Enter the Overmountain Men – the latest musical project from David Childers which features Bob Crawford (Avett Brothers), Robert Childers, Randy Saxon, Geoffrey White, Scott Daley and Bill Noonan. The band takes their name from the group of men who banded together to fight the British during the American Revolutionary War. They are best known for their role in the American victory at the Battle of Kings Mountain in 1780.
After years of playing with his band, The Modern Don Juans, Childers decided he was calling it quits. They played their final show as a band in December of 2007.
What Childers ultimately quit was the road – the constant touring and playing out that eventually sucked the fun out of what he was doing. However, he never stopped writing songs.
That’s where the Overmountain Men collaboration began. It all started with Childers and Bob Crawford going back and forth on some new songs. These new songs apparently sparked something in Childers. Eventually this collaboration morphed into the project that gave rise to The Overmountain Men.
The music on the Overmountain Men’s debut record, ‘Glorious Day’ is top-notch – just what you‘d expect from a David Childers record. And though this new record may not carry his name, it surely captures the essence of what David Childers is all about.
The music of David Childers has always been hard to pinpoint. Is he Americana? Is he rock n’ roll? I get the sense that these guys went to the studio with the intent on not trying to make a record with a certain sound. They just wanted to have fun and make music that doesn’t have any strings attached.
No major touring plans are in the works with the launching of this record. They will play out when they want to. And if they don’t want to – then they won’t.
A project like this sounds like the perfect way to bring David Childers back out in front of audiences again. I for one am glad too see it. His appearances with The Overmountain Men may be few and far between. But that’s the beauty of it.
It will make their performances even more special when they do decide to get together.
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For more information on The Overmountain Men, visit them online at http://www.overmountainmen.com
