Artist Spotlight ~ Hillbilly Vegas

Artist Spotlight is a segment that we started to introduce our readers to some deserving up and coming artists/bands. They have made an impact on us for all of the right reasons. We think they kick ass, and we hope you do too! Let’s shine the spotlight on Southern rockers Hillbilly Vegas.

Hillbilly Vegas’ dynamic sound caught the ears of an independent label in Nashville in 2011, and their first album “Ringo Manor” was released and sold more than 10,000 copies – driven by the hit single “Little Miss Rough and Tumble”. The band has gone on to chart 5 songs on Billboard’s Rock charts, including “Let It Ride” – which remained on the chart for 13 weeks and reached #10, “Feels Good”, “High Time For A Good Time”, “Hell To Pay”, “Two Gun Town”, and fan favorite “Shake It Like A Hillbilly”.

The band has i hope you know, earned a reputation for rousing live shows – bringing a loud, party-like atmosphere that is all-inclusive. They’ve shown they have a broad appeal across different genres, pleasing crowds while performing shows with rockers Blackberry Smoke, The Kentucky Headhunters, Wolfsbane and Ted Nugent; along with country icons Alabama, Travis Tritt, Blake Shelton, and Wynonna Judd. Hillbilly Vegas has played before huge crowds at NASCAR events, as well as many major bike rallies, including the legendary annual Sturgis Motorcycle rally. They have a strong UK following, and have played the Maid of Stone and Steelhouse festivals. The band is managed by David Spero (Joe Walsh, Cat Stevens/Yusef Islam, Bad Company). Tour dates are being booked in support of the album release for later this year.

We sat down withe Steve Harris of Hillbilly Vegas for a fun Q&A session.

Every superhero or villain has an origin and a band is no different minus the radioactive spiders and secret government experiments. What is the origin of Hillbilly Vegas? How did you get into music?

My origin story is really about having an angel on each shoulder. On my left shoulder was my uncle. He was a Nashville musician who came up with Bobby Bare. He was a nine-times-married alcoholic… Funny guy though. On my right shoulder was my mom. She was an absolute angel, and she and her siblings were gospel singers.

Then one day as a kid I found my dad’s old box of 45s in a trunk. There was a lot of James Brown in there, so that left shoulder started winning again. I realized pretty quickly you can come a lot closer to having a cape draped over you, tossing that mutha aside, and giving those people one more song singing rock and roll – than you can singing gospel. Since God ain’t got much time for theatrics, rock and roll won. But Mom’s still sitting there on that right shoulder just in case I get too big for my britches.

Band names can have a meaning or it can be a name pulled out of a hat. What’s the story behind Hillbilly Vegas?

I’m a firm believer in silly band names – that’s part of the fun. Sometimes they end up being descriptive though. Take where we live for instance. You can pull into the travel plaza, fill your tank, grab some cheap tobacco and an absolute champion of a fried burrito, drop a couple bucks in a penny slot, and on your way out pick up an airbrushed wolf hat. That, my friends, is Hillbilly Vegas.

What can you tell us about the songs and the making of your new album “A La Mode”?

Storytelling is really the heart of what we do. We just hope people can find a little piece of their story somewhere inside ours.

As for making À La Mode, we really stepped out on a limb this time. We decided to self-produce and record the whole thing ourselves. No outside voices, just us. Now, full disclosure…we may have thought it was going to be easier than it actually was, but we survived it and we’d absolutely do it again. No tracks, no AI, no Autotune. It’s pretty much all first and second takes. Mistakes, sour notes and all. It’s just us being exactly as we are.

Who was your first celebrity crush?

Jodie Foster – totally hot to a little kid in the third grade. She was always starring in those old afterschool specials. The first time I saw her throw a baseball, that was it for me.

What was your favorite cartoon growing up?

All of ’em! My dream as a kid, and honestly still to this day – was to be a cartoon voice actor. Let’s go with Scooby Doo, Speed Buggy, Hong Kong Phooey, Looney Tunes, The Flintstones, The Simpsons, Archer and King of the Hill. I watch cartoons every single day of my life. In fact, I’m literally watching them right now while doing this interview. After a show, I can’t wait to get on the bus, grab a bowl of cereal, and turn on King of the Hill. That’s a good cereal cartoon right there.

We love cereal, especially at night. For some odd reason, it seems to taste better then. Do you have a favorite cereal?

Yes – I LOVE cereal. This question is why I’m answering more than you asked me to do. Cereal loving people must stick together. It is the perfect late-night food. My favorites are too numerous. I can’t name just one.

If I want bananas in it, it’s Rice Krispies. If I want a bunch of sugar left at the bottom because I loaded the bowl up like a little kid, it’s Wheaties or Corn Flakes. Lately though, I’ve been on a Raisin Bran Crunch kick. That’s a near-perfect cereal right there.

What was the first CD/album that you bought and what was your most recent CD/album purchase?

The first album I ever bought with my own money was Def Leppard’s Pyromania. I didn’t even buy it for myself though – I bought it for a girl. Girls and rock and roll go together any way you slice it.

My most recent album purchase was the latest Hillbilly Vegas effort À La Mode. Technically I get them for free, but I ordered it anyway because I wanted to experience adding it to my Amazon cart and getting my own album in the mail.

What are your 5 favorite movies?

1. Cool Hand Luke

2. The Towering Inferno — honestly, all those Irwin Allen disaster movies were the best.

3. Back to the Future

4. Back to the Future Part II

5. Back to the Future Part III

What are your 5 favorite albums?

1. Bad Company — Bad Company

2. Van Halen — Van Halen

3. Stray Cats — Built for Speed

4. Journey — Escape

5. Snoopy vs. the Red Baron — it was my very first album. Santa brought it along with my first record player, and I still know every song on it. My favorite being “On Top of Spaghetti”. Seriously, that album went triple platinum. It’s a banger!