After building a strong and loyal local Southern California following throughout the past half decade, Los Angeles’ hard rock quintet The Guitar & Whiskey Club has earned accolades from the Ventura County Music Awards (Best Rock Band) and music industry trade Music Connection, where they noted as one of the Los Angeles areas Hottest 100 Live Unsigned Bands.
The Guitar & Whiskey Club has been active since 2016 but changed focus to be an all-original band when the pandemic hit. Founder and lead guitarist Jeffrey Donovan reflected on this “The pandemic was hell. Gigs were cancelled, studios closed, everyone was locked in their houses. Some of the members suffered from what I call ‘pandecitis’, a lack of inspiration and the will to continue.
“Being an all-original band has always been a challenge – and today more than ever. With the new line-up I felt the time was right to take that challenge head on”
The result of that is The Guitar & Whiskey Club self-titled EP that will be out on 11th November through their own GWC Productions label, and distributed via The Orchard/Sony Music, and it contains five tracks of blues infused and whiskey-soaked melodic rock that are said to be “delivered with the heart and soul that you can only display when you really feel it.”
Tracking of the EP, and the decision to become a full-fledged original band, began during the 2019 – 2020 pandemic, and Jeffrey’s inner band house cleaning proved to be an inspiration and a fuel to his fire as material came swiftly, and the new band members kicked into high gear. In an odd way the pandemic worked out pretty well for Donovan and new band mates, lead vocals Mark Prudeaux, bassist Frankie Yanno and session drummer Adam Ponce (David Carbajal having now joined the band). According to the axe slinger, “working remotely turned out to be a blessing in disguise and we became pros at it fairly quickly. It felt great to be recording!”
The EP kicks off with ‘Rebel Fire’, an ode to non-conformity, describing the trials of living a life committed to the notion of “music against all odds” and the hardships that accompany that mindset. Second song on offer, ‘Sleazy’, is a crowd-rousing anthem, with lyrics rooted in bad decisions and living life beyond its limits, while ‘I Know’ is a nod to the sing-a-long anthems of the 80s, with a storyline that revolves around the death of a romantic relationship. Both parties need to move on yet they retain their love in the form of a bonded friendship. With ‘Does Your Dog Bite’, the band delivers humorous lyrical content while bringing some musical swagger to the party. The record draws to a close with ‘Lone Cowboy’, a more Southern rock-based whiskey fuelled grinder, telling the timeless tale of the loneliness the road brings to a cowboy (or musician or …) as he continuously spends long stretches of time away from home.
The band has recently shared the stage with the likes of LA Guns, Jack Russell’s Great White, Stephen Pearcy, Pretty Boy Floyd, D’Molls and Accept with more shows on the way.
The Guitar & Whiskey Club EP is available for order on Amazon.
