Artist description Ma Ferguson Takes 2nd place in 93.7 KLBJ Radio's SXSW "Schmooze Fest" Competition! Ma Ferguson competed against well over 300 bands from the Austin, Tx area! A private party was in their honor was held at Antone's Night Club a long time mainstay of the Austin music scene! In attendance were the top 10 bands from the contest and many record industry reps. Ma Ferguson the best damn Southern Rock Band to ever come out of the Lonestar State!THE NATIONAL BAND OF TEXAS!Austin, Texas' Premier Southern Rock Band!

Music Style Southern Rock

Musical Influences Lynyrd Skynyrd, Allman Bros., Blackfoot, Charlie Daniels, Marshall Tucker,

Similar Artists Lynyrd Skynyrd

Artist History Ma Ferguson takes their name from Miriam M.A. (Ma) Ferguson, the first woman Governor of the State of Texas! Formed in 1994 in Austin, Ma Ferguson is Austin, Texas Premier Southern Rock Band!Founding members Jay D. Chaffe and Ken Blum met in the summer of 1994 and formed the core of what has become one of the best ‘live’ performance bands in the Austin area! With a true Southern Rock line-up including three screaming lead guitarists, bass, keyboards, and drums, this band has awesome stage presence unlike any other in Austin and the interplay among the musicians is incredible! Not since the great Southern Rock bands of the 1970’s has a group of musicians come together to create such a dynamic presence on stage as well as in their recordings as Ma Ferguson has! This band is a must see!

Group Members Jay D. Chaffe - Lead vocals, lead and bottleneck slide guitar - Paul Deitz - Lead guitar, backing vocals - Scott Wilson - Lead and bottleneck slide guitars - Tom Gideon - Bass guitar, good vibes and backing vocals - Steve Mohl - Drums and percussion

Instruments Wall of guitars - 3 Guitar line-up, Bass, Keyboards and Drums

Albums Texas Rebels - EP - New Release due out this summer!

Press Reviews   It took me all of fifteen seconds listening to Ma Ferguson's Texas Rebels EP for this sound byte to pop into my head: "Southern rock, Texas style." I won't belabor the definition of southern rock here. Suffice it to say that southern rock is like obscenity; I can't define it, but I sure know it when I hear it. Then I flipped open the liner notes to see that the band proudly claims to be "Austin Texas' premier southern rock band." And they just may be right. With the searing three-guitar attack of Jay D. Chaffe, Ken Blum, and Paul Deitz, Ma Ferguson sound like a great bar band with their influences on their sleeve - The Allman Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Texas boogie of Stevie Ray Vaughn, and the slide blues of Elmore James. And calling them a bar band is no insult - the beer and sweat and smoke and sawdust is down there in what used to be the grooves-- and what is now, I guess, the zeroes and ones. Down there in those zeroes and ones for all to hear. The Fergies offer up four tunes on this teaser of a disc. The original "Saints and Sinners" features a blistering Texas-style southern slide guitar, some barrelhouse piano, and a nice honky-tonk feel. Their cover of the Allman Brothers' "Good Clean Fun" kicks up the energy a notch; it is faithful to the original, yet the band manages to make it their own. This tune features some shredding harp. Next up is "Southern Ladies" (you can tell how this record sounds from the song titles). The singer "wants no part of your cheatin' heart, or your heartless attitude." Because, of course, "Southern belles is all I'll ever need." Again that slide guitar is prominent, biting throughout. The only (minor) misstep is the closing Skynyrd cover, "That Smell." The band handles the song with aplomb enough; to this listener's ears it was perhaps too close to the original, although a fine vehicle for their three-guitar workout. I'm guessing that they come out of a bar band scene where you earn stage time by offering up songs that people know and recognize from the radio. It is a testimony to their potential that they would be best served working on their own future FM staples. If I were having an outdoor barbeque, I'd pop this disc into the player. Here's hoping - and this is from the heart, not reviewer talk - we hear more from this band. Josh Chasin - Gritz Magazine Down-home, Southern, deep-fried Rock 'n' roll. Bouncy bass and gritty slide guitar accompany lazy Country Rock leads, drunken percussion and vocals that sound pickled in whiskey and coated in resin. Listen.com The torment of Mr. Skinner Continues... Great to hear that the southern rock tradition continues. Nice solid tune. Brought me back a few years, but also makes me realize that good music is just that: good music, timeless. Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Allman Brothers - they would/should be proud that the trails they blazed are still being traveled, and furthered. I'll check out some more from this band. Bill Elliot - Garageband.com

Additional Info Get your Official Ma Ferguson merchandise at: www.cafepress.com/maferguson

Location Round Rock, Texas - USA

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