Check Out Rowdy Around Midnight ’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Rowdy Around Midnight .

Hello Rowdy Around, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
My music roots go way back to my dad’s side of the family. My great grandfather played banjo and raised 5 kids during the Great Depression and the Prohibition years. He lived up an old holler road called the Reece Holler. And his name was Jim Reece. But as the story goes, he never came out of that holler until he moved to town a few years before he passed away. He didn’t need to leave Reece Holler because he had all he needed. He raised hogs for bacon, chickens for eggs, & cows for milk, he grew his garden and used coil oil lanterns for light and a wood stove to cook on. He had a smokehouse so he could hang and process the meat they lived off of. But one of the things he earned his income from was making moonshine. They said he could make the best moonshine in the county. And he would sell it to barges that ran up and down the Cumberland River back in those days carrying cargo from the south to the north. It’s been said that he would tie moonshine jars to a string, put them down in the water like you would do a stringer of fish, and put his fishing pole out like he was fishing. And he would wait for a barge to come through, and when he saw the barge, he would pick up his banjo and start playing it so they could hear him and know where he was at. The barge would pull over there and get their stringer of moonshine. But his daughter, my grandmother, married James Hewitt, my dad’s daddy and my grandfather. He played the Mandolin and was on the radio back in those days with his band, The Black Mountain Boys. So when my dad’s sisters were old enough to learn music, one of my aunts was taught how to play the Mandolin by my granddad Hewitt. And she had a bluegrass band when I was 6 years old called “The Front Porch Pickers,” and she would also play the flat top. But they would gather in her kitchen or living room and rehearse every day because they would always go to these big competitions and bluegrass festivals. So as a six-year-old boy, I would look up at that standup bass and be mesmerized by how big it was. I just loved the music, and after they would get done singing a song, I would say let me sing one, let me sing one, please! And they would say, what would you like to sing? And I would always reply, “Fox On The Run,” so they would get a chair and pull it to the center of the circle, put me in the middle of the circle, and set me up in the chair so I could be as tall as they were. And they would cut loose, and I would sing that song every time they rehearsed. So it got to be where I would get up and sing “Fox On The Run” in front of these humongous big crowds at all of these bluegrass festivals. At six years old, I was pretty nervous. And then, years later, I started playing in a band when I got older in front of bigger crowds, and I got over the stage fright that I used to have when I was a little boy. And then it hit me one day as I thought, this is what I want to do for a living. And this is what put me here to do in the back of my mind. I’ve always thought of pursuing music as a career. Because all my cousins, aunts, and grandparents have always played music, I’ve been around it all my life. So I decided to put out my first EP called “My Kind Of Music “last year. So I turned to no other than my cousin Ricky Reece.

Ricky had played Mandolin since he was about six or seven years old and started his career by playing on the Raffey Emery show when he was 16. He would also play on the Carl Tipton Show. He played Mandolin with Whynn Osborne in a band called “The Bluegrass Playboys” and then played bass for Wilma Lee Cooper & Vern Gosdin. So last year, I hooked up with him, and he took me to meet Mike Schrimpf, Conway Twitty’s keyboard and harmonica player. Mike owns SMS Studios in Hendersonville, Tennessee, where I record my first 3 song EP. And now here I am. I guess the rest is history.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It’s been pretty smooth because I don’t let all of the negativity of the business side affect me or the music I write and create. Being who you are and staying true to yourself is the most important part. You can’t listen to everyone critiquing you. So I go out and do my own thing.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I started writing songs in 2018. I might have written one or two in the previous years. But professionally, I started in 2018. My biggest accomplishment was hearing myself worldwide being played on outlaw radio. That put a smile on my face. What sets me apart from others is I would have to say 3 Cords & The Truth. Because I’m a storyteller and 3 cords, the truth will never disappoint you.

How can people work with you, collaborate with you, or support you?
You can find me on all the platforms of music. Spotify, Pandora, iTunes, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, TicToc, and wherever else you might get your music from. Just type in Rowdy Around Midnight, and you will find me. I also have a Merch Store, www.rowdyaroundmidnight.net.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.rowdyaroundmidnight.net
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bbobwhiskey
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCNoN9qvrs40_7pXZ87uQghw
• Other: https://linktr.ee/rowdyaroundmidnight?utm_source=linktree_profile_share&ltsid=7823b17d-9782-49af-a077-00d85537b5a8

Image Credits
I’ve got to give all the credit to the one and only almighty God. Without nothing is possible.