There is a song on country duo Jess and Noah Bellamy’s current CD Nowhere Revisited, called “Drivin’ Nowhere,” and it would not be more inappropriately titled if it were being used to describe the careers of one of country music’s hottest new acts. The Bellamys (if that sounds familiar, they are the sons of David Bellamy of the internationally acclaimed The Bellamy Brothers), have been eating up the Texas music charts. The duo’s first two singles from Nowhere Revisited charted in the top twenty.
In
a recent interview, Noah explains, “The groups of stations that make up the
Texas charts are not all in Texas. A lot of the (reporting) stations are in
Oklahoma too. Our music was also on the After Midnight With Blair Garner,
Pick It Or Flick It, and we received a seventy-seven percent rating for
one of our songs. The radio show is syndicated to a large group of stations
(250). They play the record and people call in to say pick it (as in keep the
tune) or flick it (deep six it. Our music has also been played in New Mexico,
Missouri, Louisiana and the surrounding states.”
The first single to be released in 2006 was the lyrically fun and musically edgy, “Daddy’s Got A Shotgun.” In response to my poking fun at the two brothers, as I wondered aloud if the song was based in personal experience, Jesse replied, “It’s not about either of us. I am sure that it is somebody’s reality, but not ours (and both of them laugh). A co-writer friend of mine and I were on our way to a gig in Nashville, and we just started telling farmer’s daughter jokes. That is where the first verse came from.”
“Daddy’s Got A Shotgun,” was released in Texas and they loved it. It was the first significant airplay that we received. It was really cool because we didn’t know how it would go over in Texas since we are not from there (they lived most of their lives in Florida). We are real happy that everybody embraced us, and recognized that we wanted to be a part of that scene (in Texas),” says Jesse.
The second single, “Wild And Willin,” released in March of this year, has a rhythm and melody that incites memories of The Eagles’ “Lying Eyes,” and gives us a taste of the excellent two part harmonies that are becoming part of Jesse and Noah Bellamy’s signature sound.
“I’m All About You,” which Jesse refers to as one of the songs which he favors, sounds more like a country tune from a band that has been at this for a decade or two, rather than artists who are closer to the beginning of their careers. This is a good two-stepping song.
It is not just the southwest of the United States that has discovered Jesse and Noah, as they have already toured throughout Switzerland, Norway and the UK. They drew high marks from British country music magazine Maverick
Whereas their father (David) and uncle (Howard) The Bellamy Brothers, have a more easygoing and quirky approach to their music, Jesse and Noah possess an aggressive guitar driven attitude, which smells of cornbread, has the feel of a dancehall and is earthy.
Noah says,” Our vocal style is a little bit more push. You can hear some similar things about it (to The Bellamy Brothers’ music), in the harmony, but at the same time it is a little different, because it is more pushed and less laid back.” Noah says that their first group, a rock band named Elston Gunn (one of Bob Dylan’s earlier stage names), and a good dose of blues music influence their vocal style.
“One of the reasons our music tends to be a little heavier than our dad’s music is because we are more guitar oriented than his music. Noah is the lead guitarist of our group (they have a backup band), and I think the biggest part of it is we are just into heavier guitar sounds. We are guitar freaks,” says Jesse.
