WIN Two Tickets to See The Steel Woods at The Caverns

FREE TICKETS! WIN two tickets to see The Steel Woods at The Caverns THIS Saturday, Aug 3. How?  Just SEND an email HERE and in the subject line type, “I NEED SOME STEEL.”  A winner will be chosen at random.

Southern rock seemed to be on life support after it’s heyday in the late 70’s and early 80’s and almost completely gone in the 90’s but the last two decades have seen a steady rise in the genre. Bands like Blackberry Smoke, Tedeschi Trucks, Gov’t Mule and several bands who might be classified as country like The Zac Brown Band have given that classic Southern rock sound life again. One of the most promising, up and coming bands we’ve run across lately is The Steel Woods.

The band is led by Alabama native Wes Bayliss and his North Carolina friend Jason “Rowdy” Cope. Bayliss and Cope completed their first recordings just months after they first met.  Cope had played guitar for Jamey Johnson for nearly ten years and we asked Cope how The Steel Woods Came about. “I met Wes on a gig. He’s was backing up a guy and so was I. That guy took a break and we were like ‘man let’s make some tips’ and sometimes you meet musicians you just gel with, and I’d always had an idea to have a Southern rock band. I wanted to throw myself into the fire as an artist and see what I was made of. We picked up Johnny and Jay along the way as we were growing this thing.

The band’s first album, Straw in the Wind was released in 2017 and was critically acclaimed but it’s clear in their sophomore album, Old News (Thirty Tigers) that the band has found their sound.

The album’s title track inspired the old-fashioned newspaper album cover, a refreshing change from the digital world who all but forgot the value and originality of cool album art.

“All Of These Years” is one of the stand out tracks on the album and has that edgy Skynyrd guitar feel. “I’m a guitar player, I like to unleash. I think we’re in our element when we’re live. We do a lot of the same songs night after night because we only have two albums but it’s always a little bit different. We do, do some covers. We like to pay homage to our heroes like Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings, Lynyrd Skynyrd” says Cope.

There’s not a bad track on the album but why not find out for yourself? They’re playing at the Caverns this Saturday, and if you’ve never seen good Southern rock in a cave … well. Even better, you could win two tickets right here! Just send me an email HERE and in the subject line type, “I NEED SOME STEEL”. A winner will be chosen at random. Get the new album Old News here.

The Caverns are a worthwhile road trip! From Nashville: Take I-24 East for 80 miles, take exit 127 (TN-50 E/US-64 Pelham) at the Stuckeys Store, Continue on TN-50E for 6 miles (when road curves to the left, stay straight), take a left onto Payne Cove Rd, Continue on Payne Cove Rd for 1.5 miles, take a left onto Charlie Roberts Rd, follow Charlie Roberts Rd. for 3 miles to The Caverns.

–Jerry Holthouse