BLACKBERRY SMOKE
WITH SPECIAL GUEST: A THOUSAND HORSES

BLACKBERRY SMOKE
The members of Southern Rock quintet Blackberry Smoke are no strangers to hard work. Playing up to 250 dates each year, the guys are on the road more often than not, and they've seen tangible results of their labor. The band has toured with and befriended idols such as The Marshall Tucker Band, ZZ Top (with Billy Gibbons jamming with the band on a Florida stop), Lynyrd Skynyrd and George Jones. The band was even asked to play for Jones on his 80th birthday, not long after the Country legend turned in a guest appearance on the band's sophomore album. They've toured Europe thrice over, and had their songs featured in video games (EA Sports' NASCAR 08) and films (Swing Vote), as well.

A THOUSAND HORSES
When Rolling Stone Country hailed A Thousand Horses as the best up-and-comer at the Austin City Limits Music Festival, it was the latest in a whole series of accolades that got the band even more fired up.
A Thousand Horses is a fresh fusion of classic sounds – a hybrid of Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Allman Brothers, Black Crowes and Exile on Main Street-era Rolling Stones, wrapped up in a modern-country context. The band’s Republic Nashville album, Southernality, is as wild and free and powerful as the name A Thousand Horses implies. This is the result of years of a road-doggin’ pursuit, determination and an against-the-odds struggle that found its rewards by bringing great music to the people.

“This is the life we all love and have chosen,” says guitarist Zach Brown (no, not that Zac Brown – this Zach Brown). A lot of people have taken notice of what A Thousand Horses is doing. There’s the Rolling Stone Country review, there’s an allegiance of fans in towns all around the South who’ve been digging on them for the past four years, and there’s been many in the Nashville music community who’ve been more than enthusiastic from their first listen. First on board was record producer Dave Cobb (Jamey Johnson, Jason Isbell), who was willing to work for free during the band’s lean years, just to be a part of it. Then came top-shelf booking agency CAA (Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban, Tim McGraw, Brantley Gilbert), who found an increasingly steady supply of clubs and bars to keep them on the road. Concurrently McGhee Entertainment Management (Kiss, Darius Rucker) bought in.