Dave, Rob, Drew, Scott, Doug & Tim
(c)Becky Hilley
Change
(c)Becky Hilley
Change
Sons of the Desert frontman Drew Womack wrote his first song in the second
grade, a happy little ditty called “The Sunshine Song.” He was proud
of his first creation, that is, until older brother Tim told him he’d be
in trouble with their parents for writing a “love song.” Seven-year-old
Drew promptly stuffed the written lyrics behind the family washing machine
so he wouldn’t get caught.
Years later, to the benefit of country music fans everywhere, Drew realized
he had to share his songwriting talents and unmistakable voice with the
world. Joining forces with his brother, guitarist Tim Womack, bassist Doug
Virden, keyboardist Scott Saunders, and later drummer Rob Stiteler, they
became a powerhouse band called Sons of the Desert. Change, the band’s
first album for MCA Nashville, is a new beginning for a group of guys who
know what it’s like to travel a rocky road.
In 1997 the Sons released their debut album, Whatever Comes First, on Epic
Records. The unique groove of the title track gave them a top 10 hit and
caught the ear of both fans and critics alike. Follow up singles “Hand
of Fate” and “Leaving October” showcased the Sons’ incredible harmonies.
Drew racked up his first number one song as a writer when Kenny Chesney
took “She’s Got It All” to the top of the charts. In 1998, the band
landed an opening slot on Tim McGraw’s Everywhere tour and soon began recording
songs for a second album. All things seemed good, but then the band parted
ways with its record label. While the Sons regrouped, MCA Nashville President
Tony Brown was watching. He was already a Sons fan, having caught the band’s
performance at the Country Radio Seminar’s New Faces show. “I remember
Drew’s voice just came screaming off the stage,” he says. Later, when the
band parted ways with Epic, Brown read about it in the local newspaper
and wasted no time.
“A couple of times I have missed calling somebody up by just a few hours,
so I came right to the office and called their manager and said, ‘Is this
true?’” Brown says. “I said, ‘If it’s true, I want to talk to somebody
right now.’ It went down that quick.” The band joined the MCA Nashville
family, which is known for giving new acts stalled on the brink of stardom
a second chance. “We’ve had a real good track record of taking acts that
have reached that little spot where they’re about to break and taking them
to the next level, like Vince Gill and Chely Wright,” Brown explains. “Sons
of the Desert are the same way. I feel like I got them at the right time
like when I got Vince Gill. It was one of my lucky signings.”
Drew admits the guys were expecting a complete overhaul, from their look
to their sound. It ended up just being their look: Drew cut the long hair
he’d had since he was 15, and the focus shifted to the three vocalists
up front – Drew, Tim and Doug – so the band can more easily connect with
fans in an ever-confusing country music market. “They didn’t really want
to change us,” Drew says. “They just wanted to introduce us to more people
basically. It’s a cool feeling to know that even though we haven’t sold
millions of records yet, the people at MCA Nashville think we still have
something to offer.”
That fighting spirit began 10 years ago in Waco, Texas, where Drew, Tim,
Doug and Rob were classmates at McLennan Community College before they
were bandmates. Taking their name from a Laurel and Hardy movie, Sons of
the Desert had already earned a rabid local following with an early lineup
that included Doug on bass. Drew was studying opera, and Tim was playing
in another band with Rob on drums. When the Sons lead singer left, Drew
stepped in, later convincing his brother, Tim, to join as well. The new
roster duked it out on the competitive Dallas club circuit with then-unknown
acts like Lonestar and Ty Herndon.
“We were one of the very few non-hat acts playing on that circuit,” Drew
says. “The fans wanted to hear George Strait or AC/DC basically, and we
played neither.” Instead, the Sons offered up a set list of Steve
Earle, Foster & Lloyd and the Desert Rose Band. They learned current
singles by bands like Restless Heart and Shenandoah, all the while crafting
their own identifiable sound.
Change is the payoff for a decade of hitting the stage in honky tonks far
and wide. It’s a little bit of John Hiatt, a little bit Steve Earle and
a bit of everything else the guys love, while somehow remaining entirely
their own. Noted producers Mark Wright (Mark Chesnutt, Lee Ann Womack)
and Johnny Slate (Joe Diffie) joined the Sons to produce the album, with
Tony Brown working as the band’s A & R man. It proved to be a winning
combination.
“The energy is so much more present,” Drew says. “The first record was
kinda ballad heavy, but this time we had a lot more songs to choose from.
Right after we tracked it in the studio you could just feel it. It felt
like a record immediately. We didn’t have to fill it in, it was just magic.”
The new album includes cuts by successful Nashville songwriters like Craig
Wiseman, Chris Lindsey and Mark Selby. Fellow artist Keith Urban makes
a guest appearance on banjo for the song “Ride,” and lauded session player
Paul Franklin tears up the steel guitar on “Change.” The band reworked
and re-recorded “Albuquerque,” the lone cut saved from the shelved Epic
project, and Drew himself wrote or co-wrote five cuts.
“That’s the main reason I got into this business,” Drew says. “That’s my
favorite part. I think people like to see artists that write their own
music and actually have their own sound.” Drew’s songwriting has found
its complement in the musical gifts of the band. “Tim is a killer guitar
player, Doug’s a great bass player and Scott is a killer piano player,”
opins Brown. “And the harmonies are incredible.”
The Sons’ trademark harmonies are so incredible, in fact, that fellow artists
continue to enlist their services in the studio. The guys soared on the
chorus of Ty Herndon’s number one hit, “It Must Be Love,” and they’re now
getting monstrous reviews for their haunting contribution to new labelmate
(but no relation) Lee Ann Womack’s single “I Hope You Dance.” Unlike Whatever
Comes First, which tells it like it is, Change tells it like it could be.
The songs convey a world where life isn’t perfect, but the people in it
can still imagine something better on the horizon. From the title cut to
the funky “Everybody’s Got to Grow Up Sometime,” Change is the creed the
Sons have been living day to day. It’s the only way they know.
“There’s a lot of people who are scared to try new things in this business,”
Drew says. “They don’t want to go too far out, but for music to grow, you
need to try new ideas. ”In other words, change is good.
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