Artist description Mid 80s southern flavored rock

Music Style Rock

Artist History Hickory Wind primarily came out of 2 popular South Shore bands....Wild Oats were local favorites in the Plymouth, Massachusetts area, usually found headlining the White Sands Beach club at White Horse Beach, Manomet, Mass.......and Zachariah, which was a popular band frequenting the Scituate, Massachusetts and surrounding club venues. Phil Brigham and John Earle were the core players that came from the Wild Oats band. They connected musically with Bob McGrath and David McClean from Zachariah to finalize the line-up in the early part of the 1980's. The band started out as a four-piece act, very big on southern flavored rock with outstanding 3-piece harmonies and solid guitar playing by Phil and David. Bob McGrath was known locally via Zachariah as one of the best bass players and backup vocalists to emerge on the South Shore circuit at the beginning of the 1980's. John Earle already had a large following as the solid hard rocking drummer from his days with Wild Oats. The reputations of the two bands that spawned Hickory Wind enabled them to amass quite a large following quickly when fans of both Zachariah and Wild Oats flocked to their shows. Hickory Wind quickly began packing clubs all along the South Shore and built up a name and reputation as a solid hard-working southern-flavored rock outfit. Their cover repertoire included popular hits of the day by The Allman Brothers, Bob Seger, John Cougar, Lynyrd Skynyrd and many others. They quickly began flavoring their hard rocking sets with a number of original songs penned by Phil, John and Joe, mostly of ideas born during their Wild Oats days. The very tight 3-part harmonies of David, Bob and Phil contributed heavily to their overall sound and popularity. There was no denying that Phil, David, John and Bob were very accomplished masters of their chosen instruments. But they also never failed to delight audiences with their total commitment to sound quality and concentration on the tightness of each note, and the overall mix of the music. Their sound frequently neared the edge of perfection on any given night. Even though they could be a loud and raucous band, they always managed to amaze audiences with their incredible grasp of dynamics, tone and harmony. David eventually left the band around 1982 and was replaced by the very able Joe Butterfield (Wild Oats) on lead vocals and harmonica. Nicky Renna (Last Chance Band) soon joined to fill in the gap on guitar that was left when David departed. Admittedly, there was a little harder edged to the band and a slightly diminished vocal purity with the departure of David. But Nicky managed to thrill and delight audiences with his great guitar playing and showmanship. A wealth of new material centered around Nicky's style of playing helped to recenter the band and fill in the void of David's departure. Joe naturally excelled on the vocals with his very deep timbre and his incredible talent on the harmonica. After the rough edges were smoothed out, what emerged was a harder, stronger, more versatile Hickory Wind that went on to scale further heights of local popularity. The band's reputation continued to grow mostly on the south shore from Nantasket Beach to the Cape. They frequented the popular Nantasket beach venue "Uncle Sam's" opening for such major national acts as Leon Russell, The Fools and others. Phil and Bob were very accomplished technical masters of sound quality. Instead of hiring professional sound reinforcement, they personally helped their road crew build up and manage the stage equipment to achieve the very best in not only monitor sound, but front impact. At the height of Hickory Wind's popularity, they boasted one of the largest, most powerful outdoor sound systems in use on the South Shore, and their road crew (20/20 sound), under the watchful guidance of Bob, frequently "moonlighted" at many outdoor festivals and events. The equipment was centered around custom built Teal cabinets personally manufactured by Bob McGrath and sound technician Russell Ferrell. The cabinets were of various sizes ranging from small 8 inch floor monitors to stacks of huge 15 and 18-inch bins in the front. 20/20 sound was able to pump out 4000 watts of music power with this incredible rig! As anybody would guess, this contributed heavily to the band's popularity when the summer months found them doing many outdoor events. The band quietly faded toward the end of the 80's, as the local live music club scene suffered the raising of the drinking age back to 21 in Massachusetts. The decline in club audiences contributed to the slow demise of live rock and roll clubs in the Boston metro-west and south shore areas. Additionally, the rise of "New Wave" and "Punk" rock chipped away at the band's fan base. Their desire and drive soon began to fade, as they found it harder to find venues and the public's taste for powerful southern-flavored rock waning towards the end of the decade. Phil Brigham continued to work with other popular local acts, most notably as bass player backing the popular local country and western duo "Yankee Jack & Marie" but eventually retired from the club music scene, as did Joe Butterfield and Bob McGrath. After serving on the drums in a few other local acts (Incognito, True Rumor) John moved to Florida and is currently playing drums with his new band The Troublestarters (http://www.mp3.com/Troublestarters) Nicky became inactive during most of the 90's, but has recently rekindled his flame and now plays guitar with the very popular Metro-Boston act "Southbound".

Group Members Phil Brigham - guitars, vocals (Ten Rod Road, Wild Oats, Incognito, Yankee Jack & Marie) John Earle - drums (Wild Oats, Oasis, Incognito, True Rumor, Troublestarters) Joe Butterfield - vocals, harps (Wild Oats) This Band Sheet Sponsored by: Dick Boba Multimedia Productions http://www.dickboba.com Contact: Dick Boba dickieboba@hotmail.com David McClean - guitars, vocals (Zachariah) Bob McGrath - bass, vocals (Zachariah, Windfall) Nicky Renna - guitar, vocals (Last Chance Band, Southbound)

Location Plymouth, MA - USA

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