“Less is more.”
That’s the mantra that Rev. Chitwood Hammaker, brothers Noah and Justin Crowther, and Kelly Ravin deployed as they converged from a honky-tonk in Burlington, Vermont, to create Waylon Speed.
Ever since Waylon Speed formed in April 2009, the four-piece brotherhood of family and past friends has toured nationally and collected fans like empties at a pig roast in support of their albums: the debut, Georgia Overdrive; their two-disc sophomore set, Horseshoes and Hand Grenades; and their latest effort, The Boots EP.
The press has called Waylon Speed “gas on the fire of the current music scene” and “heavy, fiery country rock, for those who like their punk rock with some twang in it – but also appreciate high quality, intelligent songwriting.”
Ask Waylon Speed what it seeks from its stained-blue-collar, straight-up-from-the-underground rock, and the answer is simple: make people happy. The evidence is at their aim-to-please shows, where audience connection is a priority.
Waylon Speed has shared bills with: Jane’s Addiction, Clutch, Little Feat, Reba McEntire, Elvis Costello, Primus, and Grace Potter and the Nocturnals.
Waylon Speed’s influences are Motorhead, Fugazi, The Mother Hips, The Drive-By Truckers, and Frank Zappa. Waylon Speed’s influences are not mainstream music.
‘Course, if the guys had to be someone else in another band, they would choose either Kris Kristofferson (Kelly), Willie Nelson (Noah), Johnny Cash (Justin), or Waylon Jennings (The Reverend).
Welcome to Waylon Speed.