his own to the Band as you will hear. You’ll see him playing his Martin and loving every minute of it. He has been playing guitar now for just over 11 years and it shows.

Casey
is the bass player and a vocalist with the Band. He brings lots of versatility to the band. He has been singing I guess all his life now. His harmonica adds a lot of feeling to their songs. He writes lyrics to a lot of the songs. He also brings a lot of life and energy to the band both at practice and on stage.

Daniel
is rhythm guitarist and also a vocalist with the Band. He brings endless energy to the stage. Just watch him perform on stage sometime. You will see what I mean. He has been playing music for over 11 years now, many of those years with Josh Walker, above mentioned. His guitar of choice is the Fender Telecaster.

Brandon
is the drummer with the Band. His favorite thing is playing the drums. He can drum to anything…and usually does. He and Brodye Brooks, above mentioned, have played music together for about 3 ½ years. So, naturally, they can come up with some magic from musical experiences together.

This group is unique to the music scene and has paid their dues performing in and around the Athens area. They started out performing in small venues in Downtown Athens and soon outgrew the smaller venues. They perform regularly in Jefferson @ Mike' DownUnder, in Clayton @ Main Street Station. They play The Country Club in Augusta, GA and many more venues as well. They also play in the World Famous Georgia Theatre in Athens, GA regularly now. The Georgia Theatre is an atmosphere where everyone has a blast while also being the place where huge icons in the music industry, such as The Police, R.E.M., and so many more have taken the stage. June 2007 they had a SELL OUT crowd at Athens own Georgia Theatre with their CD release party. They headlined again at The Georgia Theatre on August 3rd, and it also was a SELL OUT crowd. They will be back in The Georgia Theatre in the future. They were invited and performed at The 40 Watt Club in Athens, GA, where such music legends as Greg Allman and Warren Haynes have played. Beginning in September of 2007, 106.1 WNGC out of Athens, GA has been playing some of their music on the radio, as by popular request. In November of 2007, their music began being heard on FM radio in Europe. They enjoy playing venues all around Georgia and hope to be branching out into other states in the near future. Their first CD self entitled "Holman Autry Band" was released April 2007. It consists of 13 tracks of Holman Autry Band music. Some of the songs rock hard, others tell a story while some make you want to sing along. Whatever style of music you are looking for; the Holman Autry Band has something for everyone.

If you're looking for a fresh approach to Southern Rock, or some call it Black Label Country, come take a ride on the “Whiskey Wagon”, it's a promise they will keep you entertained for more than “A Night or Two”...”Press On”!!!!! Join us as often as you can at the live shows. With great friends and fans like you, all their musical dreams will come true.