Peach Jam Podcast: Whiskey Run

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Whiskey Run on the Peach Jam Podcast

Credit: GPB

Jeremy Powell: And what kind of music do you play?

Dave Firmin: I'd say it's kind of a combination of a lot of influences from Georgia and just our musical tastes in general, But I would think that we're more kind of like an Americana pop. We sound country because we're from Georgia, but we're like a country Matchbox 20.

Jeremy Powell: A country Matchbox 20. Okay, I like that. Do you do you have a reservation with putting the label "country" on your music?

Dave Firmin: No, I think that mainly prefers. I mean, it mainly refers to the area of the country we're in and the way that we sound when we talk or when you sing, you know, in the words you use kind of colloquialisms, you know, they kind of make a country.

Jayson Sabo: The y'alls

Jeremy Powell: Yeah, Yeah. No, I like that. But colloquialism, that's a that's a SAT word. Yeah, I like that.

Dave Firmin: Well, I don't I mean, I don't want to say like y'all-ternative because I don't like that word, but yeah, I would say Matchbox 20.

Jayson Sabo: Yeah, for sure.

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Peach Jam Podcast Host Jeremy Powell with Whiskey Run

Credit: GPB

 

Jeremy Powell: When these national touring acts come through town. You guys in Augusta seem to be the go to local band that's the opener. Tell me some of the people you've opened for and then I want to know how you got that gig.

Dave Firmin: Let's see. Dwight Yoakam,.

Jayson Sabo: Shenandoah.

Dave Firmin: Shenandoah. Darius Rucker, Charles Kelley.

Jayson Sabo: From Lady A. Just to name a few.  We've opened for Jason Aldean, Keith Urban. We've yeah, we've been... It's really cool when we get asked to do it because of course we're super excited. You know, it is we get to play our music, you know, in front of these great crowds and it's awesome.

Jeremy Powell: But those aren't small names when when you're listing off these people. Darius Rucker is a huge name. Dwight Yoakam is a huge name. Like these are famous people. How did Whiskey Run become Augusta's go to for opening for these national acts?

Dave Firmin: I think it has a lot to do with you know, they say that luck favors the prepared, right? So with us being around for so long, we've kind of played shows with all of these guys for years and years and years. And so when they're like, Oh, Whiskey Run, isn't that Sabo's band or Dave's band, or Jamie's band and they're like, Sweet, we've worked with them before. And so the show goes smoothly. Everybody wants everything to go smoothly. And so I think it kind of strikes is that or we call and we're like, Hey, I heard you were coming to Augusta. Can we open for you? That kind of thing. Because it's a lot of times we've worked with their sound guys or they have worked with us before. And so it's a really it's a smaller community than, you know, I think you think.

 

Jeremy Powell: Well, then, as Whiskey Run, since you've been together since since 2014, you don't necessarily tour like you go around, but you don't necessarily tour. So tell me about your philosophy behind all that.

Dave Firmin: Sure. One of the the beautiful things about where Augusta is located geographically is that there are a lot of major markets around us. So we made the mistakes early on, not in this band, but in our other bands that we oversaturated our home market. So when someone it's not a cool or special thing for someone to see you and they're able to see you five nights a week around town. Right? So if you oversaturate a market, your gigs dry up and you can't make a living or whatever you're doing at the time. So we decided to kind of draw the two and a half, 3 hours circle around Augusta. And that's I mean, that's Macon, Atlanta, Savannah, Charleston, Charlotte, bunch of cities. Those are huge markets. So the point was that we had all done tours across the country to California and back up to New York and back across the Midwest. But you can't really get to those places again within like a year. So we just have a rule that we don't play any places that we can't hit every eight weeks.

Jayson Sabo: Or ten.

Dave Firmin: 8 to 10 weeks. That way people still remember you and they're like, Oh, man, you were bad ass last time you're here. I'm bringing my friends next time. Right? So they still kind of remember you. And then you do that over the course of a year and then, you know, five people becomes 10 to 15

 

 

The Peach Jam podcast from GPB features songs and stories from a variety of the incredibly talented and diverse bands and artists who call the Peach State home.

Recorded live in our GPB studios, you get a front row seat for the intimate musical performances and free-flowing conversation from a truly eclectic variety of Georgia musicians. You can find more at GPB.org/PeachJamPodcast — please download and subscribe on your favorite podcast platform as well.