"I loved Del Reeves and 'Girl on the Billboard' when I was a kid, and I knew that all it needed was a modern twist from this band," Jason McCoy of The Road Hammers says. "It's such a great song, and it's early rap, it really is."
Mixing steady-rolling standbys from Reeves and Jerry Reed and contemporary trucking classics from artists like Paul Thorn ("Heart With Four Wheel Drive") and Lowell George ("Willin'") with freewheeling originals like "Nashville Bound," "Overdrive" and "I've Got the Scars to Prove It," The Road Hammers: Blood Sweat & Steel is a wild ride that covers a lot of musical ground.
The Hammmers headed into the studio with Jason Aldean producer Michael Knox to record some additional tracks and fine-tune their debut for American release. Those tracks, "Workin' Hard and Lovin' You," "I Don't Know When to Quit," and "I've Got the Scars to Prove It," perfectly round out the project with the one-two punch of Nashville-sized hooks and that trademark Road Hammers intensity.
With the bulk of the album recorded in Nashville by McCoy and his longtime co/producer/collaborator Scott Baggett, The Road Hammers puts a new coat of paint on a neglected corner of country music's foundation. From Red Sovine's "Phantom 309" to Dave Dudley's "Six Days on the Road" to Kathy Mattea's "18 Wheels and a Dozen Roses," all the way to Garth Brooks' "Callin' Baton Rouge," trucking songs have been a country music constant. And these Road Hammers know from experience that hard-touring musicians and long-haul truckers have long been kindred spirits.