Y’ALL 106.7 interviews country music singer/songwriter, Tommy Townsend. We talk new music, moonshine, live shows and Waylon Jennings!
Country music is at its best when it honors the past while blazing a trail toward the future. Few artists can bridge the genre’s most beloved traditions while carving a path of their own, but Tommy Townsend successfully inhabits that unique space. Townsend is a current member of Waymore’s outlaws, the original band of Waylon Jennings, playing guitar and singing lead vocal. Waymore’s Outlaws often play the Neon Steeple at Chief’s on Broadway! Stay updated at ChiefsOnBroadway.com.
Townsend first met Jennings as a teenager when parents took him to a concert and talked their way past the Hell’s Angels security guards to meet his hero. Jennings became a pivotal force in Townsend’s life, taking him under his wing, recording in the studio, and occasionally, out for appearances on the road. Jennings and his bass player/tour manager Jerry “Jigger” Bridges produced an album on Townsend over the course of several years that was recorded in the late 80s/early 90s but wasn’t released until 2022. “Southern Man.” The album included 11 songs while Jennings sings and plays guitar on the title track.
Several years after Jennings passed away, his band decided to tour again and invited Townsend to sing lead for the band. Waymore’s outlaws features Richie Albright, jerry bridges, Fred Newell, and Carter & Barny Robertso, from Waylon’s the Waylors w/ guitarist and singer Tommy Townsend!
Stay updated with Tommy at tommytownsendmusic.com and on socials @Tommytownsendmusic
Check out an acoustic studio performance HERE and Stream Townsend’s original music HERE
ABOUT WAYMORE’S OUTLAWS:
Honoring the man and his music Waymore’s Outlaws consists of former members of Waylon Jennings recording and touring band, The Waylors, including Jerry “Jigger” Bridges on bass, Barny Robertson on keys, Carter Robertson on vocals, Jeff Hale on drums and steel guitarist Fred Newell. Collectively, the band performed on the recordings of Waylon’s megahits such as “I Ain’t Living Long Like This,” the Dukes of Hazzard “Good Ol’ Boys” theme, “Luckenbach Texas” and “Rainy Day Woman,” as well as countless other gold and platinum hits. Lead guitarist and singer Tommy Townsend adds to their mix of Outlaw music. Waymore’s Outlaws are keeping the spirit of Waylon Jennings and his music alive today.
Jerry “Jigger” Bridges, who spent a little over two decades out on the road with Waylon, plays bass for Waymore’s Outlaws. A native of Red Bay, Alabama, Jigger was strongly influenced by the R&B emerging from nearby Muscle Shoals. Following a four-year stint as a staff musician at FAME Recording Studio, he moved to Nashville and began working with Waylon on the “Dukes of Hazzard” soundtrack. After his contributing bass work on Waylon’s Greatest Hits album, Richie and Waylon asked Jigger to join The Waylors on the road. GRAMMY Award-winning producer, arranger, and engineer Barny Robertson played keys for Waylon for many years and has produced and arranged over 50 albums. As an in-demand session player, he received the “Nashville Super Picker Award.” He has been nominated for three Dove Awards and in 1992 won a Grammy Award for producing “A Cappella Kids.” Instantly recognizable artist and vocalist
Carter Robertson holds the distinction of being the only female member of Waylon’s band. She backed up both Waylon and his wife, Jessi Colter, on stage and in the studio. Her recording credits include Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Don Was and many others.
Fred Newell is a veteran of the Nashville studio scene who has recorded with everyone from Ray Charles to George Strait. In addition to being the staff lead guitarist on numerous TV shows, he is respected worldwide for his ability to generate feeling and sounds out of his instruments that many struggle to emulate. The first country guitarist to ever receive an endorsement from Marshall Amplifiers, Newell is a guitar legend in many circles. Fred joined Waylon’s touring band on pedal steel during the 90s after the late and legendary Ralph Mooney retired from the road.
Jeff Hale has immense touring and recording experience. While playing drums in the lounges of Memphis and attending Memphis State University, Jeff began touring and recording with Tony Joe White after Tony heard some demo recordings Jeff did with Stax Records. The songwriting connection between Tony Joe White and Waylon led to Waylon making Jeff a permanent fixture in his band, where he spent the next fourteen years honing his skills and learning every aspect of the music business from the undisputed “rebel” of outlaw country music. Jeff received recognition from Modern Drummer magazine for “Best Country Drummer” and through the years has shared the stage with many artists.
Tommy Townsend, the band’s lead guitarist and singer, is a native of Blairsville, Georgia. Waylon was a pivotal force in Townsend’s life, as Tommy had the distinction of being mentored by Waylon in his youth. The two collaborated several times over the years, with Waylon playing guitar and singing harmony on some tracks and co-producing an album on Tommy with Jerry Bridges. Waylon and his band took Tommy under their wings recording in the studio and occasionally out for appearances on the road. As a songwriter, Tommy co-wrote three of the songs on Waymore’s Outlaws CD, Same Ol’ Outlaws, which was the first of three albums released by the band.
No biography about Waylon Jennings or any of his band configurations is compete without mentioning the late Richie Albright. Waylon’s original drummer, longtime friend, and right-hand man joined Waylon and The Waylors in 1964, and he was the steadfast drummer for Waymore’s Outlaws until his passing in 2021. Richie not only toured and recorded with Waylon for decades but produced or co-produced many of Waylon’s records that are still being played on radio today. In the world of country music Richie not only made history as a drummer, songwriter, and producer, he was immortalized in the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s Nashville Cats exhibit in 2019. The list of artists he played and/or recorded with is a long one, including Jessi Colter, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Hank Williams Jr, Tony Joe White, and Goose Creek Symphony.
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