The Southerners are an Outlaw Rockabilly band based out of the Southern California area. They began with a mission to create music that reflected their own diverse styles and influences, ranging from Johnny Cash to the Misfits. Two albums and hundreds of shows later they have began to perfect it. Their lead singer's style is often likened to “if Patsy went Punk”, and has a soulful quality that always gets the message across.
There are many influences that The Southerners credit for their style of music and songwriting. When it comes to vocals, Celeste likes to reflect on the styles of Billy Holiday and Etta James combined with the attitude of early punk rock music. Songwriting is also of huge importance to The Southerners. “Not every outlaw, rockabilly songs needs to be about drinking, and hot rods.” says Byron. “The best songwriters in history have always been able to see past the superficial things and write about themes that have personal importance to them. I think about how songs written by people like John Lennon, Johnny Cash, Mike Ness and even Kurt Cobain make me feel, and then I try to evoke that same power of emotions from people who hear our music.” Love, revenge, loss and regret are common underlying themes to many of The Southerners’ songs.
The Southerners were formed in the fall of 2004 by Celeste Gilstrap, Byron Williams, Justin Williams and Hector Mattos. Their initial goal was to take a stripped down approach to creating outlaw and rockabilly music, so the decision was made not to have a drummer in the line up. This approach proved challenging, yet rewarding in a very short time. The musicianship of the entire band progressed rapidly due to the demands of maintaining a tight and aggressive sound without the use of a drummer. Since the main percussive instrument in the band was now the Upright Bass, Justin soon developed a heavy, thunderous style of playing which proved to not only be effective but also very unique to the genre.
The Southerners played their first gig at the legendary Doll Hut in Anaheim, CA just a few short weeks after their inception. Within a few months, they had written a handful of original music and decided to enter the studio. “Barstool Rodeo” was quickly recorded and released in early 2005. “Barstool Rodeo” captured the early, “drum-less” style of The Southerners, and included many crowd favorites including “Lonesome Love”, “Goodbye 53”, “Lovesick Man”, “I Want a Love” and “Reachin’ for the Bible”.
The Southerners went on to play hundreds of shows through out 2005-2009 at such venues including The Viper Room (LA), The Troubadour (LA), The Derby (LA), The Galaxy Theater (OC), The Knitting Factory (LA), The Key Club (Morongo), The Las Vegas Motor Speedway (LV) and the annual NASCAR Racefest at The Autoclub Speedway in Fontana, CA. They have also had the privilege of sharing the stage with many talented artists including Dwight Yoakam, Lee Rocker (The Stray Cats), The Blasters, Royal Crown Revue, The Dickies, The Quakes, Big Sandy and the Flyrite Boys, Throwrag, and Blazing Haley.
In 2009, Hector Mattos made the tough decision of relocating to El Paso, Texas, and therefore had to leave The Southerners. This down time allowed The Southerners to reassess their direction and the decision was made to move forward with a full time drummer, Chris Heth, and a new lead guitarist, Sean Dunn. This new line up has allowed The Southerners to widen out their sound and add more diverse styles to their music. New music is constantly under development. Keep up to date by checking the band's website at www.thesoutherners.com.
