It’s finally here.
Whiskey Myers’ highly anticipated record Tornillo, their first project in close to three years, hit streaming platforms today. And despite all the hype, it still exceeds expectations.
The self-produced album was announced back in February and the suspense has been growing ever since. Shortly after the announcement WM dropped the lead single “John Wayne,” and over the course of the next several months followed up with “Antioch,” “Whole World Gone Crazy,” and “The Wolf.” Now, the entire album is out.
In similar fashion to their previous record, the self-titled Whiskey Myers, the band headed down to the border and recorded at the legendary 1,700 acre Sonic Ranch in Tornillo, TX, the town for which the album is named.
While the essence of the Whiskey Myers sound we all know and love remains prominent, the band took this opportunity to experiment with instrumentation and push the limits of their already genre defying sound. The result is a 12 track masterpiece of rock and roll, blues, country, and soul all amalgamated to form something uniquely special.
Frontman Cody Cannon weighs in on the new perspective with this project:
“I’m not speaking for anybody, and I have no end goal. I’m just a musician, not someone qualified to tell anyone. But people do gravitate to songs they can connect to. Is it the melody? The lyric? Maybe it’s all of it.
I just know you get older; you take things more seriously… sometimes someone’ll tell me, ‘This song saved my life.’ The idea my song moved them so much it changed their life, you’re gonna go out and do the best you can because of that.
There’s a lot of weight on your shoulders. But how can you complain about that?”
Check out some of my early favorites off of the album:
“Feet’s” (Cody Cannon)
“Bad Medicine” (Cody Cannon)
“Other Side” (Cody Cannon)
“Heart of Stone” (Cody Cannon)
“Sometimes I think I’m crazy, washed up in the brain
As for my youth, I threw most of those years away
And I can’t even apologize for half the things I’ve done
Or all the nights spent looking down the wrong end of a gun
But I’m learning how to love, I’m learning about the Lord above
I’m learning that He’s given me more than anything I could dream of
I’m learning how to pray a little more everyday
I’m learning to accept the things about me I can’t change
And I carry on with a heart of stone and calloused hands…”
Whiskey Myers has drawn comparisons over the last several years to southern rock greats Lynyrd Skynyrd and Blackberry Smoke, and while that’s great company to be in, I think they’ve let us know where they stand with the release of Tornillo. They’re Whiskey Myers, and there is no one else truly like them.
They’ve done things their own way over the years, and remained independent, growing their fan base themselves and finding the sound that they want. And fans love them for it.
Now, with the latest album Tornillo under their belts, Whiskey Myers is one step closer to going down as one of the greatest bands to ever do it.
Check back in for the release of the “John Wayne” music video this afternoon after you’ve checked out the album.
