“Leavin’ This Holler,” the new album by 49 Winchester, the country rock band from Castlewood, Virginia, includes the song “Make It Count,” which refers to both the opportunity and the challenge that faced the band when work began on the album.
Their previous album, “Fortune Favors the Bold,” had marked an inflection point for the band. After releasing three albums and building a touring base as a true do-it-yourself indie act, 49 Winchester had signed with New West Records and seen “Fortune Favors the Bold” get rave reviews and land on more than a few best-album lists for 2022. That response had raised the band’s profile and significantly expanded their audience.
Singer/guitarist and primary songwriter Isaac Gibson said he and his bandmates were well aware the success “Fortune Favors the Bold” had raised the stakes for their next album, and these lines from “Make It Count” seemingly addresses the backdrop that greeted the band in making “Leavin’ This Holler.”
“Well I gotta go/I gotta strike while the iron’s hot/I might not get but one shot/Better make it count/Lord you better make it count”
“We knew that we had to up our game,” Gibson said in a July phone interview. “We knew we had [to make an album] that sounded patently 49, but was different and elevated, and I think we really nailed it. I’m really proud of the songs that I wrote for it. We got a lot of really cool sounds that are not straight down-the-middle country or straight down-the-middle rock ‘n’ roll. They’re somewhere in that middle ground, you know, Southern rock, Americana, country, folk, soul and blues. It’s kind of, you know, it’s a little bit of everything.”
The musical range of “Leavin’ This Holler” is nothing new for 49 Winchester, which was formed in 2012 by Gibson and his buddies Chase Chafin (bass) and Bus Shelton (guitar) in the small mountain town of Castlewood in Southwest Virginia. The group now has a six-man lineup that also includes pedal steel player Noah Patrick, keyboardist Tim Hall and drummer Justin Louthian.
Gibson, Chafin and Shelton were just out of high school when they started 49 Winchester. With little knowledge about the music business and no money to speak of, they didn’t move to Nashville or some other music industry city to look for management or a record deal. Instead, they did what came naturally, building an audience show by show and writing songs that drew on their various musical influences and the small-town life they loved.
This organic approach turned out to be an advantage, Gibson said, giving 49 Winchester a distinctive and wholly authentic sound and lyrical story, and an audience that has largely been built by word-of-mouth raves about the band’s music and live shows.
“We started from the ground up as a grassroots thing in a place where it’s really difficult to get a music career off the ground and a place specifically, Southwestern Virginia, where no band had really done it,” Gibson said. “So it was kind of a daunting task, but we never had any intention of stopping … regardless of how big it got or how small it [stayed]. We always knew that this felt too good to not do it and it pleased us too much and brought us so much joy to give it up. So a big part of our success now, it’s just been 10 years of stubborn determination to keep the ball rolling.”
Along the way, 49 Winchester’s music has grown richer and Gibson’s lyrics have tapped into a deeper well of emotion and life experience. “Leavin’ This Holler” furthers that process once again. In fact, it may be the most diverse 49 Winchester album yet.
“Make It Count” and the title track, a sturdy Southern-accented ballad, are decidedly rock. “Travelin’ Band” rocks as well, but with a strong dose of twang. Other songs tap into a variety of influences. Bits of bluegrass seep into the energetic “Yearnin’ For You,” while the frisky “Hillbilly Happy” has a bit of a rockabilly kick to go with its country touches. There’s a good bit of Memphis soul mixed with muscular country on “Rest of My Days.” A highlight on the album is “Anchor,” a lovely yet hefty ballad enriched with a string arrangement from the Czech National Symphony Orchestra and chorale-styled backing vocals.
Now with this tour cycle for “Leavin’ This Holler,” 49 Winchester will be fully focused on their live shows. Not surprisingly, the set list will include a good number of songs from the new album.
“We’re incorporating more and more of that stuff from the new album as time goes on,” Gibson said, adding that the set lists will also feature a healthy number of songs from “Fortune Favors the Brave” and some songs from the 2020 album “III” and the 2018 release “The Wind.”
“I think the only record that we’re not playing anything much from is the first one. That’s going to work its way back into the show [at some point]. The older stuff now has kind of a totally new appeal. We’re a lot better band than we were then.”
49 Winchester performs with Maggie Antone on Friday, Sept. 6 at the National.
