Serving Boone, Blowing Rock, Banner Elk, and other towns of the North Carolina High Country | Founded 05-05-05

March 6, 2008 issue

 

Re-Making The Band

Triad Standouts Thacker Dairy Road Play Murphy’s March 15

Story by David Brewer

There simply aren’t very many bands out there with the word “dairy” in their name. So for Triad-based outfit Thacker Dairy Road, just catching people’s attention has never proved to be difficult. More than the name, however, the band’s ability to glide from funky soul to electrified bluegrass to soulful rock and several points in between has been their calling card since day one.

On Saturday, March 15, Thacker Dairy Road will bring their well-oiled brand of funky, eclectic roots music to Murphy’s. The show will start at 10:30 p.m.

Formed in 2006, Thacker Dairy Road has been turning heads all over North Carolina thanks to the band’s stellar musicianship helmed by keyboardist Jeff Yetter and anchored by the solid rhythm section of Jonathan McMillan on drums and James Harris on bass.

And while those three core players could make just about anybody sound great, it has been the girl power duo of guitarist and vocalist Molly McGinn and fiddler and vocalist Rebecca Stevens that has helped to set the band apart. McGinn’s powerful stage presence and go-for-broke vocal style, coupled with Stevens’ sweet fiddle, provided spine-tingling musical moments during the last year.

In fall 2007, Thacker Dairy Road took top honors at a battle of the bands held at the now-defunct Ziggy’s in Winston-Salem. The win capped a banner year for the band, which saw them hitting bigger and better venues around the region, as well as earning festival slots at the Asheville Music Jamboree and the fall edition of the Appalachian Roots Revival.

Unfortunately, in February McGinn decided to leave the band, putting the remaining members in what Yetter calls “panic mode.” However, instead of folding under the pressure, Yetter and company decided to hold their own American Idol-style auditions to fill McGinn’s big shoes in the band. 

Thacker Dairy Road put out the call to potential vocalists around the Triad through various publications, put up flyers at all the local music schools, posted ads on the popular Craigslist website and put the word out through friends and fellow musicians. When the appointed day came for the band to find their new lead voice, five prospective vocalists showed up to strut their stuff.

“It really was like American Idol,” said Yetter, who noted that some of the auditions were painful.

When the dust had settled, a young nurse by the name of Andrea Thorne stood head and shoulders above her fellow vocalists. After having what Yetter called “the commitment talk,” the members of Thacker Dairy Road offered her the job and she happily accepted.

“She is on point,” said Yetter. “She can wail. She’s got soul power.”

Thorne isn’t the only new face in the band, as longtime guitarist Chris Lord departed last fall to play fulltime with roots pop outfit Old Stone Revue. In his absence, the band added the considerable talents of Josh “Zeke” Castevens to the Thacker Dairy fold. A seasoned veteran of the jam circuit, Castevens is long-time member of Mood Cultivation Project and an asset to the band’s still-developing sound.

Although the band had recorded material with McGinn that was set for release, Yetter and Thacker Dairy Road are committed to Thorne and the forward progress of the band. The Triad-based sextet will return to Gastonia’s Old House Studios in the coming months to capture the new sound of the band.

“We’re very optimistic about the future,” said Yetter.

To preview the sounds of Thacker Dairy Road, click to www.myspace.com/thackerdairyroad.

 

Want To Go?

Date: Saturday, March 15
Time: 10:30 p.m.
Location: Murphy’s
Cost: $5