Mike And The Moonpies

"Mike and the Moonpies deliver a master class in country music" - Rolling Stone Country "Mike and the Moonpies can not only be regarded as one of the best live bands in all of country music. They can be regarded as one of the best bands in all of country music, period." - Saving Country Music "Mike and the Moonpies are alot of what country music needs, but also a reminder that the music of old-soul country troubadours never really went away.” - Wide Open Country ‘One To Grow On,’ the eighth studio album from Mike and the Moonpies, is a musical homecoming that returns the group to its roots as a workingman's country band. Layered with Telecaster twang, honky tonk harmonies and lyrics that highlight the Everyman's struggle to remain optimistic during a 9-to-5 world, this is organic music for dancehalls and car stereos — a soundtrack for the mid-week blues, shot through with weekend energy. For more than a decade, Harmeier and his band of hard-touring road warriors — pedal steel player Zach Moulton, guitarist Catlin Rutherford, bassist Omar Oyoque and drummer Kyle Ponder — have traveled far beyond their Austin homeland, flying the flag for homegrown Texas music in more than a dozen countries. They've become global ambassadors of a blue-collar country sound, striking a balance between timeless influences and cool, contemporary appeal. Along the way, they've stretched their legs, following the breakthrough success of 2018's Steak Night at the Prairie Rose with records like 2019's Cheap Silver & Solid Country Gold (an album inspired by the classic countrypolitan hits of the early 1970s, recorded at Abbey Road Studios with help from the London Symphony Orchestra) and 2020's Touch of You: The Lost Songs of Gary Stewart (a collection of nine unreleased songs written by the honky-tonk hero). When the COVID-19 pandemic brought the Moonpies' busy schedule to a halt, Harmeier found himself back home in Austin, inspired to return to the sound that had launched his band's career. He didn't need to look far for ideas. Co-produced with longtime collaborator Adam Odor and recorded at Yellow Dog Studios in Wimberley, Texas, ‘One To Grow On’ kicks off with "Paycheck to Paycheck," an anthem for hardscrabble living. Driven forward by fiery fretwork, breakneck tempos, and vocal harmonies from Shiny Soul Sisters' Alice Spencer and Kelley Mickwee, the song serves as a primer for what's to come. "I knew I was writing a character-driven record, but I wasn't sure who he was until we finished," says Harmeier. "He's a bit of me, a bit of my father, and a bit of my friends. He's the Everyman. He's everyone I know, and everyone I don't know."

Photo Credit: Lyza Renee