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The five young men of the country band TelluRide have rocketed to overnight prominence in the
ultra-competitive Nashville music scene.
Formed just over two years ago, the group has already played more than 300 concerts on the
road. TelluRide has achieved national attention in the CMT video contest Music City Madness 2
with its clip of “Phone Song.” The recording of the band’s debut album is nearly complete. Even
without a record, TelluRide’s music has been heard on radio stations. And despite its youth, the
group has been invited to open shows for top stars such as Diamond Rio, Joe Nichols, Billy Ray
Cyrus, Lonestar, LeAnn Rimes, Jo Dee Messina and even REO Speedwagon, Night Ranger and
Men at Work. No other country group has risen this far, this quickly.
“When producer Rex Schnelle came to see us perform, he said, ‘You know what, guys? I like the
vibe of this band,’” recalls drummer Brian Smith. “Then he said, ‘You guys have the energy. I want
to work with you.’ While we were talking to him, we tried to act cool, saying, ‘Yeah, that’s great.’ As
soon as he left the room, we’re all going, ‘YEAH!’ and hugging and screaming.
“We get to the recording studio, and we’re all looking at each other. We’re walking in there, and
you see all these records on the walls. We’re talking about all the great players who have recorded
there. I’m taking 900 pictures of the studio. We’re sitting there in the control room, and [Country
Music Hall of Fame member] Bill Anderson pops in to say, ‘Hi,’ real quick. And we’re 11-year-old
kids all of a sudden.
“After he left, we kind of took it all in for a minute, saying, ‘Wow, this is an unreal experience for a
bunch of kids from the Pacific Northwest and Indiana and South Carolina.’ I remember that first day
sitting in that studio and thinking, ‘Yes!’ We did a good prayer before we played a single note.”
For TelluRide’s lead singer, lead guitarist and principal songwriter Adam Craig the experience of
making it so quickly in Music City is especially humbling.
Despite starting at the bottom, Adam Craig was signed to a songwriting contract within months of his arrival in Nashville. Shortly after that, he was singing in a band and
on the road. Then came the 2006 formation of TelluRide.
His first cousin, keyboardist Ryan Jones, was living in rural Centerville, Tennessee when Adam arrived in Nashville. As children, Adam and Ryan had put on shows in
Adam’s farmhouse living room. They made a lot of racket pretending to be Bon Jovi. But Ryan, who’d grown up in Olympia, Washington, had long since given up
performing when he settled in Tennessee.
“Obviously, we were tight from just growing up together,” says Ryan. “So I was watching what he was doing in Nashville from a distance. A lot of stuff started happening
real quickly for him. So that was exciting. But the thought of playing with him never occurred to me. I didn’t even want to play.”
Rhythm guitarist and low harmony vocalist Cain Hall hails from Hymera, Indiana. When he arrived in Nashville in 1998, he dove right into the honky-tonk scene of Lower
Broadway. In no time, Cain was playing there five or six days a week.
“To somebody like me who is naïve and didn’t know anything about the business, that is how I thought you got famous,” Cain reports. “You’d play down there, and
somebody’s going to come find you.”
Burned out from that first experience, Cain went on the road for a few years, selling merchandise for Loretta Lynn and then Pinmonkey at shows. Returning to music
making, he joined a band that included Brian Smith and eventually Adam Craig.
“So Brian, Cain and myself toured in this band for awhile,” recalls Adam. “Then we said, ‘Let’s do our own thing and start our own little venture.’ So that’s exactly what we
did.”
TelluRide’s bass player and tenor harmony vocalist is Jimi Hendrix, and, yes, that is his real name. In fact, it was his unusual name that led to his TelluRide audition. A
native of Columbia, South Carolina, Jimi was contacted by Adam, Brian and Cain just four months after he moved to Nashville in 2005. They’d seen his profile on a
musicians’ referral website, noticed his name and said, “We’ve GOT to call him.”
Just like Jimi, Brian Smith landed a music job just about the moment he set foot in Music City. A native of Spokane, Washington, he arrived in Nashville in the summer of
2005. Within two weeks, he was playing in the pre-TelluRide group that also included Adam Craig and Cain Hall.
Following the recruitment of Jimi Hendrix, the new ensemble turned to Adam’s cousin Ryan Jones. In August 2006 he came on board as the fifth and final member of
TelluRide. At the time, however, the group barely had a name.
“When Cain and Adam and I switched over from that earlier group, we had kind of already developed a little bit of a fan base,” recalls Brian. “Well, THEY did. I didn’t
have any fans, because I’m a drummer. Anyway, we did a contest with our fans, saying, ‘Send us a name for our band, and if you hit it, we’ll bring you to the Opry, set
you up at the Opryland Hotel and give you the whole Nashville treatment.’
“A girl from Missouri named Leslie said, ‘This is your name. It’s a Tim McGraw song called ‘Telluride.’ Well, we’re all Tim McGraw junkies anyway, huge fans. And the
song ‘Telluride’ is about a poor kid moving up to the mountains working ski lodges, where the people are just throwing money around you. The song title just feels good
to us. I hear that the town Telluride in Colorado is beautiful. We can’t wait to go there.”
To anyone who has heard the band’s accomplished sound, it will come as no surprise to know that the members of TelluRide are formally trained musicians. Unlike folks
in most country-music groups, these five are playing on their own record rather than relying on session musicians. What you hear on disc is exactly what you hear on
stage.
“On the road, we arrange everything ourselves, because our policy is – Number One – we want to be known as a live band,” comments Brian. “We take a lot of pride in
making sure our live show is top notch. We want to be the country band that brings that live vibe back. The sound that you hear on the record is the sound that we will
have on stage. With energy.”
