Southern Governor
Residing on the outskirts of Winchester, Virginia, Southern Governor is a truly distinctive rock band with a style that is virtually impossible to compare. Best described as heavy hitting rock with a southern grunge vibe, Southern Governor delivers a unique package yet still stays true to the “southern” movement made famous in the late 70’s. While retaining that obvious influence, the band has evolved by simply adding to that foundation with other, more recent influences. Dirty guitars, monstrous drumming, and deep bass grooves is what you’ll come to expect from these guys.
Founded in 2009, Southern Governor started primarily as a cover band focusing primarily on groups like Lynyrd Skynyrd, Molly Hatchet, Marshall Tucker, Georgia Satellites and the Atlanta Rhythm Section. However, soon afterwards the band found itself evolving, as various other styles and tones began to infiltrate the outline. Black Stone Cherry, Foo Fighters, Halestorm, Nirvana, Shinedown and even Led Zeppelin have offered up nuances that have altered the Southern Governor path and are directly attributed to the uniqueness of the band.
Some of the bigger success of the band has been featured in two local newspapers in 2010. In July 2011 the band won a battle of the bands in Orange, Virginia, with the grand prize being able to open for a national act at Celebrate Virginia Live’s concert series. In December 2011 the band opened for the national band “Jackyl” in Springfield, Virginia.
2012 marked a change in the band with dropping the three guitars and going to a two guitar bass and drums line up, and also brought a turning point, taking most of the year writing and refining their true sound and identity while still occasionally getting out and playing in the area. In June 2012 the band started recording demos at their rehearsal space to send to Black Stone Cherry’s front man Chris Robertson. Those demos would later be recorded at the Music is Me Recording Studio in Glasgow, Kentucky. The studio is owned and operated by Black Stone Cherry members Ben Wells & Jon Lawhon, and fellow BSC crew members Ryan “Jonesy” Gorman, & John “Shep” Shepherd. Taking the producer role on the recording was Chris Robertson. The album is yet to be named however it does have a tentative release date of spring 2013.
