Whisky Hollow
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Whisky Hollow

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Band Country Classic Rock

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Discography

Singles Released

- Cinderella – Thunderbird Records - 1976

- You’re Always There – Rowdy Records - 1977

- Promised Land – Shotgun Records - 1978

- Runnin’ Like A Bat Out of Hell – Shotgun Records - 1978

- What You Have To Offer – Shotgun Records - 1979

- I Need Some Lovin’ – Shotgun Records - 1979

- Cosmic Cowboy – Shotgun Records – 1980

- Bar Room Bon Vivant – Shotgun Records - 1980

- It’s All Over Now – Shotgun Records - 1981

- We Know Better – Shotgun Records - 1983

-Old Train - Shotgun Records - 1983

- Hey Bottle of Whisky – Shotgun Records – 1983

- The Heart of Dixie – Shotgun Records – 1983

- I’ve Always Been A Survivor – Shotgun Records - 1984

Photos

Bio

History
Go to www.whiskyhollow.com

Whisky Hollow was one of the very first Country Rock bands to break in Canada and is considered to be one of the most influential pioneers in the Canadian Country Rock movement.

The name Whisky Hollow is taken from a real place. Historically it was a section of Brantford, Ontario Canada that existed in the late 1800’s and was home to distilleries and considered the rough part of town.

In 1974, friends Len Wilde and Jim Windle made the decision to stop playing in their respective weekend bands and concentrate on their songwriting.

Home recording equipment was very primitive in those days compared with today’s standards and with the help of a few musician friends, the guys decided to play a few gigs to get money to buy better equipment. Thus the band was formed and played its first gig at the Burford Fair Grounds in 1975.

The crowd reaction was so positive the guys decided to keep the band playing and kept busy throughout Southern Ontario for 12 years.

In 1975, they saw an advertisement for the Mercy Brothers recording studio they made a call and set up a session.

They worked up two originals tunes, Cinderella and Old Nate and after the session, the Mercy Brothers recommended them to an independent label, Thunderbird Records.

The single was released with Cinderella on the A side and the local station CKPC and other stations in the region jumped all over the song. Overnight the band took on a whole new perspective in their career and bookings were coming in from all over.

The owner of Thunderbird was a friend of Freddy Mackinnon’s, a famous blind guitarist from Maritime Canada. Freddy was music director on the George Hamilton IV TV series based out of Hamilton, Ontario on CHCH-TV. Freddy came to hear the band and fell in love with their energy and originality and booked them on the show.

George loved the band’s performance, which led to a number of follow up appearances on his TV show. With his influence the band started appearing on other independent Country music TV shows all across Canada. This gave them invaluable experience and allowed them to develop a smooth professional manner in front of the cameras.

At the same time the band was developing an act that stood out as different and unusual in the genre in which they were playing. Heavily influenced by the Eagles, Beatles and The Band, Whisky Hollow soon took on a life of it’s own. Their show was a combination of originals songs, and original arrangements of cover tunes.

Whisky Hollow’s music always stood out because of their intricate harmonies and their stage presentation was always entertaining with a sharp tongued humor that their ever growing following loved and looked forward to. They quickly became known as a hard hitting, partying, goodtime band.

The guys felt it was time to record their first album and went to Thunder Sound in Toronto. The album, “Population 4” was done in record time due to their inexperience in a studio and is rather raw sounding compared to today’s standards. However, it does represent what their actual on stage sound was like.

Robert Thompson of Rowdy Records heard the demo and signed Whisky Hollow to their first LP release and released the single on his label, “You’re Always There”. The single got more air play and opened the door for future national releases.

Whisky Hollow’s exposure again increased when they appeared on a popular daytime talk show on CKCO-TV in Kitchener, Ontario, The Johnny Walters Show. This led to almost weekly performances for the next number of years.

With all the exposure and a growing fan base it was time to turn the band over to a management firm and the band teamed up with Manager Bill Siep. At the time Siep was developing a heavy metal band, Helix. They went on to be international recording stars and a mainstay in their style of music.

Under Siep’s direction the band was refined and developed into a more polished and professional group that could hold their own on any concert stage. Their first major concert was in Hamilton, Ontario with Country music legend, Faron Young. That was followed by perfanmances with Tammy Wynette, Freddy Fender and others.

It was time to start working on a follow-up album. They started recording at Grant Avenue Studios in Hamilton under the direction of producer Daniel Lanois. Danny went on to become a world- class producer for such artists as U2, Aaron Neville, Robbie Robertson, Peter Gabriel and Bob Dylan. Lanois has won 9 Grammies and Whisky Hollow considers their association with him as a highlight of their career.

Many live appearances followed on Opry North, a nationally syndicated radio concert show, Canada’s version of the Grand Ole Opry broadcasts.

They then decided to start their own record label, Shotgun Records, and released their new self-titled album and the first single on Shotgun, “Promised Land”. The guys were delighted to see it make the RPM magazi