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The Road Hammers at
Country Thunder
By: Brianna
Nightingale, CSO Contributing Journalist
The Road Hammers, who know
what it’s like to be on the highway for long periods of
time, create songs for those who live and understand every
aspect of being away from home.
Jason McCoy, a seven-time
Canadian Country Music Award (CCMA) winner, is the man we
can give initial credit to. Little did this 2004 CCMA
male vocalist of the year know that his venture to Bermuda
would be the beginning of a successful, driven, vivacious four-man
band.
As they cruised along on
scooters, one of his friends pointed out that they were like
“road hammers” driving along. Right away he knew
that was the name of his next band.
“It sounded so cool. I
loved it,” says McCoy.
He rounded up 3 great
musicians from Alberta and Ontario, Canada, and formed this
group in 2005. The band consists of Jason McCoy and
Clayton Bellamy on guitar and vocals, Chris Byrne on bass
and harmony vocals and last but not least, percussionist
Corbett Frasz.
Their hard work has already
paid off in Canada; they are two-time winners of the CCMA
Group of the Year as well as Juno award winners, the
equivalent to a Grammy. Now, with a recent move to
Nashville, they plan to aggressively conquer the US charts
and send their single to the top.
“I’m a Road Hammer,”
their single which comes out in the US on September 14, is
the most requested song on Sirius Satellite Radio.
It’s a tune from their
self-titled debut album (already released in Canada), which
will be released with three additional songs in the US. The
album, which includes 4 singles, launched at number 1 on the
sales chart and is currently platinum north of the border. It
includes covers such as Del Reeves’ “Girl On the
Billboard,” Jerry Reed’s “East Bound and Down” and
Little Feat’s “Willin’.”
These guys recently returned
from a 10-day tour in China and are doing a radio tour in
the US during the month of August.
“We’re excited about
tackling the American market,” McCoy said.
With the same booking agent
as Jason Aldean, this is sure to occur successfully and very
quickly.
Season 2 of a CMT documentary
is being filmed about The Road Hammers. Following them
around as they make themselves known in the US, the
documentary is directed by Jason Piestley of 90210 fame.
This may be the nicest group
of country rock-stars I have ever met. Check them out
on the web at www.TheRoadHammers.com
, on YouTube or their MySpace page, www.myspace.com/theroadhammers.
You will not regret it.
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