Rock & Roll, country, or Americana. Pick any of these three genres; A Thousand Horses can fit into any and all of them. The band has shared the stage with everyone from Greg Allman to Lynyrd Skynyrd, Brothers Osborne to Jason Aldean.
Comprised of frontman Michael Hobby alongside Bill Satcher and Graham DeLoach, the group is ready to take its next steps, and are currently on their first headlining trek.
With massive success out of the gate in 2015 when their debut (platinum-selling) single, “Smoke,’ went #1 on the Country Airplay chart, catapulting their album, ‘Southernality’ to #3 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart, A Thousand Horses have continued to hone their craft in the years that have followed.
The guys are scheduled to roll into Beachland Ballroom in Cleveland on Friday, April 12.
Hobby phoned CleveRock’s hotline ahead of the band’s Cleveland date to discuss the band’s current tour, their upcoming album release, and more!
The vocalist couldn’t contain his excitement about the beginning of ATH’s inaugural headlining tour.
“It is going great! This is our first headlining tour, and so far, so good,” Hobby said. “We’ve had some great shows, and we’re just getting started. This is the second week, so we’re just getting it going, but man, it’s been awesome!“
This interviewer often has difficulty describing a band’s sound or style in an article. Avoiding pigeonholing a group and utilizing overused or generic terms is sometimes challenging. Hobby was tasked with providing his own take on the sounds and styles that define A Thousand Horses.
“We were raised on rock and roll, and we were also influenced by country early on. When we got guitars as teenagers, we dove into rock and roll. You get the guitar, one magazine, and the tablature in the back, and you try to learn ‘Stairway to Heaven’ and any Led Zeppelin song you can learn,” he recalls. “For us, it truly is a mix of the southern influence of where we’re from, in South Carolina and Georgia, and that country side of things is homegrown, also with a rock and roll element of influences that we had from the Black Crowes to Oasis to the Foo Fighters. Our show is a country rock concert. I want to put rock and roll first because that’s what we like to deliver, and we give you that type of performance with those types of songs. It’s just good old southern rock and roll and country music, combined with a lot of Heartland Americana influence.”
This ain’t the trio’s first rodeo in Cleveland. They most recently came through in 2023 with an opening slot for Warren Zeiders.
“We’ve always had a great time in Cleveland, and we always try to go to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,” he said. “We got a new guy in our crew that has never been to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, so we’re going to try to get him there.”
(It’s always refreshing to hear about a touring act that enjoys time spent in Cleveland!)
Hobby was asked if ATH approaches the gigs on this headlining tour any differently than they would in a supporting role.
“We do. It’s longer. I mean, usually when we’re support on a tour, we don’t get but 30 to 45 minutes; maybe 60 if we’re direct support,” he explained. “When we’re headlining, we get to play longer, which is what we love, but also, it’s different to craft the set and what we want to do. You take on a lot, but it is just a longer show, so you got to think about it differently.“
Oftentimes, bands are pressured to stray from their creative roots in an effort to replicate their commercial success and strive to equal those accomplishments. With a #1 hit first single and #3 debut album, this lands close to home for A Thousand Horses.
“It does create a wave of pressure and almost an unhealthy wave of pressure in a creative sense. It did a little bit, but we also see it for what it was and what that moment was, and it’s a huge honor that we’re grateful for that changed our lives, that we were able to achieve a country number one song on the charts and have so many people receive what we did so well,” Hobby revealed. “It was an incredible moment that we’ll never forget. But yeah, I think there’s pressure with anything. Even to this day, there’s still pressure to be great and put out great songs in your audience, and you hope they enjoy ’em. You create your stories and your music from inside of you and your feelings, and when you release that, it’s a vulnerable thing.“
“I think there was influence on that side of things and pressure from the industry side of things to continue that trajectory. I will say that it did stumble us up a little bit in that time period when we couldn’t put out new music. it’s very easy to lose focus when you’re in that pocket,” he continued. “And I would say that, yeah, there was a moment for us as a band where we were confused after that, but now we’re not confused. We know what we want and what we’re going for without the influence of the other side, the business side of things. But yeah, absolutely. I think that’s an honest place that a lot of artists get to when you have that kind of success.”
After a major hiccup with their former record label, A Thousand Horses decided to do what was best for their needs and start a label of their own, Highway Sound Records.
“We kind of launched that out of necessity to have something to release our music through. And we’re just getting into the world of that. I mean, there are challenges. It’s different for us these days because we don’t have a staff and a machine of people in this world doing that,” he said. “We’re really doing it independently, and Highway Sound represents our independence and represents what we’re about and the freedom that we have to release music whenever we want and how we want, and also really give our audience music constantly because there was such a time period between the first record and the second full length that we weren’t allowed to release anything. We were caught up in the system.”
Growth and maturity are natural progressions for ATH. They have recorded a new record, tentatively scheduled for late Summer 2024. The band has been playing several of the new tunes on the road and has found that they are well-received. Their debut record is hard to top, but Hobby is confident that the upcoming release is their best effort to date.
“I would say so. That’s the goal, as an artist, is to improve on each album and be better with each new record. We started working with John Randall as a producer, who was a friend of ours, and we loved what he was doing, and such a talent and such a musical guy. When we went in to make this record, we did it over the course of a year and in blocks of time because of everyone’s schedule, but we felt like we picked the best songs. We’re always evolving as artists and always moving, but this album encompasses the new direction, and the new independence, and the freedom of songs that we feel are great songs when you strip ’em down,” Hobby explained. “And also, we pushed ourselves harder on this record to try new things and really hone the craft of it. I truly believe that it’s the best record we’ve made so far. I know how much work we put into it and how we pushed ourselves in it over the period of the year that we made it. And working with John Randall was just such a great thing, and how he guided the ship was pretty incredible. So I can’t wait for people to hear it. We’ve released a few songs off of it already, and we have a few more coming before the album drops, but it’s a great collection and a point of the arrow of where A Thousand Horses is headed, and we’re really proud of it.”
ATH has received praise from Rolling Stone magazine, as well as the publications People and American Songwriter. Of course, they have shared the stage with some of the best headliners on the touring circuit, had a #1 single out of the gate, and formed their own label to release music independently. However, none of these top Hobby’s list as the band’s best accomplishment to date.
“I would say at this point in time, it is doing these headlining shows and the fans that are showing up, and we’re meeting them, and we’re hearing their stories for the first time of how our music impacted them over the years and what songs they gravitate to and relate to,” he said. “And that’s been the greatest part of this adventure because when you’re out on support, you’re supporting someone else. And a lot of the people in the audience are their audience, and you’re trying to grab the pieces of their audience to build yours. And it’s a beautiful thing, and it’s a great opportunity, but to really go out and be the headliner and be responsible. I believe the most important things are the people there who bought a ticket, spent their hard-earned money, got babysitters, and took their time to come to see you and hear how your music impacts them. And the most moving thing for us and motivating thing for us, as artists, is to hear those stories and meet the people that support you and believe in you.”
As for the band’s future? A Thousand Horses continues to strive for growth.
“It may be my last name, but this ain’t a hobby to us. This is our life,” Hobby said. “This is our livelihood. We’re grateful for the success we’ve had and the success we will have, and we want to continue on and make great music, have a positive influence in the world, and bring people together for one night at a time to have a great experience with us. That’s the goal. That’s what it’s all about. I mean, we were born to do it, and we continue to do it, and God keeps presenting things for us to continue. We’re not going to stop until that changes.”
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