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Hayshaker Jones?

There is something strange about being a country band from Cleveland, Ohio. The winters drag on forever you never see the sun and people have taken shit about their city for 40 years.That didn't stop Clint Holley and David Bowling from forming Hayshaker Jones, however. Arguably Northeast Ohio's hardest working and most creative roots act, Hayshaker Jones draws from the deep well of country music: Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Buck Owens, Waylon Jennings, Jason and The Scorchers, The Rolling Stones and The Byrds. Filter these names through a modern conscience and you get Hayshaker Jones.

What separates Hayshaker Jones from other forward-thinking musicians, you might ask? Perspective, for one. Blending Holley's Midwestern idealism with Bowling's Southern roots, the band attained a distinctive point of view often lacking in other bands.

 

Over the course of seven years, Hayshaker Jones appeared at bars, fairs, festivals, flea markets, snack bars, used car lots, marinas, campgrounds, drive-in movie theaters and just about any other venue that allowed them to set up and do their thing. The word has spread and people have come. David Bowling regrettably left the band in 2004 to persue new adventures with The Whiskey Daredevils but the band has florished and with the addition of Amy Primiano on vocals continues to scale the heights of the honky-tonk lifestyle.

Singing and writing songs about heartbreak, loss and regret, Clint Holley brings a level of commitment and passion to Hayshaker Jones that many bands never achieve.  Born in Chicago and raised in Dallas, Texas and Cleveland, Ohio, Clint has called the Midwest his home for over 20 years and the experience has had a profound impact on his singing and writing style.

Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, guitarist Jon Baughman brings 15 years experience and a wide array of influences to Hayshaker Jones. Inspired by David Gilmour and Jimmy Page to pick up a guitar, Jon would eventually come to absorb a variety of musical styles including punk, jazz, country, blues, and early rock n roll. A firm believer in the “less is more” approach, Jon works hard to make every note count.

Pat was born in the coal mining country of rural southern Ohio. Every Saturday night, he and his family would gather in front of the TV to watch all the great country music stars of the day on Midwestern Hayride, a regional show that came out of Cincinnati. He vividly recalls pretending that a floor lamp in the family living room was an upright bass and playing along with every song. It just seemed natural, maybe even easy. As the years passed, he found himself in the big city. Country music faded from his day-to-day reality, but it never quite disappeared. More years passed, and through a succession of bands, he moved from rock to punk to blues to roots rock and finally back to country music. So, in its own way, the circle of his life remains unbroken, and he's back where he began thumping the bass with a honky-tonk band.

Ever since she saw her uncle’s western swing band playing at the county fair in her hometown of New Castle, Pennsylvania, Amy knew singing was what she wanted to do when she grew up. As a young girl she was told she couldn’t "carry a tune in a bucket", but this daughter of a truck driver and a gospel-singing hairdresser worked hard to develop her big voice. After moving to Cleveland in the 1990s, Amy fronted the rockabilly band, the Haydevils, and the swing/jump blues band, the Swagger Kings. Both bands performed all over the country and saw moderate success. Amy brings a sultry, torch-and-twang kind of voice that lends itself well to Hayshaker Jones’ honky-tonk tearjerkers and country classics.

Frank Matrka is without a doubt the most elusive and mysterious member of Hayshaker Jones. When asked about his backround he just smiles and says "All I know is that I am happy to be here." He claims to have actually met Hayshaker Jones in Windsor, Ontario, during one of his frequent strip club visits, but of course has no pictures to prove it. He plays that funny instument called the pedal steel too.

Danny has no credentials whatsoever to play drums for a country-style band other than, growing up in South Collinwood, he had neighbors who raised chickens in their front yard, and his grandfather next door, who for 30 years had been a coal miner in Beckley, West Virginia, once slaughtered a lamb, which Danny had been playing with earlier in the day, for Christmas dinner. Oh, and he loves the music and thinks that Hayshaker Jones does it real proud.

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