Ray-Ray and The Hog Mountain Boys

Some of the most underappreciated players in the local music scene are the cover bands that roll up their sleeves and rock the masses at the little dive bars that dot our downtown landscape. They sing the songs you know, and make it easy to raise a glass and sing along. Not everyone embraces the avant-garde indie bands or keeps up with the latest pop acts running around Athens. Some kids like the familiarity of good friends, cold beer and a crowded bar. Ray-Ray and The Hog Mountain Boys are making a name for themselves around these parts in this niche, and they couldn't be more fired up...

"Everyone in the band except Dusty went to school at Oconee County High School," Fester Hagood, the band's guitar player, told athensmusic.com, "and we've been together for about eight months." In eight months they've assembled a pretty faithful following that this journalist can attest to. There was a slew of action at a recent Hollister's gig -- and plenty of lovely ladies. The Hog Mountain Boys -- Hagood, Dusty Dunn, Jason Rouse, Bart Mingledorff, and Jim Magill -- come from a variety of diverse musical influences, from bluegrass to classic rock, from jam bands to outlaw country. Despite the different foundations, they come together "to make everyone happy, as happy as a band can be anyways [and] do a mix of them all."

While the band plays primarily covers, they do place their original Ray- Ray stamp on things. "'Freebird' has a mandolin solo and 'Brown-Eyed Girl' has a funky slap bass solo," Fester advised, wanting folks to know that the tunes won't be radio version rip-offs. The band also has a healthy repertoire of original material that's becoming just as popular as the well-known sing-a-longs. "Ray-Ray" will be opening for Laney Strickland ("high octane music straight out of Dixie") this evening at the Georgia Theatre. Girls get in FREE and rumor has it the band is filming for a DVD shoot to be released to MTV and CMT.

Unfortunately for the Boys the Hollister's chaos has come to an end as the owners have bailed and future plans are uncertain, but they appear regularly at JR's and the band says they're available for "weddings, funerals, bars -- or just plain sittin' on the porch. [We're] always available, cheap and easy."

Posted by David Eduardo at June 17, 2004 10:18 AM