The Reflector
Just last week they performed on their first late night show, Jimmy Kimmel Live, their first in a summer series of late night broadcasts. Tomorrow they will visit Starkville for an evening show. The regular Starkville performers, Ingram Hill, will play at Rick’s Caf, where they once performed their second show.
“That was almost five years ago,” says vocalist and guitarist Justin Moore. “None of use were old enough to even drink back then,” he adds. “That was such a great time; we were really excited to be a new band.”
Owner of Rick’s Caf, Rick Welch says that he gave the band a key to his house. “They stay here every time they perform and whenever they travel through Mississippi,” he says. “They’re like my little brothers.”
Since that show, they have produced an EP called Until Now featuring the hit, “Will I Ever Make it Home.” The compilation sold 385 copies at one show in Michigan and 200 at a show in Washington. In 2002 it sold 10,000 copies and embarked to #5 on the Memphis retail charts.
Their latest project, June’s Picture Show, is a full-length scale composition of songs Moore calls “pop rock with a southern twist.”
After its release with producer Rick Beato, the band signed with Hollywood Records, and in 2004 the band re-released it under their label. The songs on the album contemplate the complexity of human connections.
“Almost Perfect” reveals the inevitable flaws in a woman and the unrequited feelings that a relationship with her brings. “The Captain,” a song about fatherhood, deals with how dads prepare their children to be adults.
Guitarist Phil Bogard says he has high hopes for the new album. “I would love to end up with something like U2 – something that’s huge and lasts forever,” he says.
Moore says that whether a band can play or not, people in states, like Mississippi and Tennessee will always want to hear Southern Rock.
“It just feels like home,” he says. “38 Special and Lynyrd Skynyrd are the most comforting things for Southerners.”
Rick says their success has been their hard work ethic and personal relationships with fans. “I’ve seen them make close ties with fans and friends of their fans, which gives them that many more fans,” he says.
“If 50 people will gather for a show, they’ll play for it,” he adds. “They are good, because they are always on the road,” he says.
“Every time they come to Starkville, they get a little better, a little tighter. They take their music seriously and knew they would make it big from day one,” he adds.
He says that Tonic, Sister Hazel, Better than Ezra and Johnny Lang have all supported Ingram Hill by sharing the stage and word of mouth.
The Memphis based band has drawn from the city’s historical influences, like Blues and Stax.
“It’s hard not to live here and have a bit of blues,” he says. “We don’t sound straight up blues, and it’s not even an intentional thing; it’s just kind of there,” he says. “I would say Otis Redding influenced us as well.”
Before Ingram Hill had formed a name for itself, the band was driving through north Mississippi on tour. They spotted a sign they thought had said “Ingram Hill,” and decided to randomly name the band after it. It actually said “Ingram’s Mill.”
“We found out later that we were wrong, but we still liked the way it sounded,” says Moore.
Moore, inspired by the Black Crows, Billy Joel and Elton John, sings with a voice that has been compared to Paul Rodgers of Free and Bad Company.
He says that his lyrical inspiration stems from broken relationships. “Women break my heart, and it inspires me to go home and write songs,” he says. “The opposite sex is always easy for me to sing about.”
At 9 p.m. the guest band, Stewart Mayfield Project will also perform. Since their establishment three years ago, they have interchanged band members and signed with Epic Records (Incubus, Modest Mouse, Franz Ferdinand).
“It’s a sturdy rock label,” says Matthew Mayfield. Recently the band has played for International Justice Mission benefits. IJM, a human rights organization that intervenes on crimes that governments allow or initiate, has received benefits from U2, Switchfoot and Coldplay.
Mayfield says that helping out isn’t as hard as people think. “There are some truly horrific things going on in our world, but it’s not a lost cause,” he says. “Even in our comfortable, American existence-we can do a lot for the people that can’t do anything for themselves-who are slaves to prostitution and bonded labor, and victims of brutal oppression.”
After their show, Ingram Hill will begin playing at 10:15 p.m.