One of the most critically acclaimed alternative country bands of the '90s, BR5-49's sound, style, and even look were unabashedly retro. Dressing in old, budget-friendly clothes, the band played a mixture of classic '50s honky tonk, Western swing, boogie, Bakersfield country, rockabilly, and Gram Parsons-style country-rock. The group was founded by guitarists/vocalists Gary Bennett and Chuck Mead in early 1993, not long after they'd moved to Nashville from the Pacific Northwest and Kansas, respectively. Bennett led an informal band at ~Robert's Western Wear, a combination bar and clothing store on Lower Broadway in Nashville's old district, and Mead -- an alumnus of roots rockers the Homestead Grays -- worked at a nearby bar before joining up.
Buy CD
© 2008