Ponderosa

Having grown up near the Macon, Ga., stomping grounds of the Allman Brothers Band, Ponderosa has long been steeped in the traditions of ’70s Southern rock, as well as its latter-day revivalists like Atlanta’s The Black Crowes. They didn’t plan it to be this way, though: Lead singer and chief songwriter Kalen Nash was poised to follow in the footsteps of hometown boy John Mayer, practicing his sensitive pop balladry as one half of the Athens-based singer-songwriter duo Gabriel Young before striking out on a solo career. After playing record label showcases for over a year and failing to land a deal, Nash went in to cut a demo at Atlanta’s Nickel and Dime Studios. He hit it off with session bassist John Thomas Hall and engineer Kris Sampson, former bandmates in ragged rock group Variac. They soon picked up a drummer to square the quartet and form Ponderosa.

Nash’s knack for pop hooks is still evident in Ponderosa, shining through in three-part harmony when his slightly scorned howl is joined by Hall and keyboardist John Dance. But with Sampson’s soaring guitar leads, Hall’s boogying basslines and Dance’s honky-tonk piano and soulful Rhodes accents, Ponderosa has enough boot-stomping rock attitude to get as much play in roadhouses as on the radio. After all of Nash’s struggles to get signed as a solo artist, New West Records—home of modern day roots rock icons Drive-By Truckers, Jason Isbell and Old 97’s—took note of the Georgians and inked them to a deal in February, placing them in a SXSW showcase alongside legendary labelmates John Hiatt and Buddy Miller. “Hell of an experience,” the band later blogged. Sure, weren’t they born for this? —Spencer Griffith