The Shootouts’ sophomore album, Bullseye is set to release this spring on April 30. Their original album, Quick Draw, drew glowing reviews placing the band at the top of the Americana radio album chart Top 50 for more than nine weeks. I sat down with band leader Ryan Humbert to discuss the importance of traditional country music and his hopes for their new album.
From Side Project to Full Time
Humbert met guitarist Brian Poston just several years ago and the two first bonded over their mutual love for traditional, real country music. The Shootouts was intended to be a side project, of sorts Humbert explained, but he soon realized it had the potential to be much more than that.
“For about a year we (said), ‘boy we really should do this.’ We should just go out, book a night, dress up and make sure we are honoring every part of the tradition of this (type of) music. We didn’t really care if anybody showed up. We just wanted to go out and have fun playing this music that we love,” he said.
October 10, 2015 was that night for the band. Their first performance was in Cleveland, Ohio and from that night on, the artists’ lives were changed for good.
“It basically hit me like a bolt of lightning. From the minute we started that show, I knew that this was going to be way more important than I had originally thought,” Humbert said.
The concert gave the two the energy they needed to really begin The Shootouts.
“It just felt right. All of a sudden it felt like I was home again,” he explained. Knowing that they needed to grow the band, the two decided to add vocalist Emily Bates, bassist Ryan McDermott and drummer Dylan Gomez.
Playing more shows after that opening night, Humbert explained it was fun for him to see listeners try to figure out who The Shootouts really were.
He remarked, “The fun thing was I think people didn’t really know what to make of us at first. There were a few people that said, well are they a novelty act? Is this a side project? What is it?”
Defining Their Style
Disappointed with the modern country sound that is produced today, The Shootouts began looking to honor the orthodox country music that they believe in. Bakersfield, western-swing tunes and the traditional honky-tonk feel continues to influence their style today. The band even sports traditional outfits at their performances. Humber explained this was a decision made in hopes of catching peoples eye and as a way to honor the musicians that came before them.
“You can’t help but put on a shirt with fringe, embroidery, sequence, bright colors and a vintage cowboy hat and feel like your channeling all these greats that came before you,” Humbert laughed.
Although the band strays away from the country-pop style that is played on radios across the country, Humbert commented that listeners may find a bit of vintage pop influence in The Shootouts music every so often.
“You might hear something that sounds a little bit like the Everly Brothers or something like The Beatles. What you look at as pop from that time period versus what you look at as pop in today’s time period are very different things,” he said.
Upcoming Album: Bullseye
Their new record shows just how genre-jumping the band really is. With a little bit of western-swing, Nashville, Americana and traditional honkey-tonk, the highly-anticipated album is sure not to disappoint.
Produced by former BR549 lead singer Chuck Mead, Bullseye is set to emphasize The Shootouts style that they uniquely have in the country music, Americana scene.
“BR549 is a band that when we started The Shootouts, we said what do we want to sound like? What do we want to be like? What image do we want to present? And there were a couple of bands that were our benchmark. BR549 was at the top of the list. We ended up covering five or six of their songs when we were getting started,” he explained.
As big fans of Mead, The Shootouts were “thrilled” to get to work with him, Humbert commented.
With this excitement driving them, the band was able to pull out a record when COVID-19 was dominating last March. The band began to lose gigs, tours and soon everything began to crumble.
“And here we are in East Nashville recording a record. It was a very surreal time,” he reminisced.
Despite the setbacks, the band persevered. Recording 15 songs in just over a week, The Shootouts had their next record.
Humbert concluded, “I want this record to be fun. I want it to speak to people in the sense that not everything has to be dark and heavy during this time that we are going through. If The Shootouts can put a smile on somebody’s face for 30 minutes, you know, that is what we want to do!”
Bullseye
- I Don’t Think About You Anymore
- Rattlesnake Whiskey
- Another Mother
- Hurt Heartbroke
- Bullseye
- Here Come The Blues
- Everything I Know
- Waiting on You
- Missing The Mark
- I Still Care
- Forgot to Forget
- Saturday Night Town
Bullseye is available for preorder today here. Stay updated on The Shootouts music and upcoming performances at https://www.shootoutsmusic.com