Atlanta, GA. (Top40 Charts/ Mindsweep Entertainment & Promotions) - Everyone on the planet knows about the fiery rivalry between the states of Florida and Georgia. That rivalry exists on many levels ranging from college football, to tourism, to produce, and extends with (sometimes a passion), even into the music industry.
Ironically enough, from my office of Mindsweep Entertainment & Promotions, (and the Florida office of T&T Management and Booking Agency), which is located in the city known as "THE home of Southern Rock & Roll", in Jacksonville, Florida; I was turned on to Atlanta rockers Holdcell, the very weekend that the Georgia Bulldogs college football team, beat the living soup out of the Florida Gators...in Jacksonville none the less. (The score was 42-30, but please note: the Georgia Bulldogs have only managed to win against the Florida Gators 3 times in the last 18 years.) Even with the pain of Bulldog teeth marks on my Gator fan behind, it was undeniable, and it is my job to give true and honest credit where credit is due when it comes to promoting and writing about THE BEST artists and bands in the music industry. So you know, for me to write an article, about a band from Atlanta that is redefining the sound of Southern rock and roll, (and staking my professional reputation on them doing so), Holdcell must be one exceptionally outstanding, seriously smoking, red hot band, of true contenders on the rise in the music industry! (You can bet your pecan pie they are! It would rub against the grain of my old school Southern home-training to tell you so if it were not the truth.)
Admittedly and undeniably, Hotlanta, (and the entire state of Georgia), has always been a major contender when it comes to being a great music mecca, with total respect to the great bands that have reached legendary status, and are still rocking as steady as ever, such as Chick Willis, Atlanta Rhythm Section, of course, Dickey Betts, Widespread Panic, and Mother's Finest, (amongst the many, and some of my personal favorites), and will be the first to admit, that much of the music I have heard recently coming from that area is indeed, hotter than ever as well, (in every genre imaginable), with such notable acts as Joseph Patrick Moore, Paul Rader and more. Holdcell holds their own amongst the great names of excellent performing acts from the region, with a sound that is viably different.
A pretty fair analogy of Holdcell's sound was written by the band's Manager, Richard Hall, (and Executive Producer on Holdcell's recently released CD), who wrote this for the band's official bio..."The band that not only breaks the mold, but crushes it to powder, as they march on to a revivalist view of music with new weapons. No apologies, no prisoners. Holdcell is not afraid of funk and groove, nor hook and melody. There are no holding of fingers to the wind to see what the trend is. Holdcell carves its own path while giving reverence to the genius of the past". This fact is clearly demonstrated and heard within Holdcell's music, which exhibits extreme versatility in styles ranging from hard driving rock and roll, as heard in their song "Ride", to a mindsweeping fusion mix of reggae and hard rock, (with seamless and perfect transitions from one genre into the other), which can also be heard in their song, "Sad Dwellings", and with the profound fusion mix of classic Latin style with hard rock in Holdcell's song, "El Gallo", and in the alternative vibe of their song "King"; and elements of (melodic) heavy metal which can be found in the song, "Holdcell"; all of which are on their brand new, independently produced CD, which was released 11/16/07, titled, "7 Heavy Grins". Though Holdcell's music exhibits an immense amount of versatility with precision tight performances in a number of genres, their music is delivered with their true Southern class and style still clearly present and intact.
This amount of such versatility in Holdcell's musical product has resulted in generating such a large marketing and broad audience appeal, that the band has sold over 700 CD's worldwide, even before the official release of their 12 song smoker, "7 Heavy Grins", which is pretty ol' impressive for an independent band, not signed to a record label, major or otherwise . ...(Yet). That same broad audience appeal has resulted in packed out shows, and record number in attendance at all the venues where Holdcell performs.
At one of Atlanta's most well known concert venues, "The Loft", at "The Center Stage Theatre" which is a three room concert venue complex, Holdcell has had the largest draw in audience attendees on record for a local, non national act; and on one occasion, management at The Loft requested that a well known national headlining act which was also scheduled to play in a different room at the same complex, switch rooms with Holdcell, as Holdcell's ticket sales and audience draw exceeded that of the nationally renowned headlining act by three times as many in attendance, and tickets sold!
Packing venues to capacity is the norm rather than the exception for Holdcell, not only because of their versatility, but their success at doing so can also be attributed to the fact that Holdcell is extremely dynamic in their showmanship on stage. As the members of Holdcell refuse to give anything less than their best performances in both showmanship as well as in the musical product they create. As a band, they exercise true musical integrity, to the point that it's all or nothing. One such example of this is when lead guitarist, vocalist and primary songwriter, Lee Hackney, and brother, bassist, vocalist and songwriter Evan Hackney were in a band which was named as Atlanta's best local band, in 2002, and given
The People's Choice Award at the Atlanta Music Awards, where they were showcased at the esteemed venue, Earthlink Live. Which from there, lead to opening for such well known bands as Collective Soul, Sevendust, Clutch, Stuck Mojo and others, and were packing out every venue they performed in, in that band as well. But something was 'just not there' for them, and knew that the music that was being produced by that band was less than their best creative effort. Though that band was at it's most successful point with a very promising future, Lee and Evan left the band, took a break, started writing music, Lee began archiving his own music, while Evan formed his own band, in which he fronted and played guitar.
