Nashville-based Ameripolitan band explores retro 50’s sound in this song releasing October 26, 2018
The new track from Tom Blizzard and the Honky Tonk Jets lures us in with a catchy 50s beat before flawing us with a darker tale of obsession. The ease of the uptempo dancehall riff and the dissonance created by the lyrics makes the song an uncomfortable and compelling listening in equal measures. It's a daring and enticing debut from a band who pride themselves on creating an authentic rockabilly sound with a twist. Fans of Americana and roots music will dig the fusion of the vintage sounds alongside modern issues.
NASHVILLE, TN – Tom Blizzard is known throughout the Southeast for his amazing voice, over-the-top personality and borderline slapstick live concerts. Fresh from a series of performances in Europe this summer, he now has a new band, ’Tom Blizzard and The Honky Tonk Jets’ and a new sound - Ameripolitan. It is a blend of Americana music, Roots Country, and Rockabilly music. He is releasing the band’s first single, an entertaining 50’s style toe-tapper called “A Man in Need” on October 26th. It is Blizzard’s first original single release and one that was written “as a joke until my guitarist heard it.”
“This song started as just a little riff when I was aggravated at a friend a couple of years ago who was constantly saying ‘I'll call you later’ and seldom doing it,” explains Blizzard. “However, after taking the song more seriously once put to music, it morphed into a story about a clueless guy who quickly and obsessively thinks he is in love.”
The track features band members Sam Reynolds on guitar and Trevor James on bass, and was recorded in a Mobile, Alabama shed. The band decided to approach the recording process for their 1950’s-inspired song as they thought it might have been back in the day. Simple microphones and vintage guitars and amps were used to achieve the authentic “Roots Rockabilly” sound.
“We’ve written and recorded some great new music that we plan to release over the next several months” says Blizzard. “My personal goal is to chart on the Americana chart with at least one of those releases.”
"A Man In Need - I love it! I think it’s hilariously brilliant and so on point with the times, with the great counterpoint of that 50's sound!"
- Kimber Tomlinson, Speedway Radio, Memphis, TN USA
Tom Blizzard and the Honky Tonk Jets provide a knockout show that keeps every audience singing, toes tapping, and shoes slapping the dance floor. “One minute we may be conjuring the early rockabilly sounds of Sun Studios and the next we might be channelling the evolution of that sound to the acts of the Las Vegas strip.” Old music and new is mixed together into songs you know, songs you wish you knew, and songs that will leave you with the burning question of "Why have I never heard THAT song played like THIS before?"