Backstage Artist Spotlight: Whiskey Myers

It’s been nearly six years since Whiskey Myers stumbled out into the world of country music with the release of their debut album Road of Life in 2008.

Since the release of their first record, the country-rock bunch, comprised of Cody Cannon (lead vocals, acoustic guitar), Cody Tate (lead guitar, vocals, rhythm guitar), John Jeffers (rhythm guitar, vocals, lead guitar), Jeff Hogg (drums), and Gary Brown (bass), has released two other projects – 2011’s Firewater and the brand-new Early Morning Shakes – and been touring non-stop.

Last night, June 28, Whiskey Myers brought a small-town party to the big city of Houston, Texas. The self-named “music ninjas” (Cody’s words) invaded House of Blues for a knock-out show, bringing country-rooted rock-and-roll bands The Statesboro Revue and Scooter Brown Band along as opening support. It was a phenomenal show. From 8:30 pm when Statesboro Revue made the first thump onstage until the next morning, fans were chipper. They were dancing and singing and clapping along to the music. And hootin’ and hollering and throwing their drinks in the air!

Onstage, Whiskey Myers is a thrilling southern-rock band with incredible chemistry. It’s obvious the guys have been playing together for ages. Their bond adds quality to the fun-loving nature of the band’s live performance.

We got the chance to chat with lead singer Cody Cannon and guitarist John Jeffers after the show about the band’s recently-released album, their soon-to-be-released music video and more!

Check out the interview below!

How do you like touring?

It’s pretty cool. We’re always on the road. We’re a live band. We play 3 or 4 shows a week. We take pride in that, so it’s cool being on the road. That’s our deal.

How does ‘Early Morning Shakes’ compare to your previous albums?

We were older on this album so, you know, you mature. As artists you mature, so you write about different things. We had the best producer we’ve ever worked with in our lives, Dave Cobb. He’s a brilliant mind. When we went into this album, we didn’t know nothing. We just went in there. We went to like demo a couple of songs and we ended up making an album.

The whole idea behind the studio part this time was “control chaos.” Usually every other time we’ve gone in, because we were kids, was like ‘hey, you have everything set.’ Every single song, every lead. Everything set and ready to go. This time, we didn’t have sh*t. Nothing. Just ideas. We went in there, we got together, and we created an album.

It was unique. It was very organic. We just BOOM, made it.

What made you decide to name the album ‘Early Morning Shakes?”

Because of the song, the title track “Early Morning Shakes.” On the last album, we were like we’re not gonna have a title track, so we just named it ‘Firewater.’ And we weren’t going to on this one too, but I wrote the song “Early Morning Shakes” and we were like ‘Man, that’s a pretty damn cool name for an album.” So we just did it.

How does it feel now that the album is out and available for everyone to enjoy?

It’s good, man. I hope they dig it. We dig it.

Will you be releasing any new music videos?

It’s called “Dogwood” and it premieres Monday. It took a long time to get here, but we’re really stoked that it’s gonna be out. We recorded it a really long time ago.

Who did you work with on the upcoming video?

Phillip Guzman! He’s a really talented guy [film-maker] from New Zealand. He filmed “Virgina” for us, too.

Check out our photos from last night’s show and be sure watch Whiskey Myers brand-new music video for “Dogwood” premiering tomorrow! Also, make sure you grab the band’s album Early Morning Shakes released on February 4, 2014 via Wiggy Thump Records.