BR5-49
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BR5-49 is an American country music band. The group was formed in Nashville in 1993 by co-leads Gary Bennett and Chuck Mead. They took their name from a telephone number regularly used in a Junior Samples sketch on the television show Hee Haw. They eschew modern Top 40 pop-country for a more raw, honky-tonk sound, with songs about 50s pin-up/dominatrix Bettie Page and The Ramones. Their music contains elements of western swing and rockabilly, that can be called neotraditional, though they are also often identified as alternative country. BR549 has toured with Bob Dylan, the Mavericks, Junior Brown, the Black Crowes, and Brian Setzer. The band is currently on hiatus. Multi-Instrumentalist Don Herron is touring with Bob Dylan, and lead vocalist Chuck Mead is performing with the honky-tonk country supergroup The Hillbilly All-Stars, along with Robert Reynolds and Paul Deakin of the Mavericks and solo recording artist/actor Mark Collie. Former co-lead vocalist, and co-founder, Gary Bennett released his solo debut, Human Condition, in February of 2006, and former bassist Geoff Firebaugh is a member of the Nashville based rockabilly outfit Hillbilly Casino. It's unknown when the band will return or if their hiatus is the end of BR5-49.
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[edit] Members
- Chuck Mead - guitar, vocals
- Shaw Wilson - drums, backing vocals
- Don Herron - fiddle, steel guitar, mandolin, dobro, banjo
- Mark Miller - bass, vocals
[edit] Former members
- Gary Bennett - guitar, vocals
- Smilin' Jay McDowell - bass
- Chris Scruggs - guitar, vocals
- Geoff Firebaugh - bass
[edit] Discography
- Live From Robert's [EP] (1996)
- BR5-49 (1996)
- Big Backyard Beat Show (1998)
- Coast to Coast (2000)
- This Is BR549 (2001)
- Temporarily Disconnected [EP] (2003)
- Tangled in the Pines (2004)
- Dog Days (2006)
[edit] In the media
- The song "Seven Nights to Rock" was dubbed into the various artists album Rock-a-billy 2000
- In 1999, a live version of their song "Out of Habit" was released to benefited cerebral palsy research on the charity album, Live in the X Lounge.
[edit] BR549 trivia
At Wishard Memorial Hospital in Indianapolis, Indiana on the signs through out the hospital cautioning against the use of cell phones, have an image of a cell phone on them, on the display on the cell phone the "number" BR549 is displayed. The telephone number was regularly used in a Junior Samples sketch on the television show Hee Haw.
