The Laney Strickland Band returns to Starkville to rock the Hunt Club Thursday night. Laney Strickland’s life can be summed up in one statement: he plays rock ‘n’ roll. Strickland received his first guitar at the age of 12. One year later, he played in bars on nights and weekends.
“My parents were getting a divorce when I was 12,” Strickland said. “Playing guitar became my escape. Instead of turning to drugs and alcohol, I turned to music.”
The bands that were in the media when Strickland started playing guitar were bands like Motley Crue and Guns N’ Roses. He saw all of the fame and fun they seemed to have. He wanted to have that too.
“When I first started playing guitar, all of the famous groups played heavy metal,” Strickland said. “I saw how much fun they were having, and that inspired me to take music seriously. I also saw all of the girls they got, too. I don’t care what anybody says, at least one of the reasons guys play guitar is to get girls.”
Strickland’s musical influences include Lynyrd Skynyrd, Stevie Ray Vaughn and Willie Nelson. He said that he likes anything real. He thinks that a lot of music today avoids saying anything worthwhile.
“So much music today is powder puff,” Strickland said. “The music I want to hear and play stays true to itself. Making money isn’t everything. Say what you feel.”
Strickland recorded his first album before his current band assembled. Strickland named that album Roots: Songs From Heroes, Friends, and Me. The album included cover songs and some Strickland originals. Strickland said that Roots doesn’t really reflect his current musical style though.
“Roots was a lot more country than the type of music we play now,” Strickland said. “The type of music we play now is rock. Although, some country is always there.”
Strickland said he hopes to concentrate on writing more original songs in the future. He said that he enjoys playing cover songs but wants to create more music of his own. Strickland’s constant touring should enable him to possess the time to get that done.
“We’ve played nearly all of the time the past couple of years,” Strickland said. “We’re trying to build up enough of a following to where we can play just on weekends. Then we would have the time to write songs and practice during the week.”
The Laney Strickland band begins their show at 9:30 Thursday night. For more information on the band go to www.laneymusic.com.