Music
Press
It was only a matter of time before local alternative bluegrass band Cletus Got Shot released its first CD. Having formed in the fall of 2007, the band waited until this past January to lay down a collection of tracks.
In the middle of that time period, though, they played countless live performances throughout the region. The group, which recently was nominated for three Northwest Arkansas Music Awards, started performing on street corners in Fayetteville and eventually gained a name for themselves in area live music venues. Each show represented another opportunity to fine tune their songs before stepping into the studio.
On Saturday (March 28), the band will celebrate its first CD, a self-titled album, with a 9 p.m. show at Smoke & Barrel Tavern in Fayetteville, a place the group plays at at least once a month these days. In addition, the quartet will play a show at 9:30 p.m. tonight (March 27) at Landry’s New Orleans Cafe in Fort Smith.
- NWA News.com/blogs/tunedin
If you’ve been paying attention to the local music scene here in Fayetteville, you’ve probably at least heard of Cletus Got Shot. If you’ve never seen them live though, then you’re missing out on one of Fayetteville’s best bands, and a really good time.
Cletus Got Shot is a four piece bluegrass-
Americana band from Fayetteville. One guitar, a bass, a mandolin, and a fiddle player make up the band, and all four members of the band sing harmonies. But Cletus Got Shot is not your typical bluegrass band. Lead singer Adam Cox is a former drummer of a punk rock band, and you can hear a lot more than old country and bluegrass in their music.....
- Fayetteville Flyer, Feb. 2009
I recently got to hear Cletus Got Shot down at The Pied Piper’s Cathouse Lounge. What a bunch of fun these guys are! The guitar player, Adam Cox, was formerly the drummer in a punk band and is married to Nathan Miller’s (the band’s awesome mandolin player) cousin. Bassist Mark Landry dances that upright around like a plus-sized girlfriend. Richard Hartrick’s precise and fiery fiddle playing comes off like an aerobic workout. The Cathouse crowd ate them up! Most of their material is original, but they caused an uproar of laughter and shouts of approval with their cover of the Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Cletus Got Shot formed in Fayetteville in January of 2008 and have gained quite a following around Eureka playing at The Rowdy Beaver, New Delhi, and the Cathouse. They are laying off the bars for a while to devote their time to their self-titled CD rumored to release in the Spring.
- Karen FitzPatrick - Nightflying: The Entertainment Guide
Discography
Cletus Got Shot released our self-titled debut album in February 2009, and our 2nd album "UnAmerican" was just released this past June. Since it went digital, you can hear our tunes in rotation on many different internet sites including INDIE104 - iRADIO LA, bananapeelradio.com, and soupygato.com, and we are often featured on "Crossroads" with Bob on KYRS-LP, 89.9/92.3 FM, in Spokane, WA.
Photos
Bio
Cletus Got Shot is a three piece string band out of Fayetteville, Arkansas, that is working hard to change the common perception that all String Bands are Bluegrass.
They aren't.
Cletus Got Shot manages to bring together such various influences as Punk, Gospel, Folk, Swing, Rockabilly, Jazz, Rock and Roll, and Country, and combine them together in a way that seems like something totally new.
They have been playing together for three years, and are currently promoting their 2nd album. While gigging constantly, sometimes over twenty shows a month, they still find time to write new material, and a second album is already in the works.
Cletus Got Shot is made up of three unique musicians who each bring a full skill set to the table:
Adam Cox plays guitar and sings, and also writes the majority of the songs. His style of guitar playing is very percussive, which is not surprising, when you consider that he also has been known to play drums in punk bands. Adam has a very powerful voice, and it easily cuts through both the fastest barn-burner and the slowest ballad. His lyrical hooks seem simple at first, but not easily forgotten.
Nathan Miller is a native son of Arkansas who brings a strong tradition of folk style singing and mandolin playing into the mix. He comes from a family that maintains strong ties to their community and strives to pass on local lore through community picking parties.
Mark Landry sings and plays a hand-built upright bass he crafted from a gas tank and native Arkansas hardwoods. He plays slap bass in the Rockabilly style, and along with Adam's guitar playing, the lack of a drummer is no oversight.
Cletus Got Shot has played hundreds of shows in its admittedly brief time on the music scene. The band has played in shows from Tulsa, Oklahoma to Asheville, North Carolina, with countless stops in between.
They've opened and shared shows with Todd Snider, James McMurtry, Split Lip Rayfield, Big Smith, Those Darlins, Izzy Cox, My Tea Kind, Elephant Revival Concept and Ben Miller Band.
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