The Hillbilly Way
The Hillbilly Way | |
---|---|
Also known as | Povertyneck Hillbillies |
Origin | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States |
Genres | Country |
Years active | 2012 |
Labels | Cort, Rust, Rhythm House Studios, Pennington Entertainment |
Members | Chris "Abby" Abbondanza David "Junior" Guthrie Jeff Volek Keith Kleinhampl |
Past members | Dave Cramer John Parrendo Ryan Lucotch Bob "Crafty" Crafton Dan Glaser |
The Hillbilly Way or THW are an American
Under their previous name, The Povertyneck Hillbillies, they released a total of three albums: the independently released Hillbilly State of Mind and Don't Look Back in 2002 and 2004, followed by a self-titled effort in 2006 on
In 2012, the band reformed under the name of The Hillbilly Way, and had a kickoff concert August 25, 2012, at
Biography
The Povertyneck Hillbillies were founded in 2000 in the borough of
In the 2000s, the band began touring throughout Pennsylvania, playing at various bars and clubs to help develop a fanbase.[3] Eventually, they were discovered by members of the Pittsburgh Steelers, a franchise of the National Football League, who chose the band to play "The Star-Spangled Banner" at a halftime show for the team. Eventually, the Povertyneck Hillbillies were chosen as the Steelers' official band.[1][3]
By 2002, the band had released its debut album, Hillbilly State of Mind; a second album, Don't Look Back, followed two years later on Cort Records. Although neither album produced any chart singles, the albums sold more than 10,000 copies nationwide; as a result, they were named by the Country Music Association as one of the top-selling independent country acts of 2005.[3] Crafton was forced out of the group by Rust Records in 2006, allowing them to be signed to Rust Records and released their self-titled third album. This album produced non-charting singles in "Mr. Right Now" and "One Night in New Orleans", the latter of which was previously recorded by Blackhawk. The Povertyneck Hillbillies left Rust in 2007.[4]
On January 14, 2008, Higbee announced that the band had "decided to take a break of indefinite length." According to his press release, "Abby, Jeff, Junior and Dave have chosen to stop performing with the band.
Reunion
On April 9, 2012, it was announced by Chris "Abby" Abbondanza, on WOGI Froggy Radio, that The Povertyneck Hillbillies would be hosting a reunion concert on August 25, 2012.[5] The concert was held at CONSOL Energy Park, in Washington, Pennsylvania. The line up consists of all of the previous members, with the exception of Chris Higbee, who was replaced by guest fiddle player John Parrendo, who later joined the band. Abbondanza stated that numerous requests to Higbee to join the show have been declined as the relationship has been changed indefinitely .[5] The band is now known as THW which is short for The Hillbilly Way, which was one of the songs they performed while they were with The Povertyneck Hillbillies. The band then released a self-titled 4 song EP on the night of the concert, containing the single "My Kinda Sunday Drive", that is part of the 4 song EP.[2] "My Kind of Sunday Drive" has received moderate airplay in the local Pittsburgh country music market, mostly on WOGI, known as "Froggy Radio", on frequencies 94.9 and 104.3. The band also released a second single from that EP, "Fear of Greyhounds", later that year.
Present
In May 2014, it was announced that Dave Cramer (Keyboard) and John Parrendo (Fiddle) had quit the band. Dave stated on his personal Facebook page that he chose to leave the band due to wanting to spend more time with his family. Bob "Crafty" Crafton and Ryan Lucotch also left the band in 2015.
THW has re-organized since then, and now consists of Chris "Abby" Abbondanza on lead vocals and acoustic guitar, Jeff Volek on bass guitar and backing vocals, David "Junior" Guthrie on lead guitars and backing vocals and Keith Kleinhampl on Drums, percussion and percussion programming. During 2016 to 2018, THW was signed to the
Discography
Albums
Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
US Country | US | US Indie | US Heat
| ||||||||
Hillbilly State of Mind |
|
— | — | — | — | ||||||
Don't Look Back |
|
— | — | — | — | ||||||
Povertyneck Hillbillies |
|
31 | 159 | 15 | 7 | ||||||
The Hillbilly Way |
|
_ | _ | _ | _ | ||||||
Just Go With It |
|
- | - | - | - | ||||||
Best Night Of Our Lives |
|
- | - | - | - | ||||||
Damn I Just Wanna Kiss You |
|
42 | - | 26 | - | "—" denotes releases that did not chart |
Singles
Year | Single | Album |
---|---|---|
2006 | "The Hillbilly Way" | Povertyneck Hillbillies |
"Mr. Right Now" | ||
"One Night in New Orleans" | ||
2012 | "Fear of Greyhounds" | The Hillbilly Way |
"Slow Things Down for A Change" | ||
"This Ain't Your Mama's Country" | ||
"My Kinda Sunday Drive" | ||
2015 | "Country Honey" | Just Go With It |
"Pittsburgh, PA" | ||
"More Beer" | ||
"Just Go With It" | ||
"Bad Hangover" | ||
"That Ain't Gonna Fly" | ||
"Hook It Up" | ||
"Every Time It Rains" | ||
"Tequila Memory" | ||
"That's What I Like About A Honky Tonk" | ||
2017 | "Best Night Of Our Lives" | Best Night Of Our Lives |
2018 | "Damn I Just Wanna Kiss You" | Damn I Just Wanna Kiss You |
2019 | "Lonely Girl" | Lonely Girl |
Music videos
Year | Video | Director |
---|---|---|
2006 | "Mr. Right Now" | Lark Watts |
2016 | "Best Night Of Our Lives" | |
2017 | "Damn I Just Wanna Kiss You" | Ford Fairchild |
References
- ^ Allmusic. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
- ^ a b "Popular country band Povertyneck Hillbillies reforms as The Hillbilly Way". 23 August 2012. Retrieved 27 August 2012.
- ^ Great American Country. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
- ^ "PovertyNeck Hillbillies leave Rust behind". Country Standard Time. 30 January 2007. Retrieved 27 December 2010.
- ^ a b "Hillbillies reunion show announced". Times Online. 9 April 2012. Retrieved 11 April 2012.