By Bonita Wilborn
In 1969, three cousins in Fort Payne, Alabama, joined their talents to create down-home country music. The group consisted of Randy Owen, Jeff Cook, and Teddy Gentry. Their band, first known as “Young Country,” became “Wild Country.” The group toured the southeast bar circuit in the early 1970s and began writing original songs. They spent seven years as the house band in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, at a beachside bar called The Bowery.
Their popularity grew, and the band’s name was changed to “Alabama” in 1977. Following the chart success of two singles, Alabama was approached by RCA Nashville for a record deal. Alabama reached #1 with its hit “Tennessee River” in 1981. The song was the first of the group’s 40 #1 songs.
Owen, Gentry, and Cook wrote or co-wrote a significant amount of material, which was considered unusual for country musicians then. Contributing songwriter Greg Fowler is credited with 72 Alabama songs, followed by Ronnie Rogers at 68. The group has recorded 260 songs (65 of which are singles), which include original compositions, cover songs, and collaborations.
Boys in the Band also hail from Fort Payne, Alabama. They aim to give the Alabama experience to lifelong fans and introduce the younger generations to the magic of Alabama’s timeless music. Their Alabama tribute show, coming this year to the DeKalb Theater on December 17, is a high-energy show with note-for-note renditions of Alabama’s live performances over their 35-year reign as the greatest country music group of all time. There will never be another Alabama, but Boys in the Band aims to keep sharing the music and showmanship made famous by their small-town heroes.
Boys in the Band is made up of John Michael Weatherly (portraying Randy Owen), Matty Croxton (portraying Teddy Gentry), Justin Walden (portraying Jeff Cook), Braxton Harris, Dan Barker, and Craig Jacoway.
John Michael Weatherly (lead vocals) was born in Mobile and raised in Fort Payne. He is a self-described Alabama super fan. Weatherly fondly remembers the heyday of the June Jam, a week-long celebration culminating in a massive outdoor festival supporting various charities through the June Jam Fund. Weatherly’s grandfather, J. Paul Crow, Sr., started a charity golf tournament that became the Randy Owen Celebrity Classic as part of the June Jam week festivities. Weatherly has been performing since a very young age. After several years in musicals at Northeast Alabama Community College, he landed his first film role as “Kirk Barker” in Remember the Titans. Since then, Weatherly has appeared in more than 20 television shows, feather films, and commercials.
Matty Croxton (bass/vocals), entertainer/multi-instrumentalist, was originally from south Florida but has been an Alabamian since he was seven. Croxton’s family relocated to DeKalb County after falling in love with the area while attending the June Jam. Croxton has performed professionally around the southeast for the past ten years as a solo artist, along with his bands Pioneer Chicken Stand and Matty and the Matadors. Deeply influenced by the “baby-boomer” generation of music, he brings a nostalgic flair to his high-energy performances. Croxton’s 4-song EP, Southern Discomfort, was released in 2016, and he is currently touring, working on new music, and perpetually looking forward to the next project.
Justin Walden (lead guitar/fiddle/vocals) is from Athens, Tennessee, just south of Knoxville. He is a professional musician, violinist, fiddle player, banjo player, guitar player, mandolin player, pianist, and lead vocalist. He grew up playing bluegrass music in east Tennessee and the surrounding areas. Some of his influences are Bill Monroe, whose high lonesome sound paved the road to modern Bluegrass and the contemporary sounds of today’s country music scene, like Brothers Osborne, Big and Rich, and new artists like Blake Shelton, Chris Young, and Dierks Bentley. He integrates his passion for music into any genre. Some of Justin’s primary influences are the Del McCoury Band, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, Ricky Skaggs, Bobby Hicks, and many other notable artists. At eight years old, Walden sat across from his dad, Darrell, in the church choir, playing acoustic guitar. After expressing an interest in learning mandolin, he was hired in his dad’s band, Crystal Road. The band soon formed a trio with Justin on the stringed instruments and lead and baritone vocals, Darrell on guitar and lead and baritone vocals, and Sandra on bass guitar and soprano. Crystal Road eventually became known in east Tennessee as the Crystal Road Band. He toured east Tennessee and the southeast, performing around 150 plus annual shows.
Walden earned his Bachelor of Science degree from Southeastern University in 2014 and his Associate of Science from Tennessee Wesleyan college in 2012. At Steve Kaufman’s Music Kamp, 2008-2012, he was instructed by 8-time Grammy Award-Winning fiddler Bobby Hicks. From 2010-2012, he also performed regularly with bluegrass legend and songwriter Paul Williams and the Victory Trio. Walden’s first project was “From the Beginning,” Solo Project, Published in 2014. His latest Country Debut EP is self-titled, “Justin Walden EP,” featuring his latest single, “Meet Me in Nashville,” and is available on iTunes, Spotify, Apple Music, and Pandora and is being played on rotation on several radio stations around the United States.
Braxton Bryant “Brax” Harris (drums) is a self-taught multi-instrumentalist from Fort Payne. He received his first drum kit, a cheap first act set, around the age of 6. However, he did not touch it until he was 9. After beating it until it broke (literally), his parents decided it was time for the real thing. Since that fateful day, he was glued to the throne. Harris was accepted to Berklee College of Music in 2018 but chose to stay in Fort Payne for personal reasons. He decided to attend Northeast Alabama Community College under a theater scholarship.
After the second annual show at the DeKalb Theater, Harris knew he had to chase his dreams. Since then, he has moved to Nashville to continue working with Boys in the Band and meet as many musicians as possible.
Dan Barker (keys) earned his B.A. in music from LaGrange College before moving to Atlanta at age 22. While at LaGrange, he also studied Jazz Piano at Cadek Conservatory in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and then completed several years of private study with Atlanta jazz piano legend Ted Howe. From jazz to honky-tonk to power funk, Barker has been a part of many ensembles across the southeast. He has shared the stage with country music legends Willie Nelson and Billy Joe Shaver was part of several television and movie licensing deals while in Atlanta’s King Lear Jet, and has had national releases and tours with the Indie rock band “Warm In the Wake.” Barker is the grandson of Oscar-winning actress Susan Hayward.
Craig Jacoway (guitar/sound engineer) hails from Fort Payne. Before relocating to Nashville, he studied at Jacksonville State University, Randy Owen’s alma mater. Jacoway cut his sound engineering teeth on Broadway, mixing sound for many of the staple honky-tonks for which Nashville is famous. He began playing guitar from an early age and currently moonlights as a rep for custom guitar builder Teye, maker of the beautiful guitar he plays with Boys in the Band.