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Arts & Music

Gimme Five! Zach Terry of The Whiskey Smugglers

As much a wonderful product of the local scene as their own musical proclivities, The Whiskey Smugglers are a ragtag group of players bent on bringing their own brand country stomp to the Triangle.

the whiskey smugglers
photo by Audrey Hill

As much a wonderful product of the local scene as their own musical proclivities, The Whiskey Smugglers are a ragtag group of players bent on bringing their own brand country stomp to the Triangle.  Band members Zach Terry, Katie Hayes, Sean Hayes, David Wilson, Lee Bidgood, Emily Bidgood, Bruce Horvath, Tim Stambaugh, and Rhett Miller combine the force of their talent to create wistful americana music.  Part honky-tonk, part string-band, part down-home orchestra, they are, if nothing else, all heart.

With a full length under their belt (2009’s Clear Strong Dreams) and a good habit of playing locally, there are plenty of chances for you to tap into the world of The Whiskey Smugglers,  but you should really consider trekking over to the Cat’s Cradle Thursday, June 17th. That night they’ll join forces with a host of other notable local bands (Mount Moriah and Mandolin Orange among them) to raise money for the Eastern NC Chapter of the National MS Society. Great music and a great cause, what’s more to say?

And now the five hardest questions in faux business:

1. If your band were a whiskey drink, what would it be?

photo by Jordan Lawrence

We get this question here and there because of our name.  A few of us take pleasure in carrying around a flask because it’s cheaper than buying it at the bars, so I think that’s where the name came from.  Those flasks usually have the cheap kind of whiskey in it, or from time to time the homemade kind.  I guess we’d probably just be cheap whiskey on the rocks though

2. What compelled you to start the band?

Our band started kind of organically, as a product of the Carrboro community.   The majority of us were all neighbors, at a little duplex community we’ve lovingly come to refer to as “The Compound,” due to its stunning visual appeal.  We met Bruce at Weaver Street one night, very late, while we were playing guitars.  Anyway, we all became good friends, and realized that we played different instruments but had very similar interest in music.  We started playing for fun, and because we really enjoyed each other’s company.  We realized that we had a lot of original songs between us and started focusing on those.  Our friends mostly inspired us to play a onetime gig so Mouse booked us at the Cave on a Saturday night.  We figured our friends would show, but were really surprised to find the place maxed out when it came time to play that night.  That first show was a blast, so we decided to do another one, and it has just progressed from there.  If it wasn’t for our friends and the feedback we received from the community, I doubt we’d still be playing shows.  We’d probably still just be hanging out at the compound, picking in the parking lot.  Regardless, I think the whole thing just reiterates what a great local music scene, and supportive community we’ve got here in the Triangle, and we are extremely thankful for that

3. Describe what it’s like to play in a large ensemble.

It’s pretty awesome.  We’re all great friends, and we really have fun hearing each other’s ideas and listening to them become a reality.  It’s also great having a bunch of people b/c if I miss a chord b/c I’ve had too much to drink and get confused, there’s four to five other people there to hit the right one, and most of the time no one in the audience will pick up on it.  We can do a lot with the multiple layers throughout each song, and change the structure from show to show as well, so the audience doesn’t hear the exact same song at every show.  Another benefit is that if one person can’t make a show then we don’t have to cancel it, because we’ve got enough people to sing the harmonies and take the breaks.  It’s not all dreamy though.  We’ve definitely had issues here and there.  Scheduling practice around seven people’s hectic schedules is probably the most frustrating thing, but all in all we’re just a big group of laid back folks who like to play music.

4. Who/what might be a few inspirations or influences that might really surprise people?

This is a hard question for me to answer.  If I listen to our music I hear a lot of Bluegrass, Southern Rock, Alt-Country, Rock and Roll, and Classic Country influences in there.  I can’t really say that one particular artist or band has directly influenced us though.  Most of my inspiration for writing comes from either actual events that have happened, or fictional ideas that spark from a real-life occurance.  If my songs were movies they would start like Anchorman…….”The following is based on actual events. Only the names, locations, and events have been changed.”  I like to tell fish stories, a lot, and I see that in my songs.  The musical structure though, is definitely influenced by all of the members in the band.  We’ve got a lot of similar taste, but still have a very diverse musical background.  Long story short, we influence each other.

5. What did you dream of being when you were a kid? (how ’d that turn out?)

A cowboy, for sure!  I’ve never really thought about the reason until just now, but I guess it’s because when I was in 2nd grade I un-knowingly was the star of a Tweetsie Railroad commercial that Blowing Rock elementary was recruited to do.  They pulled me aside out of the group and had me do all these poses and made me walk here and there and point at random things.  I literally had no idea they were filming me doing this, but I thought the entire thing was funny as hell, so I went along with it.  A month or so after that the commercial came out and I was totally surprised that I was in it a bunch.  They never paid me for it, but I got discounted season passes for something like five years after that.  I was able to ride on the steam engine anytime I wanted, and pull the whistle.  Mom would drop me off there in the summer, almost like daycare.  We didn’t have too much money, so dropping me off there was cheaper than daycare I guess.  Anyway I’d watch the cowboys fight each other and the train was always getting robbed and as a seven year old it was pretty bad ass!  I definitely developed a cowboy ego.  When I wasn’t at the trains I was running around in the woods pretending to rob trains and things like that.  At that time in my life all I wanted to do was be a cowboy at Tweetsie when I grew up.  That never happened, and I later found out that all the hired guns at Tweetsie were always getting in trouble for being wasted on the job and smoking the peace pipe at the fort.  It’s funny how our realizations and perceptions change as we get older.

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Experience The Whiskey Smugglers in action at the Cat’s Cradle this Thursday, June 17th. And by all means, give Zach a high five when you see him!