Biography
Formed early in 1993, BR5-49 ranked among the most critically praised alternative country groups of the decade, with an aesthetic, presentation, and wardrobe that openly embraced earlier decades. The musicians favored inexpensive vintage garments while delivering a blend of classic 1950s honky tonk, Western swing, boogie, Bakersfield country, rockabilly, and Gram Parsons-style country-rock.
Guitarists and vocalists Gary Bennett and Chuck Mead launched the project not long after each arrived in Nashville, the former from the Pacific Northwest and the latter from Kansas. Bennett had already been directing casual sets at Robert's Western Wear, the bar and clothing store located on Lower Broadway in Nashville's historic district, while Mead, an alumnus of roots rockers the Homestead Grays, had been employed at a neighboring tavern before the two joined forces. Upright bassist Smilin' Jay McDowell, formerly a guitarist in Hellbilly, drummer Shaw Wilson, a Kansas acquaintance of Mead's, and fiddle, steel guitar, mandolin, and Dobro player Don Herron, an old associate of Bennett's, completed the lineup.
The band settled into a three-night-a-week residency at Robert's Western Wear, earning tips and drawing a loyal local crowd that spanned country and alternative rock listeners, thanks to an eclectic song list and punkish, left-of-center attitude. The name BR5-49 came from a telephone number in a Junior Samples sketch on Hee Haw, after which the group signed with Arista in 1995.
An EP titled Live at Robert's, containing both originals and vintage country covers, appeared in early 1996. Tours alongside the Mavericks, Junior Brown, and the Black Crowes helped build momentum, and the self-titled debut album followed later that year. Critics from both country and rock outlets offered strong praise, and the record reached the country Top 40 despite virtually no support from country radio. The 1998 follow-up, Big Backyard Beat Show, experienced the same pattern.
During 1999, while touring with Brian Setzer, the band recorded its first full-length live album, Coast to Coast, issued the next year to further strong notices. Arista's country division was absorbed in a merger, briefly leaving the group without a contract until Sony subsidiary Lucky Dog signed them. The resulting 2001 release, This Is BR549, signaled a decided move toward the contemporary country mainstream along with dropping the oddly placed hyphen from their name.
Bennett and McDowell soon exited, reportedly weary of touring, and Geoff Firebaugh and Chris Scruggs stepped in amid rumors of the group's permanent breakup. Tangled in the Pines, their first album for Dualtone, surfaced in spring 2004. Dog Days arrived in January of 2006.
Guitarists and vocalists Gary Bennett and Chuck Mead launched the project not long after each arrived in Nashville, the former from the Pacific Northwest and the latter from Kansas. Bennett had already been directing casual sets at Robert's Western Wear, the bar and clothing store located on Lower Broadway in Nashville's historic district, while Mead, an alumnus of roots rockers the Homestead Grays, had been employed at a neighboring tavern before the two joined forces. Upright bassist Smilin' Jay McDowell, formerly a guitarist in Hellbilly, drummer Shaw Wilson, a Kansas acquaintance of Mead's, and fiddle, steel guitar, mandolin, and Dobro player Don Herron, an old associate of Bennett's, completed the lineup.
The band settled into a three-night-a-week residency at Robert's Western Wear, earning tips and drawing a loyal local crowd that spanned country and alternative rock listeners, thanks to an eclectic song list and punkish, left-of-center attitude. The name BR5-49 came from a telephone number in a Junior Samples sketch on Hee Haw, after which the group signed with Arista in 1995.
An EP titled Live at Robert's, containing both originals and vintage country covers, appeared in early 1996. Tours alongside the Mavericks, Junior Brown, and the Black Crowes helped build momentum, and the self-titled debut album followed later that year. Critics from both country and rock outlets offered strong praise, and the record reached the country Top 40 despite virtually no support from country radio. The 1998 follow-up, Big Backyard Beat Show, experienced the same pattern.
During 1999, while touring with Brian Setzer, the band recorded its first full-length live album, Coast to Coast, issued the next year to further strong notices. Arista's country division was absorbed in a merger, briefly leaving the group without a contract until Sony subsidiary Lucky Dog signed them. The resulting 2001 release, This Is BR549, signaled a decided move toward the contemporary country mainstream along with dropping the oddly placed hyphen from their name.
Bennett and McDowell soon exited, reportedly weary of touring, and Geoff Firebaugh and Chris Scruggs stepped in amid rumors of the group's permanent breakup. Tangled in the Pines, their first album for Dualtone, surfaced in spring 2004. Dog Days arrived in January of 2006.
Albums
