On The Verge: Introducing Jukebox Rehab

Fans of A Thousand Horses and Blackjack Billy, meet Jukebox Rehab. We recently spoke with the newly-formed band and got to know them a little better.

Jukebox Rehab comprises North Carolina natives Jonny Mont, Morgan Keene, Mike Pitts, and Dustin Bryant. While you may not be familiar with them yet, they’ve already opened for Chris Lane, Sawyer Brown and Riley Green. Each member of the band comes from a collection of other bands within the Winston Salem, North Carolina area. Members Jon and Morgan met while attending college and began playing acoustic shows together, and shortly thereafter Mike joined the group. While cutting their EP with producer Travis Wyrick at Lakeside Studios, Dustin was brought in to add guitar to the tracks. Mike and Dustin had known each other and played together over the course of 10 years. They say that once they worked together as a group, it was clear the four connected: “Everybody knew somebody and it just worked,” Morgan says. “The stars aligned and some wild situations led to this very natural group. We don’t have to try to make it work – it just does.”

Each bandmate has his own musical influence allowing the band to draw from a diverse group of inspiration. While Dustin grew up listening primarily to rock and roll, Morgan was influenced more by the sounds of R&B, soul, and funk. Jon admits he initially rejected traditional country music, opting instead for the sounds of underground folk and Americana, and Mike is a lover of music in general. Collectively, the band shares a strong love for the sounds of 80’s and 90’s country, which is evident in their own music. “Once we really started working together we saw the commonality in our tastes.  We love the sounds, the stories and the songwriting of that time – we let it direct us when creating our own art,” Morgan says. “We have a very classic sound with a bit of a modern twist. It’s not what’s considered new country at all but it’s also not old-school country. We’re trying to find the balance of somewhere in between while still saying what we want to say but make it melodically catchy to get in listeners ears. We’re trying to find that happy medium.”

While Morgan co-wrote two of the tracks on their EP, Jon primarily takes the lead on writing, having written or co-written all six tracks. The band explains that while it’s important to them that they write their own music, they are certainly eager and open to co-writing with some of Nashville’s top songwriters, namely Jaren Johnston (The Cadillac Three), Jeffrey Steele and Craig Wiseman. When writing, the band asks themselves: “How can we best get our music across to the fans and actually say something meaningful?”

Currently, the band is playing shows throughout North and South Carolina as well as Virginia, and they hope to expand into Georgia, Tennessee, and up the East Coast in the near future. They have plans to work on another EP and continue to gain fans while traveling to new cities and towns. Meeting fans, sharing music, and interacting with people are things they say they enjoy the most about what they do: “We don’t play games, we stay true to ourselves. We always keep that at the forefront of everything we do. We always make ourselves accessible, we love to meet people and hang out with them. We really love what we do, and come alive through the experience of playing music. It’s what means the most to us.”

With a refreshing, authentic country sound, JBR is headed in the direction of making a big name for themselves in the industry. Take a listen to their music here: Jukebox Rehab – Reverbnation

Follow JBR on their socials: Twitter, InstagramFacebook.

 

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