This is how Outshyne was born: friends gathered around a bonfire, swilling keg beer and singing Lynyrd Skynyrd songs. The Laurens band’s eponymous debut EP mixes “Gimme Three Steps” guitar (“Jeans”) and pop-country balladry (“Tell Her I Need Her”).
Singer Waylon Owings—yes, he was named after country legend Waylon Jennings—says small town roots show up in Outshyne’s songwriting. “The people around here listen to that style of music. My dad played it over and over. Waylon. George Jones, Conway Twitty. I didn’t have any choice but to like it. But I would have liked it anyway.”
Outshyne—which also includes guitarists Josh Coleman and David McCall, bassist Jayson Paxton and drummer Matt Norris—are recording their first proper LP in Nashville. They’ve tracked cuts at Westwood Sound Studios, where Twitty and the Oak Ridge Boys have worked, and Fireside Recording Studios. Owings’ favorite song from the sessions is “Make It Big.”
“It has kind of a Rascal Flatts sound,” Owings, 28, says. “It’s leaning toward pop, but it’s a cool song about family and what you really want in life.”
Your band played the legendary Tootsies in Nashville in 2008. How was that? It was kind of nerve wracking. You’re playing in front of all those musicians; there are so many talented people in Nashville. It's a really small, tight space and people really pack it in there. I thought, “This is crazy.” We’re just a little band from Laurens with some big shoes to fill.
What’s a song that when you hear it on the radio, you can’t help but sing along? Probably “Boots On” by Randy Houser.
Where is the rest of the band coming from musically? I hear a lot of Skynyrd in the lead guitar playing. Oh yeah, Josh loves Skynyrd. David loves Keith Whitley and Jamie Johnson. For Jason it’s probably Eric Church and Bobby Pinson. Matt is not a country fan. He’s die-hard hard rock, like Slipknot and Smashing Pumpkins.
Is your band named for the Soundgarden song? No. Everybody always asks that. I don’t know who came up with that. We were about to play a show right after we first got together. Our bass player, Jason, said he wasn’t going to play the show if we didn’t have a name. So we put together a list full of names and we finally chose that one.
What were some of the names that didn’t make the cut? I can only remember one: Camouflage Doublewide.
Good thing you didn’t pick that one. Your song “Jeans” is about a blue jean-wearing hottie. Is that about a specific girl or combination of them? A combination. I think when I got the idea for that song me and a buddy of mine were sitting at a little place in Laurens called Rascal’s.
Did you write that song idea on a napkin or something? No I just pulled out my cell phone and mashed record.
Outshyne plays The Handlebar at 9 p.m. Oct. 2.
For more, look for Outshyne's myspace page at www.myspace.com/outshyne.
