Cody Gill Band

.. This layout is from WhateverLife.com; get yours today!Humble beginnings in a small dive barely large enough to stand 60 people set the foundation for the traveling road show internationally known and locally accepted: The Cody Gill Band.The band’s original members were all natives of Stephenville, Texas, but were well along their different paths in life when the group was formed. In March of 2004, a high-school junior, a Tarleton State near-graduate beginning his career as a assistant superintendent for a Dallas country club, a Texas A&M near-graduate who had worked in the state capital, and a field worker for a South Texas oil company teamed up for a one-night-only jam.Richie Petronis was a student at Texas A&M University when he ran into oil-man-by-day/open-mike-performer-by-night, Cody Gill, in College Station, Texas. Gill had been in search of the right band to back his musical drive for a good while at the time. Richie was learning to play the drums. His friend from high school back home, Zack Hooper, was a skilled jazz-guitarist in the Tarleton State University Jazz Band. A trio was formed for an upcoming solo gig that Cody had scheduled for the following week in Stephenville.Zack’s younger brother, Caleb Hooper, who was still just a junior at Stephenville High School at the time, was in Colorado when he received a call from Zack asking, “Dude, you want to play bass in a band?” When the hesitant laughter subsided, these sons of a professional musician and music-professor decided it could be worth a shot. The next day, the members of the yet-to-be-named Cody Gill Band practiced 3 songs for 2 hours before loading their trucks with borrowed equipment and heading to their first show.After what was intended to be a one-night-only gig, the Cody Gill Band was asked by a listener in the crowd to play another show the following weekend. High school football and oil company schedules permitted such a plan, so gig number-2 was booked, and thus began the incessant touring schedule of the Cody Gill Band.Only one change in the band’s lineup has taken place. In February of 2006, Jarrod Baker, a jazz-trained drummer born and raised in Temple, Texas, and currently a resident of Stephenville, joined the group. Baker comes from a family of musicians, some of whom have played and recorded alongside country legends. His virtuosic drumming style and presence adds an extra level of musicianship and experience to the stage performance of the group.The Cody Gill Band takes the stage with a chemistry and family-like attitude not commonly found in any profession. Long hours on the road and days away from the norm bring out the truest of emotions, only to fuel the already-blazing fire dwelling in the underbelly of this nomadic foursome.Since its innocent genesis, The Cody Gill Band has grown into a successful musical group with undeniable drive and relentless love for a wide range of music from other Texas country and southern rock artists like Reckless Kelly and Cross Canadian Ragweed to other genres and artists such as blues legends Government Mule, the folk-rock stylings of Bob Dylan and Neil Young, and the relentless hardcore of Zakk Wylde's Black Label Society.In August of 2005, the band recorded their debut full-length album, “Boxcars”, at Cedar Creek Studios in Austin, Texas. Each member of the band wrote at least one of the twelve original songs on the album. The thirteenth song, “Love Is Never Caged”, was written by a friend and long-time songwriter, Cary Swinney.A production effort of the highly revered Mike McClure with guest artists such as Lloyd Maines (steel and dobro guitars), Rylie Osborne (B3 organ, piano), Amanda Brown (harmony vocals), Jake Akins (harmonica) and McClure with some guitar work, the album is a proud statement from the Cody Gill Band, and was a fun way to initiate a recording career, according to Gill.“Boxcars” has been released by Smith Music Group to Texas radio leading with their first single, “Can’t Let Her Go”. It is only the first official installment of a long list of future albums flourishing with honest, heartfelt lyricism and unparalleled jam-ability. Find up-to-date information and the band’s touring schedule at their official Web site, www.codygillmusic.com, or find them on Myspace at www.myspace.com/codygillband. ..