The chomping beats, electric guitar and strong tenor lead vocal in “Phone Song” are already familiar to many fans. The lyric of the striking story song “Pencil Marks” will
appeal to many listeners. The irresistible “I’ll Take You There” is a rocking-wide-open, driving tune that showcases TelluRide’s trademark vocal harmonies. The layered,
midtempo “Without Saying” illustrates how pristinely produced and performed the group’s studio sound is. “Sing” is a melodic rocker with universal appeal – who among
us has not been captivated by the sound of a favorite song on the car radio, turned it up and sung along?
While performing in Minnesota last summer, the group was thrilled to hear its recording of “Kansas City Green” being played on a local radio station. The TelluRide guys
were driving at the time and “going crazy” in their vehicle, they report.
“We’ve been having all of these opportunities and all of these experiences together,” says Brian. “We’re like a family now, and I’ve never had that feeling in any previous
work.
“That’s the magic of the group, that we get to share so much together. It’s unbelievable. It’s a family effort. And that’s the whole country-music thing anyway, isn’t it?
“This is cool. And, most of all, this is fun.”
on the road. Then came the 2006 formation of TelluRide.
His first cousin, keyboardist Ryan Jones, was living in rural Centerville, Tennessee when Adam arrived in Nashville. As children, Adam and Ryan had put on shows in
Adam’s farmhouse living room. They made a lot of racket pretending to be Bon Jovi. But Ryan, who’d grown up in Olympia, Washington, had long since given up
performing when he settled in Tennessee.
“Obviously, we were tight from just growing up together,” says Ryan. “So I was watching what he was doing in Nashville from a distance. A lot of stuff started happening
real quickly for him. So that was exciting. But the thought of playing with him never occurred to me. I didn’t even want to play.”
Rhythm guitarist and low harmony vocalist Cain Hall hails from Hymera, Indiana. When he arrived in Nashville in 1998, he dove right into the honky-tonk scene of Lower
Broadway. In no time, Cain was playing there five or six days a week.
“To somebody like me who is naïve and didn’t know anything about the business, that is how I thought you got famous,” Cain reports. “You’d play down there, and
somebody’s going to come find you.”
Burned out from that first experience, Cain went on the road for a few years, selling merchandise for Loretta Lynn and then Pinmonkey at shows. Returning to music
making, he joined a band that included Brian Smith and eventually Adam Craig.
“So Brian, Cain and myself toured in this band for awhile,” recalls Adam. “Then we said, ‘Let’s do our own thing and start our own little venture.’ So that’s exactly what we
did.”
TelluRide’s bass player and tenor harmony vocalist is Jimi Hendrix, and, yes, that is his real name. In fact, it was his unusual name that led to his TelluRide audition. A
native of Columbia, South Carolina, Jimi was contacted by Adam, Brian and Cain just four months after he moved to Nashville in 2005. They’d seen his profile on a
musicians’ referral website, noticed his name and said, “We’ve GOT to call him.”
Just like Jimi, Brian Smith landed a music job just about the moment he set foot in Music City. A native of Spokane, Washington, he arrived in Nashville in the summer of
2005. Within two weeks, he was playing in the pre-TelluRide group that also included Adam Craig and Cain Hall.
Following the recruitment of Jimi Hendrix, the new ensemble turned to Adam’s cousin Ryan Jones. In August 2006 he came on board as the fifth and final member of
TelluRide. At the time, however, the group barely had a name.
“When Cain and Adam and I switched over from that earlier group, we had kind of already developed a little bit of a fan base,” recalls Brian. “Well, THEY did. I didn’t
have any fans, because I’m a drummer. Anyway, we did a contest with our fans, saying, ‘Send us a name for our band, and if you hit it, we’ll bring you to the Opry, set
you up at the Opryland Hotel and give you the whole Nashville treatment.’
“A girl from Missouri named Leslie said, ‘This is your name. It’s a Tim McGraw song called ‘Telluride.’ Well, we’re all Tim McGraw junkies anyway, huge fans. And the
song ‘Telluride’ is about a poor kid moving up to the mountains working ski lodges, where the people are just throwing money around you. The song title just feels good
to us. I hear that the town Telluride in Colorado is beautiful. We can’t wait to go there.”
To anyone who has heard the band’s accomplished sound, it will come as no surprise to know that the members of TelluRide are formally trained musicians. Unlike folks
in most country-music groups, these five are playing on their own record rather than relying on session musicians. What you hear on disc is exactly what you hear on
stage.
“On the road, we arrange everything ourselves, because our policy is – Number One – we want to be known as a live band,” comments Brian. “We take a lot of pride in
making sure our live show is top notch. We want to be the country band that brings that live vibe back. The sound that you hear on the record is the sound that we will
have on stage. With energy.”
The chomping beats, electric guitar and strong tenor lead vocal in “Phone Song” are already familiar to many fans. The lyric of the striking story song “Pencil Marks” will
appeal to many listeners. The irresistible “I’ll Take You There” is a rocking-wide-open, driving tune that showcases TelluRide’s trademark vocal harmonies. The layered,
midtempo “Without Saying” illustrates how pristinely produced and performed the group’s studio sound is. “Sing” is a melodic rocker with universal appeal – who among
us has not been captivated by the sound of a favorite song on the car radio, turned it up and sung along?
While performing in Minnesota last summer, the group was thrilled to hear its recording of “Kansas City Green” being played on a local radio station. The TelluRide guys
were driving at the time and “going crazy” in their vehicle, they report.
“We’ve been having all of these opportunities and all of these experiences together,” says Brian. “We’re like a family now, and I’ve never had that feeling in any previous
work.
“That’s the magic of the group, that we get to share so much together. It’s unbelievable. It’s a family effort. And that’s the whole country-music thing anyway, isn’t it?
“This is cool. And, most of all, this is fun.”
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