WAG 0016 THE TERRY ECKARD BAND on WAGGLETONE RECORDS REVIEWS- THE TERRY Eckard Band - Rebel on the Highway One might gloss over the name Terry Eckard Band and assume it to be just another beer-soaked cover band riding the weekend bar circuit, but that couldn't be further from the truth. Steeped in the kind of Southern roots-boogie that was presumed to be lost with the end of the Molly Hatchet and .38 Special era of the '80s, his second effort, Rebel on the Highway, finds Eckard venturing far away from the counterfeit rebel rock that inevitably sunk the genre in the '80s. Blanket Southern hubris is supplanted by a kind of localized pride that rather shows though in the everyman humility of his lyrical themes. The album's opener, Hey! is a breezy love song that describes a series of come-and-go highway romances, but still takes time to introduce the listener to the first of many guitar styles in which Eckard excels. The classic finger-style found there quickly gives way to a decidedly blues-rock kind of riffage on the album's anthemic title track, where the album's pervasive highway travelogue theme hits it's gritty high point. Eckard jumps back and forth between sizzling electric fireworks and contemplative acoustic picking, but occasionally he tries on different personas such as the barebones blues howler Loves' Got Me Crying and the jazzy Maria's Fire. He may not have the name recognition to garner more than a passing glance on billboards, but fans of striking guitar work will absolutely find something to enjoy on Rebel on the Highway. Ryan Snyder YES WEEKLY MAGAZINE GREENSBORO NC Terry Eckard Band is a great band! They play original music, very good show. I bought the new CD.
I LOVE IT. Virgal m. THE TERRY ECKARD BAND: REBEL ON THE HIGHWAY (WAGGLETONE RECORDS) Southern Roots Rock was supposed to be at it's' creative and commercial peak in the early 1980s, but don't tell that to the still passionate hordes of fans who still number in the millions Worldwide. Wet Willie, Marshall Tucker Band, Lynard Skynard, Allman Bros. And the many spin-off bands are the core icons that emerged to garner World fame and fortune and the genre still simmers on the back burner waiting to erupt once again. North Carolina's Waggletone Records recorded and released this classic Sounds of the South album and it's got everything one could hope for if you groove to that genre. Rock'n Roll that's Blues-infused, Rock ballads and high-energy stompers make up the bulk of the tunes and the guitar work of Terry Eckard is the fire and the glue that propels everything. Eckard is a fine Southern Soul based singer who also pens winning tunes and if this CD gets heard and played in the right markets by the right people we'll see some mega-hits for this band. Hey opens with a pleasant melody and distinctly Southern Roots feel with some nice reedy harmonica and jangly guitars that are reminiscent of vintage Byrds. Eckard is a first-class picker who can hold his own with the 'Superstars'. One can easily imagine Hey! as a Radio Hit while Easy On My Self picks it up in intensity but again Eckard shows off superior song writing, vocals and smokin' guitar. This is Z.Z. Top School of Rock Blues with Tommy Nations hammering the cowbell to great effect. Rebel On The Highway might just be the biggest/best biker anthem since Born To Be Wild and I ain't jivin'. If the 1970s/80s Radio Network was still in Power instead of the Internet, Rebel... would be blaring from every station from Tampa to Oakland. Mothers (Why Do You Cry?) is a comment on Humanity (or the lack of) in today's New World Order and again, this tune has both the Power and Melody to be a country-wide Anthem. It's a reflection on just how much Rock Music has been neutered by Government machinations that a band this good will probably reach 1/20th of the audience it would've 20 years ago, but we can always hope and pray Rock/Roots music will emerge once again, despite the War on Music. Outlaw is classic Southern Rock Ballad magic while Eckard, drummer Richard Balick and whoever is on ke
