Like most working indie bands, Russell County, Virginia’s 49 Winchester had a lot of plans at the beginning of 2020. And most of them involved touring.
The band, singer/guitarist Isaac Gibson, guitarist Bus Shelton, bassist Chase Chafin, drummer Dillon Cridlin and steel guitar player Noah Patrick, had released two albums and toured hard before 2020 rolled around, gaining a loyal and fast-growing fan base.
Their first, self-titled album was a mostly acoustic collection of Appalachian twang and rough-hewn alt-country. Their second, 2018’s “The Wind,” was a roaring, modern Southern-rock beast in the vein of the Drive-By Truckers, and it was a LOT closer to what 49 Winchester is like onstage.
“It was just very much like the songs we were playing live with the full band,” Chase Chafin says. “When we play live, it’s all electric: Two electric guitars, bass, steel guitar and drums.”
“We had a few socially-distanced shows, and we had a couple of live streams, but other than that, we definitely didn’t have any kind of touring in 2020. It was pretty bad; we had been on the rise, and when [COVID-19] hit it just canceled everything.”
The band wasn’t necessarily planning on making their third album in 2020, but thanks to COVID-19, it turned out that they didn’t have much of a choice.
“With the exception of a couple of dates,” Chafin says, “basically everything was canceled. We had a few socially-distanced shows, and we had a couple of live streams, but other than that, we definitely didn’t have any kind of touring in 2020. It was pretty bad; we had been on the rise, and when [COVID-19] hit it just canceled everything.”
Rather than sitting idle, though, 49 Winchester decided to use their sudden stretch of free time to record some songs for their third album appropriately titled “III,” which was released last October.
In retrospect, it was probably the right decision, because “III” is the band’s most cohesive album, yet. An equal mix of their acoustic country and Southern-rock influences, the album’s 10 tracks show 49 Winchester consolidating their strengths.
“We definitely stepped back into country,” Chafin says of the band’s third release. “Isaac is a huge fan of some of the early alt-country bands. It’s Isaac’s favorite music to listen to, so I think it’s always been there.”
And Chafin is in a good position to know what singer/guitarist Isaac Gibson likes; the two men formed the nucleus of the band back in 2013. In fact, the name “49 Winchester” doesn’t come from some kind of rifle, it’s a reference to the street that Gibson and Chafin lived on as children.
“49 Winchester is the address where we first started to play music together,” Chafin says. “It’s Isaac’s parents’ house. We’ve been friends for as long as we can remember, since we were 3 or 4 years old or something like that. We’re like brothers.”
“We definitely stepped back into country,” Chafin says of the band’s third release.
Those brothers are about to be back on the road again, and they’ve got a show coming up here in town at the Radio Room on Thursday, April 22. Chafin says the whole band is looking forward to this tour, because they’ve never played any of the songs from their third album live before.
“I think that with this newest album, we’ve definitely reached a lot of new people,” he says, “especially through streaming services; Apple Music has been really good to us since October when the album came out. We’ve definitely reached a lot of new fans.”
The early ticket sales for the band’s Radio Room show seem to back Chafin up. 49 Winchester has never played Greenville before, but the venue says tickets are going fast.
“That’s good to hear,” Chafin says of the strong sales. “We’re just excited to shake the rust off; Radio Room looks like a great a great place to have one of our first shows back.”
What: 49 Winchester w/ Nicholas Jamerson
When: Thursday, April 22, 8 p.m.
Where: Radio Room, 110 Poinsett Hwy., Greenville
Tickets: $12 adv./$15 door
Info: www.freshtix.com/events/49-winchester-at-radio-room-wsg-nicholas-jamerson
