As I await the July 29th release of Whiskey Myers’ heavily anticipated sixth studio album Tornillo, I have found myself listening to even more of their older stuff than I normally do.
While every album they have released thus far is great in its own right, and the singles leading up to Tornillo have as well, nothing seems to withstand the test of time quite like their 2011 album Firewater.
And fun fact, Firewater also won our Riff Madness 2022: Best Albums 201o to Present Tournament beating out every other great album from the past decade. I mean, I don’t know if there is a more prestigious honor…
Recorded at Panhandle House Studios in Denton, TX and released in April 2011, Firewater contains 12 songs that weave seamlessly through several genres, toeing the line between country, rock, and blues. The album features three of the band’s biggest hits, “Ballad of a Southern Man,” “Broken Window Serenade,” and “Virginia,” and there truly isn’t a single bad song on the album.
While it is technically the band’s second album, it is their earliest album still available. Their first, Road of Life, is no longer on streaming platforms. Firewater helped Whiskey Myers gain traction on the Texas Music scene and catalyzed their rise to prominence as one of the biggest country/rock outfits in the country.
At the time of the album’s recording, Whiskey Myers consisted of Cody Cannon, John Jeffers, Cody Tate, Jeff Hogg, and Gary Brown. The project was produced by Leroy Powell who also contributed on several instruments in the recordings. While the band’s current lineup no longer includes Brown, who left Whiskey Myers in 2017, and now features bassist Jamey Gleaves and multi-instrumentalist Tony Kent, several songs from Firewater can still be heard during their live shows.
In my opinion, Firewater is the quintessential Whiskey Myers album, as it shows how talented and multi-dimensional the band is in terms of lyricism, storytelling, and instrumentation.
Whether you like slow, sad country songs or heavy guitar riffs and shredded solos, this album has it all.
There is nothing that will get you more fired up for new Whiskey Myers music than old Whiskey Myers music, so here are the songs from Firewater, one of the greatest albums ever released.
“Bar, Guitar and a Honky Tonk Crowd” (Brent Cobb)
Originally written and recorded by Brent Cobb, but Whiskey Myers made it their own for this album.
“Guitar Picker” (Cannon)
“Ballad of a Southern Man” (Cannon, Brown, Jeffers, Tate, Powell)
Whiskey Myers recently played a sold out show at the iconic Red Rocks Amphitheatre back in June, and while backstage they were informed that “Ballad of a Southern Man” had been certified platinum by the RIAA.
Their first song to really gain traction on a national scale, it has long been one of the first songs to get fans hooked on their music.
“Calm Before the Storm” (Cannon, Jeffers, Tate)
“Broken Window Serenade” (Cannon)
Recently certified platinum by the RIAA as well, “Broken Window Serenade” is my personal favorite Whiskey Myers song.
“Different Mold” (Tate)
“Turn It Up” (Mando Saenz, Powell)
“Virginia” (Cannon)
Another one of the band’s more popular songs, “Virginia” was certified gold by the RIAA and remains a fan-favorite.
“Anna Marie” (Cannon, Jeffers)
“Strange Dreams” (Gary Nicholson, Powell)
“How Far” (Cannon)
“Song for You” (Tate)
Whiskey Myers is currently on their headlining Tornillo Tour featuring support from Shane Smith & the Saints and 49 Winchester.
If you want to hear some of these tunes live, as well as new ones from their upcoming album, get out there and catch a show.
