When people believe in what they are doing, it shows. Laney Strickland and his band believe music is exactly what they are supposed to be doing.
“We want to produce a new sound that is a blend of heavy rock and old school country,” Strickland said.
The Laney Strickland Band is always a high-energy show, complete with pyrotechnics, an exciting list of cover songs ranging from Kid Rock and AC/DC to the Allman Brothers and a few original songs worthy of remembering. Their main audience is college students, and The Laney Strickland Band knows exactly the kind of show that their audience wants to see.
“We usually have The Laney Strickland band come to the Hunt Club at least twice a semester because of their energy-packed show and pyrotechnics, and they always show us a good time,” Remington’s Hunt Club production manager Corey Poole said.
The Georgia natives said that they were brought up in a world that taught them about quality music, and now they want to revolutionize the music business by creating a blend of their musical influences of both rock and deep country. Strickland’s drive is to replace the country music now heard on the radio with music from much deeper country roots and with a classic kind of heavy rock.
The band has been together for about three years, but Strickland has played guitar for 13. The band has played at many schools, including the University of Tennessee and Florida State University.
The band consists of Laney Strickland, lead guitarist and lead vocals; Eddie Starling, also on lead guitar; Gordon McClellan, bass guitarist and Jason Lee on drums.
“The band has a following in Starkville, and they also have a group that follows them on the road, which always gives us a great crowd,” Poole said.
“Right now we are writing, recording, and rehearsing, trying to make this new sound,” Strickland said.
The Laney Strickland Band is also about to experience a very big step in their musical career by opening for country music legend Willie Nelson in Starkville at the Hunt Club on March 20 and 21.
“Opening for Willie Nelson is a dream come true. I was raised on Southern rock, and then I got into old school country, so I have grown up listening to him,” Strickland said.
The Laney Strickland band plays tonight from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. at Remington’s Hunt Club. There will be a $10 cover charge. To learn more about The Laney Strickland Band, visit their Web site, www.laneymusic.com, where you can also buy their CD, Roots: Songs from Heroes, Friends, and Me. For more information about the show, contact Remington’s Hunt Club at 323-4123.