The band that Evan fronted needed a drummer and Lee stepped up to the plate, and became that band's drummer, which became one of Atlanta's steady gigging, hard working bands. During this period, Lee performed a number of acoustic shows in the area, which went quite well, and gained popularity in that avenue of his creativity as well, exhibiting both Lee and Evan's immense musical ability and adaptability through their versatility to perform fluently using different instruments, performing in a variety of genres.
Later, like a magnetic force, Lee and Evan joined forces with drummer Chuck Smith, to form Holdcell, where all members have been operating at their optimum level of creative energy ever since. (And have been packing to capacity the venues they perform in ever since.)
Meet the band~ Holdcell is:
Lee Hackney~ Lead vocals, guitar, primary songwriter. A true powerhouse on guitar, with an undeniable mastery of both guitar and vocals. Lee's strong clear vocal capabilities have been compared to that of Steven Tyler of Aerosmith and Chris Cornel of Sound Garden.
Evan Hackney~ Bass, vocals, songwriter. Evan masters both dynamics and nuances of Holdcell's music on bass, with impressive prowess as a melodic bass player, with solid and tight rhythms that are not too overwhelming. Evan also contributes very strong vocal capabilities which adds a greater fullness to Holdcell's distinct sound.
Chuck Smith~ Drums, vocals.
Everyone knows that a band is only as good as their drummer. Chuck Smith is a definite contender of the highest caliber on drums, and is well known amongst fans as a show all by himself.
Contributing world class performances on drums and also contributing on vocals, with an abundance of showmanship; Chuck Smith is impressively sharp and slick, both on stage and in the studio.
Though Holdcell's sound is incredibly full to spite that this band is comprised of only three official members, Holdcell has been known to invite and incorporate into their live performances, other well known area musicians, The Atlanta Horns and Steve 'Catfish' Ahlquist, (one of the best harmonica players around, who has performed with Danny 'Mudcat' Dudeck and Bill Sheffield.
When interviewing Holdcell's Manager, Richard Hall about the band's musical influences, his response gave me insight into the reason for the band's immense amount of versatility in their music, as the band's influence are as diverse as Holdcell's music itself. Their influences include: Mother's Finest, Guns n' Roses, Jimi Hendrix, John Fogarty, Gregg Allman, John Prine, Bob Dylan, Bob Marley, The Band, and the list went on and on.
Notably, on Holdcell's brand new CD, "7 Heavy Grins" are some very esteemed technical credits, well worth mentioning, such as: Producer Johnny (B.) Briglevich, who has also produced for Sevendust, Uncrowned, Edwin McCain, and has also worked with Third Day, Shawn Mullins, Red Letter Agent and others amongst his many credits. Lee Hackney also co produced the CD, with Hall of Famer, Rodney Mills, who has been a major force in the music industry for 40 plus years, and has earned over 40 gold and platinum records for engineering, producing, and mastering for such great names as: Pearl Jam, Rage Against the Machine, The Wallflowers, Collective Soul, Kentucky Headhunters, 38 Special, The Doobie Brothers, The Atlanta Rhythm Section, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Outlaws, Journey, and for more than I could possibly mention in one article, who was at the helm at mastering Holdcell's CD, "7 Heavy Grins".
Rick Richards of Georgia Satellites and Ju Ju Hounds fame, was also scheduled to perform on the CD, but regrettably, just as the band was about to begin recording "7 Heavy Grins" in the studio, Richards was called away on other important business; though "7 Heavy Grins" turned out to be a stellar studio accomplishment, and a truly great CD none the less.
Fans can purchase Holdcell's brand new CD, "7 Heavy Grins" in 14 regional stores in the greater Atlanta area, or online at Holdcell's official web site at www.Holdcell.net, and at other internet music outlets as they come aboard.
Holdcell has applied for, and is hoping for the opportunity of performing at the 2008 SXSW, (South by Southwest), Festivals Conferences held in Austin, Texas, this coming March 12th through 16th. SXSW is a massive showcase and conference where over 1500 musical acts showcased last year, bringing these acts up close and personal with a multitude of press, media and other influential 'powers that be' within the entertainment industry, and has been doing so since 1987. (For more info on the SXSW Festivals Conferences, visit their web site at www.sxsw.com).
For more info on this outstanding band that are redefining the sound of Southern rock and roll, one can visit the band's web site at www.Holdcell.net; or you can hear for yourself Holdcell's music at their My Space site at https://www.myspace.com/holdcell.
Of course, Management of the band Holdcell are currently accepting dates for an upcoming tour throughout the US, UK and other international destinations to promote their brand new CD, "7 Heavy Grins", and would make THE perfect 'action packed' opening act to rev up the crowd for many major headlining acts in a number of genres ranging from, Southern rock, to rock, hard rock, alternative, adult contemporary alternative, jam, experimental and beyond. Holdcell are also steadily receiving a large number of requests from many fans from a number of countries outside the US, such as Australia, Mexico, Italy, Sweden, France, Japan, and many more countries across Europe and beyond to perform in these countries, and would be thrilled to bring their live performances wherever their fans demand.
For booking, contact Holdcell's Manager, Richard Hall at [email protected].
We at Mindsweep Entertainment & Promotions are proud to turn the world on to the music of this absolutely stellar act, and wish nothing but great success for the band Holdcell, as they are musically and professionally worthy of making it all the way to the top in the music industry, and have our company's backing and endorsement all the way...(Even if they are from Georgia!)
