Br5-49

BR549 (originally spelled BR5-49) is an American country music band. Founded in 1993, the band originally comprised Gary Bennett (lead and background vocals, acoustic guitar), Don Herron (steel guitar, Dobro, fiddle, mandolin, acoustic guitar), "Smilin'" Jay McDowell (upright bass), Chuck Mead (lead band background vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar), and "Hawk" Shaw Wilson (drums, background vocals). Bennett and McDowell left the band in 2001, with Chris Scruggs and Geoff Firebaugh respectively replacing them. Both Firebaugh and Scruggs later left the band as well; Mark Miller has become the band's third bassist.

BR549 has released six albums and two EPs, including three albums on Arista Nashville and two on Dualtone Records. The band's self-titled debut album produced three chart singles on the Billboard country charts, of which the highest is the #44 "Cherokee Boogie" in 1996.

History

This section requires expansion with:

More info on each album, critical reception, sound.

Before moving to Nashville and forming BR5-49, Chuck Mead played in a band called Homestead Grays, a roots-rock outfit based in his hometown of Lawrence, Kansas. Gary Bennett, meanwhile fronted an informal band that played at Robert's Western Wear, a clothing store in Nashville, Tennessee, when he met Mead at a nearby bar. The two then decided to form a band officially, and completing the lineup were electric bassist Jim "Bones" Becker, then upright bassist "Smilin'" Jay McDowell (formerly of another band called Hellbilly), multi-instrumentalist Don Herron, and drummer "Hawk" Shaw Wilson. They assumed the name BR5-49 from the telephone number of a used car dealer in a running Junior Samples comedy sketch on the television series Hee Haw, and began playing for tips at Robert's before being discovered by Arista Nashville in 1995.

1995-2000: Arista Nashville

The band's first release for Arista Nashville was an extended play entitled Live at Robert's, which comprised originals and cover songs. Following it in 1996 was their full-length debut album, also titled BR5-49. Despite minimal support from country radio, the album's lead-off single "Cherokee Boogie" (a cover of a Moon Mullican song) reached #44 on the Billboard country singles charts in the US, and #21 on the RPM country charts in Canada. Following this song were "Even If It's Wrong" and "Little Ramona (Gone Hillbilly Nuts)", which respectively reached #68 and #61 in the US. The album itself was a #33 on the Top Country Albums charts. The band also toured with The Mavericks, Junior Brown, and The Black Crowes and played on the PBS music program Austin City Limits in 1997.

BR5-49's second album, Big Backyard Beat Show, was released in 1998. Despite not producing a chart single, this album reached #38 on the Top Country Albums charts. After touring with Brian Setzer, the band issued a live album, Coast to Coast, in 1999 on Arista as well. The band left Arista in 2000 after the label was merged with Sony BMG.

2001-present

After being dropped from Arista, they signed to Lucky Dog Records, a subsidiary of Epic Records. Their first release for the label, 2001's This Is BR549, also eliminated the hyphen from the band's name. Its only single, "Too Lazy to Work, Too Nervous to Steal", peaked at #11 on Country Singles Sales but did not enter the country singles charts proper. After this album, both Bennett and McDowell left the band, with Geoff Firebaugh succeeding McDowell as upright bassist, and Chris Scruggs taking over on guitar and vocals. The new lineup made its first appearance in 2004 on Tangled in the Pines, their first release for Dualtone Records. A second album for Dualtone, Dog Days, was released in early 2006. The band is currently on hiatus, with Chuck Mead releasing a solo album.

Musical stylings

Initially, BR549's sound was influenced by 1950s honky tonk, as well as Western swing, rockabilly and Bakersfield sound. Steve Huey of Allmusic described their sound and appearance as "unabashedly retro", as the band's members dressed in "old, budget-friendly clothes".

Status of former members

Co-founder Gary Bennett released his solo debut, Human Condition, in February 2006, and former bassist Geoff Firebaugh founded a rockabilly band called Hillbilly Casino.

Chuck Mead also released his solo debut, Journeyman's Wager, on May 12th 2009. the record was produced by Grammy-winner Ray Kennedy.

Members

Chuck Mead - guitar, vocals
Shaw Wilson - drums, backing vocals
Don Herron - fiddle, steel guitar, mandolin, Dobro, banjo
Mark Miller - upright bass, vocals
Former members
Gary Bennett - guitar, vocals
"Bones" Jim Becker - electric bass
"Buggs" Tex Austin (Mark Ude) - saxaphone
Smilin' Jay McDowell - upright bass
Chris Scruggs - guitar, vocals
Geoff Firebaugh - upright bass

This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article Br5-49; it is used under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the CC-BY-SA.

Original Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Br5-49