The Georgia Thunderbolts Set For UK Debut
The Georgia Thunderbolts, the hottest new Southern Rockers hailing from the city of Rome, GA, have spent May driving through the streets of Europe, bringing their authentic mix of Southern Rock, Heavy Rock and Americana to the continent for the third time.
Now, they have announced that they’ll be landing in the UK for a run of shows for the first time.
They will kick off their headline tour on 12 July at the Cluny, Newcastle. They will then call through Wakefield (Venue 23), Bilston (The Robin), Southampton (The 1865), and London (O2 Islington Academy) and finish on 19 July at Maid of Stone Festival, Maidstone, alongside friends and musical compadres Kentucky heavyweights Black Stone Cherry, as well as Ugly Kid Joe, The Raven Age, Sophie Lloyd, and more.
Regarding the tour, guitarist Riley Couzzourt says, “It has been long awaited that we make our debut in the UK. Between social media, friends in Europe, and other bands telling us how badly we need to come over, it has been our dream for years.
“Through our booking agency Tres Hombres Tour Support they are making it happen! We can’t wait to play LIVE for you in July!! Get ready! We’re coming in hot!”
The band has many miles under its belt. They have toured with and shared the stage with Black Stone Cherry, Deep Purple, ZZ Top, The Marshall Tucker Band, the Allman Betts Band, Blackberry Smoke, The Outlaws, The Kentucky Headhunters, and more.
They’ve picked up support from BBC Radio 2 and Planet Rock Radio. Classic Rock proclaimed, “Southern rock has new heroes.” Powerplay called their latest album, Rise Above It All, “boisterous, noisy and entertaining, a great summer soundtrack. If heartwarming southern rock and blues is your passion, then this is certainly the album for you. ” RnR said, “They’ve truly hit it out of the park with this superb second album.”
Singer TJ Lyle says about hitting the road in the UK for the first time, “We’re really looking forward to making our debut in the UK. We’ve been to mainland Europe 3 times now and were excited to have had UK fans travel over to come see us play. Now, we can’t wait to bring it to you!
“At the Maid of Stone festival, we will also play with our brothers in Black Stone Cherry! They were the ones who gave us the first opportunity to go overseas, so we are fortunate to be playing at that festival with them! We can’t wait to grow the Thunderbolts Camp / Stryker family with our brothers and sisters in the UK! It’s gonna be wonderful!”
They released their latest album, Rise Above It All, in August last year on Mascot Records. The 13-track album features the quintet’s signature blend of Southern rock, blues, and heartfelt Americana. It showcases the band’s ability to navigate a vast array of musical terrains while also capturing the profound emotional and artistic growth fostered by their years on the road.
The album opener, “Gonna Shine,” is a crunching Bad Company-styled classic rocker. The brawny blues-rocker, “Stand Up,” boasts slithering guitar riffs, slow-burn guitar leads, powerful dynamics, and massive modern rock hooks replete with TJ’s soaring vocals. “That song is about asking for help instead of feeling alone,” TJ says.
They effortlessly ease into modern country on “Wait.” Here, harmony vocals, glistening acoustic guitar, and a sweetly sorrowful steel guitar. The Americana, blues-based ballad “Crawling My Way Back To You ” showcases sophisticated musicality. With a fat-back drumbeat, Motown bass guitar, a bluesy rhythm shuffle, and a baritone guitar reminiscent of Aretha Franklin and other soul music greats’ Muscle Shoals recordings, the song has a hard-luck poetic sentimentality.
The road to being hailed as the new torchbearers of Southern rock hasn’t been as glamorous as you might imagine for The Georgia Thunderbolts. It wasn’t many years ago that the guys busked at gas stations, fumbled through covers, and drove four hours to Alabama to play to a bartender and a three-legged dog sitting on a barstool.
These days, however, the Rome, Georgia-based quintet is a critically acclaimed and internationally touring band fending off the sophomore slump with its latest release. The Georgia Thunderbolts are TJ Lyle, vocals, Zach Everett, bass, classical guitar, harmony vocals; Bristol Perry, drums; Riley Couzzourt, guitar and Logan Tolbert, guitar. The quintet’s earthy and emotive aesthetic spans late 1960s singer-songwriter intimacy, the yearning of the blues, the mythological stories of country, and a bracing dose of arena-ready classic hard rock.
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