The Hillbilly Way

The Hillbilly Way are an American country music band founded in Dawson, Pennsylvania in 2012 by Chris "Abby" Abbondanza (lead vocals), Dave Cramer (keyboards), Ryan Lucotch (drums), Jeff Volek (bass guitar, accordion), David "Junior" Guthrie (electric guitar), and Bob "Crafty" Crafton (steel guitar).^[1] Chris Higbee (fiddle was the founding member of the original band named "Povertyneck Hillbillies", however, he has never been associated with "The Hillbilly Way", though he was asked to be in the band. Chris Higbee was THE sole founder of the PovertyNeck Hillbillies and continues to be the legal owner of the trademark. Although the hillbilly way is made up of some of the former members of the PovertyNeck Hillbillies, the original band has not and will never reform.

Under the "Povertyneck Hillbillies" name, they released a total of three albums: the independently released Hillbilly State of Mind and Don't Look Back in 2002 and 2004, followed by a self-titled effort in 2006 on Rust Records, the same year that Crafton left the band. Although these three albums produced no chart hits, they sold more than 10,000 copies nationwide. In 2008, Higbee issued a press release indicating that the band would be on hiatus indefinitely. Chris Higbee is now a solo artist.

In 2012, some members created a band under the name of "The Hillbilly Way", and had a kickoff concert August 25, 2012, at CONSOL Energy Park, home of the Washington Wild Things minor league baseball team, in Washington County, Pennsylvania. The band now consists of Chris "Abby" Abbondanza, Ryan Lucotch, Jeff Volek, David "Junior" Guthrie, and Bob "Crafty" Crafton.^[2]

Biography

The Povertyneck Hillbillies was founded in 2000 in the borough of Dawson, Pennsylvania by fiddler Chris Higbee and lead vocalist Chris "Abby" Abbondanza, who met and befriended each other after discovering common musical interests.^[1]

In the 2000s, the PovertyNeck Hillbillies began touring throughout Pennsylvania, playing at various bars and clubs to help develop a fanbase.^[3] Eventually, they were discovered by members of the Pittsburgh Steelers, a franchise of the National Football League, who chose the band to play "The Star-Spangled Banner" at a halftime show for the team. Eventually, the Povertyneck Hillbillies were chosen as the Steelers' official band.^[1][3]

By 2002, the band had released its debut album, Hillbilly State of Mind; a second album, Don't Look Back, followed two years later on Cort Records. Although neither album produced any chart singles, the albums sold more than 10,000 copies nationwide; as a result, they were named by the Country Music Association as one of the top-selling independent country acts of 2005.<ref name="gac"/ Shortly before they signed to Rust Records The PovertyNeck Hillbillies released their self-titled third album. This album produced non-charting singles in "Mr. Right Now" and "One Night in New Orleans", the latter of which was previously recorded by Blackhawk. The Povertyneck Hillbillies left Rust in 2007.^[4]

On January 14, 2008, Higbee announced that the band had "decided to take a break of indefinite length." According to his press release, "Abby, Jeff, Junior and Dave have chosen to stop performing with the band. As with the impending end of any relationship, hurt feelings and frustration may prompt negative statements, rumors or speculation." Higbee has since founded another band entitled the Chris Higbee Project, while Abbondanza has begun a solo career.

Reunion

On Monday, April 9, 2012 it was announced by Chris "Abby" Abbondanza, on local country radio station "Froggy FM", that some of the Povertyneck Hillbillies would be hosting a reunion concert on August 25, 2012.^[5] The concert was held at CONSOL Energy Park, in Washington, Pennsylvania.^[5] The band also released a 4 song EP on the night of the concert, containing the new single "My Kinda Sunday Drive", that is part of a fuller album to be released in the Spring of 2013.^[2] "My Kind of Sunday Drive" has received moderate airplay in the local Pittsburgh country music market, mostly on WOGI, known as "Froggy FM", on frequencies 94.9, 98.3, 103.5, and 104.3. The band is hoping their second single "Fear of Greyhounds" will help boost their popularity further in the local market, and possibly reclaim some fans that had forgotten about the band since their separation in 2008. Also, as of December 8, 2012, at a local concert, Abby Abbondanza announced that fiddler John Parrendo was a permanent part of The Hillbilly Way.

Present

In May 2014, it was announced that Dave Cramer (Keyboard) and John Parrendo (Fiddle) had quit the band.

Dave stated on his personal Facebook page that he chose to leave the band due to wanting to spend more time with his family.

No reasoning was given for John's departure.

Discography

Albums

• Release date: June 6, 2006
• Label: Rust Nashville

| 31 | 159 | 15 | 7 |- ! scope="row"| The Hillbilly Way |

• Release date: 2015
• Label: Rhythm House Studios

|- Just Go With It

Singles

Music videos

References

External links

• Hillbilly Way official page
• Hillbilly Way Facebook page