Meriwether

Meriwether is a Baton-Rouge-based rock band that wears its Louisiana pride like a badge of honor. Meriwether contends that honesty is the key to good music, and honesty flows through every note they write and play. Beyond The South’s earnestness, the band is influenced by their home state’s musical foundation, singer/guitarist Drew Reilley offers, “Not so much with instrumentation, but more so with the overall vibe of the band -- where we are from is a part of our sound -- we play brutally honest rock ‘n roll with an eclectic background.” Since the individual members of Meriwether, whose ages range from early to mid twenties, played in other bands before Meriwether, they had a bit of experience under their belts to combine with their raging desire to play music. Formed in the summer of 2003, Meriwether, rounded out by guitarist Steve Bergeron, bassist Josh Barbier, drummer Brett Schexnayder, hit the ground running, touring right off the bat for an entire year, and selling 10,000 copies of the melodically rocking Make Your Move (GVE Records) out of the trunk. The thoroughly DIY Meriwether clocked 300 shows in a year and a half, sharing stages with the likes of Anberlin, Living Colour, and 30 Seconds To Mars. They also performed on a date of the inaugural Taste Of Chaos tour, featuring The Used, My Chemical Romance, Killswitch Engage, and Underoath; they won this prized, coveted slot thanks to a MySpace contest where users voted on which band they wanted to see perform on the tour. As for the music itself, it’s a potent, high-octane, addictively catchy blend of rock, pop hooks, and emotionally raw vocals. Reilley says, “We write the lyrics and melodies in almost a singer-songwriter type of way, and that makes it easy for people to relate to, because they are well-written and well thought out. I don’t think we’re doing something that hasn’t ever been done before, but we have a sound that isn’t the norm. We draw people into it.” The members of Meriwether are ambitious, focused, and driven, and they were born to make music; they’ve got rock ‘n roll in their DNA. But, these guys aren’t all serious, all the time. “We make everyone, like A&R guys from record labels who come to see us, eat alligator. Some of those guys were apprehensive, and even our lawyer wouldn’t eat it. We just tell ‘em, ‘It’s not that bad! It’s not something you eat every day. It’s like chicken, just chewier.’” Eating alligator certainly seems to be a “Southern thang,” and Meriwether certainly celebrate the Southern element that creeps into their music. But again, the Southern vibe that has crept into the bands music isn’t traditional or obvious; much like everything else about Meriwether isn’t traditional or obvious. “We’re not bro rock,” Reilley laughs. “But, the Southern element comes through in the emotion, like, ‘Fuck Yeah! We’re here to rock!’ That’s where our Southernness shows in our music. There are no Lynyrd Skynyrd anthems.” Instead, Meriwether craft deliciously catchy, rawk ‘n roll songs that take up residence in your brain for hours upon hours. “We're real people writing real music,” Reilley finishes. “We're down to earth, and that's why people relate to us. We're crazy. The South is a big party, and so are we."