Texas Hippie Coalition
| Texas Hippie Coalition | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Also known as | THC |
| Origin | Denison, Texas, USA |
| Genres | Heavy metal, groove metal, Southern rock, Stoner Metal (Debated) |
| Years active | 2004–present |
| Associated acts | Eye Empire |
| Website | thcoutlaw.com |
| Members | Big Dad Ritch John Exall Cord Pool Gunnar Molton |
| Past members | Randy Cooper Ryan Bennett Timmy Braun Crawfish Michael Hayes Scott "Cowboy" Lytle Jason Elmore Cody Perryman Wes Wallace |
Texas Hippie Coalition (also initialized as THC) is a rock band from Denison, Texas.
Beginnings
Big Dad Ritch and John Exall met in Denison, Texas. Because Denison was a small town with a very limited number of musicians, rival bands were forced to go on road trips together to cities such as Dallas to do shows. Originally from rival bands, Ritch, Randy and John got together and started playing, writing and eventually recording together.
Shortly thereafter, THC emerged from the Red River Valley bordering the North Texas and southern Oklahoma and began a tour promoting their independent album "Pride of Texas". They toured from coast to coast, putting themselves in front of fans everywhere with their style of music called "red dirt metal"[1] (red earth metal).
This led guitarist Alden "Crawfish" Nequent and drummer Ryan Bennett to join the band. Crawfish was presented to the group by a mutual friend, and although he was dedicated to the band with whom he was touring at the time, he accepted an invitation to join THC. When the group was looking for a new drummer, they auditioned Satnes Allen and Ryan Bennett, the latter of whom was a graphic designer of the company that managed the band. The band was impressed with Bennett, and invited him to join the band after the departure of their original drummer.
Current touring members are Big Dad Ritch, John Exall, Gunnar Molton, and the newest addition Cord Pool.
Influences
THC is a metal band with a hint of southern rock that the band refers to as "Red Dirt Metal". Their influences include Black Label Society, Pantera, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Molly Hatchet, ZZ Top, Corrosion of Conformity, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash.
Release of Rollin
The group joined multi-platinum producer Dave Prater[2] (Dream Theater, FireHouse) and went to his studio in Oklahoma to record their second album, Rollin, released on July 6, 2010, which was their first national release. Leaning on the single "Pissed Off and Mad About It", the album reached the Top Ten on the CMJ Loud Rock Chart and circulated on radio stations throughout the country.
Release of "Peacemaker"
In early 2012 the group joined producer Bob Marlette who has produced such bands as Shinedown, Seether, Black Sabbath, and Alice Cooper. Their first single "Turn It Up" was released in May of that same year. It broke into the top 40 in late summer. The album was released August 14th of 2012. In late September they were invited to open up for legendary southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. In early 2013 "Damn You To Hell" debuted at #46 and was #1 in Denver, Co and Spokehane, WA. The group traveled to Brazil in late April.
Discography
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| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Sales | Certifications | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | US Heat.[3] |
US Ind. |
AUS | CAN | FIN | UK | ||||
| Pride of Texas | - | - | — | — | — | - | — |
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| Rollin' |
|
- | 29 | - | — | — | - | - |
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| Peacemaker |
|
- | - | - | — | — | - | - |
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External links
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