after-15-years-whiskey-myers-earn-first-platinum-single-certifications

After 15 Years, Whiskey Myers Earn First ‘Platinum Single’ Certifications

Genre-bending six-piece Whiskey Myers—Cody Cannon, Cody Tate, John Jeffers, Jeff Hogg, Jamey Gleaves, and Tony Kent—scored some shiny certifications. Ahead of their sold-out show at Red Rocks Amphitheater on June 6, the band was presented with three Platinum designations and one Gold designation from the RIAA.

Whiskey Myers earned Platinum certifications (1 million units sold) for three songs: “Stone,” “Ballad of a Southern Man,” and “Broken Window Serenade.” In addition, “Virginia” was certified Gold (500,000 units sold).

The Platinum designations are a first for Whiskey Myers, a band that has played more than 2,500 live shows over the last 15 years.

Platinum certifications are a remarkable accomplishment for any artist/band. However, considering the lack of country radio airplay Whiskey Myers receives, it’s more than remarkable. The new certifications are a testament to the band’s passionate fan base. And the 9,525 fans at Red Rocks were plenty passionate for more than two hours as Whiskey Myers cranked out 19 songs, including the four aforementioned Platinum and Gold tunes.

‘Tornillo’ Time

Whiskey Myers will release its upcoming sixth studio album, Tornillo, on July 29. The 12-song offering will “look” a lot like their self-titled 2019 album: self-produced, self-written, and released via their Wiggy Thump Records label. However, Tornillo will have “a little bit different sound.” Most notably, lots of horns, including saxophone (Marcus Cardwell), trombone (William Wright), and trumpet (Albert Martinez and Liam Lord). In addition, the album features background vocals from the stellar gospel troupe, The McCrary Sisters.

And for the show at Red Rocks, Whiskey Myers was backed by a live horn section.

Whiskey Myers holed up for 21 days at the Sonic Ranch in Tornillo, Texas, (hence the album title) to record the upcoming project. During an interview earlier this year, frontman Cody Cannon revealed to Outsider that the horns were coming. So far, Whiskey Myers has lived up to its declaration with a sampling from the album, including “John Wayne,” “Antioch” and “Whole World Gone Crazy.”

“So this will be our second self-produced album,” said Cody Cannon to Outsider. “Yeah, we wrote all the songs. Just kind of the same ol’ Wiggy stuff. We did go out there . . . we ventured. It’s going to have a little bit different sound. We added a bunch of stuff we haven’t used before. We just wanted to do something a little different. I mean, it’s still Whiskey Myers at its core. But it’s kind of fresh and a little bit different sound. We did a lot of brass and horns on this one, which is something we’ve always wanted to do.

“Just being fans of all that old music and Motown stuff and a lot of the stuff coming out of Muscle Shoals, and old rock and roll. We’re big Stones fans. So it was something that we always wanted—to put some horns on it. So going to have some horns coming at you on the new record.”

Whiskey Myers is currently on the road for more than 40 dates with their cross-country Tornillo Tour. They will play Bonnaroo Music and Artist Festival on June 17.