2024 marks the 40th anniversary of the release of their first studio album by the same name. But the 5-piece band Sawyer Brown actually became known a year earlier (1983) when they took part in the very first season of the mother of all music casting shows, Star Search. Which they subsequently won in the Vocal Group category.
The following 20 years made the band, named after a street name in Nashville, one of the most flashy and best known in the country genre, not least thanks to its dynamic lead singer Mark Miller and his stage performance. Even though for the longest time Nashville didn't know what to do with the group, which seemed more rock'n'roll than country.
"We were too young, there was too much movement on stage, no one wore a cowboy hat," said keyboardist Gregg "Hobie" Hubbard, describing the Nashville music industry's dismissive attitude towards the band at the beginning of their career. They didn't want to give the band credit for their success, which was apparently only based on 15 minutes of fame in a casting show.
But despite of all the doubters, over the next 20 years, Sawyer Brown made a name for themselves as one the most exciting live bands, placing 16 singles in the top 10 of the country charts, plus 3 number 1 hits. In 2005, their album "Mission Temple Fireworks Stand" was released as their last on the major label Curb Records. The time for big chart hits had finally come to an end.
In 2011 the band attempted a comeback on a small label with the album "Travelin' Band". But apart from the autobiographical title song, the project couldn't really excite.
While continuing to perform on the road, it took until the end of September 2023 when, completely unexpectededly, Sawyer Brown made some bigger noise again. "It’s the ‘90s. It’s new. It’s here. And it’s now!", declared Mark Miller, now 64, as he not only announced the release of a new single on September 28th, but also the release of a new album to mark Sawyer Brown's 40-year career.
The album will not only be released again on Curb Records in March 2024, but it will also be produced by Blake Shelton. It will also be aptly titled "Desperado Troubadours" and will feature 10 new songs.
The first of them was already released on September 29, 2023. And the uptempo 'Under This Ole Hat' sounds like it came straight from one of the successful Sawyer Brown albums from the 1990s. Written by Mark Miller, Cody Jinks and Thomas McFarland, it pulsates with tales of the life of a musician on the road:
not a cluе or knowing even where I'm bound.
But you never need to wonder where I'm at,
you can find me hanging out
under this ole hat.
And to top it off, you could even meet the band on October 1, 2023 at the Nashville Film Festival at the Franklin Theatre in Franklin, Tennessee, where they they presended their own career documentary Get Me To The Stage On Time. Produced by Mark Miller's daughter Madison Miller and Blake Shelton as executive producer, the film documents 40 years of Sawyer Brown. Streaming details about it have been announced but not yet revealed. So, welcome back, Sawyer Brown!
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