Tilford Sellers
Columbus, Indiana, United States | SELF
Music
Press
With a rockabilly hiccup and a love of old-school honky tonk, Tilford Sellers & the Wagon Burners are automatically one of the most exciting things to ever happen in Indiana. Recommended if you like country Hank III, J.B. Beverley & the Wayward Drifters, Halden Wofford & the Hi-Beams, Roger Wallace, etc.
-C.M. Wilcox – Founder/Editor/Author
http://www.countrycalifornia.com - Country Californida
It's good to know, and hear, that out there in the regions of the U.S. there are still acts immersed in the sound of the honky-tonks. This tight Columbus, Indiana outfit play a set of original songs that recall the heyday of 50s and 60s country music without sounding like they belong in a museum. The very fact that Sellers is a strong writer with a warm and weighty voice that recalls, without mimicking, the great vocalists that have gone before him is enough to warrant him some attention and admiration. As with a lot of the best pure country Sellers is not re-inventing the wheel here. He is instead, with his band, re-affirming that there is a lot of life left in the music that so obviously in their lifeblood (if not on the radio or in the charts) . The Wagon Burners are Baylee Pruit on snare drum, Sippy Boulton on pedal steel and guitar and Justin Meier on upright bass along with guest Pat Fiddle on fiddle. They deliver a solid, rhythmic and righteous sound that runs from the instrumental Sippy's Lament to a whole slew of songs that live up to the title, a theme too often absent from the mainstream these days. The titles of these songs tell you what to expect; You Always Shut Me Down, Two-timing Mama, Bad Times Are Here To Stay. Most of these songs are short, catchy and eminently danceable, for the most part. The life blood of a honky-tonk band, the place where they still sound best no doubt. But if you can't get there then this, their first full length album, is the next best thing. This album contains exactly what it says in the title but it won't bring you down, rather it warms you up for another round and gets you ready for a Saturday night, no matter where you might be. As the opening songs says "If you've got the time (just stop on by)", you won't be sorry you did. - Stephen Rapid, Lonesome Highway
The Little Opry may have burned down years ago but Tilford Sellers and his boys are keeping traditional country music alive and well throughout Southern Indiana. With original songs lamenting heartache, loneliness, and the long wait for Saturday night, Sellers' impressive debut CD invokes both the joyous and tragic sides of honky-tonk music. Get ready!
-Nate Gibson, lead singer of Nate Gibson & the Gashouse Gang and author of "The Starday Story: The House That Country Music Built" - Author of "The Starday Story: The House That Country Music Built"
Tilford Sellers, Oh Yes!
The lack of songwriters just songwritin makes me moan. I don't mean to say there's a dearth of folks crafting their miseries into guitar drivel, so please please please do not take this as a cry from the wilderness to hear from your bleeding pen. It is to say though that there is a decidedly lack of universal truth being written about in the time-honored American tradition of chunka-chunka chords, scratchy fiddles and steel guitars. Where's the cheatin songs that dont make us cry? What happened to beer cans and halter tops and little guys thinking they can take bigger guys?
Go through Tilford Sellers' swinging doors and re-find all that good stuff. It's there waiting for you to come back home. He and the band play southern Indiana honky-tonk so muddy you're bound to lose your boots. It's the slightest bit retro with the occasional hiccup, but maybe it just feels like that because not many folks actually sit down and play songs about leaving, dancing, drinking, loving, kissing and then a few more about leaving in these dark days. Its a shame too, because this is the type of music that makes a shy boy ask a wallflower out to dance across hard wood floors. And boy, I look around this old world and think we certainly need a little more of that and little less of all this other stuff.
- KBCS 91.3 - Seattle, Washington
Tilford Sellers, Oh Yes!
The lack of songwriters just songwritin makes me moan. I don't mean to say there's a dearth of folks crafting their miseries into guitar drivel, so please please please do not take this as a cry from the wilderness to hear from your bleeding pen. It is to say though that there is a decidedly lack of universal truth being written about in the time-honored American tradition of chunka-chunka chords, scratchy fiddles and steel guitars. Where's the cheatin songs that dont make us cry? What happened to beer cans and halter tops and little guys thinking they can take bigger guys?
Go through Tilford Sellers' swinging doors and re-find all that good stuff. It's there waiting for you to come back home. He and the band play southern Indiana honky-tonk so muddy you're bound to lose your boots. It's the slightest bit retro with the occasional hiccup, but maybe it just feels like that because not many folks actually sit down and play songs about leaving, dancing, drinking, loving, kissing and then a few more about leaving in these dark days. Its a shame too, because this is the type of music that makes a shy boy ask a wallflower out to dance across hard wood floors. And boy, I look around this old world and think we certainly need a little more of that and little less of all this other stuff.
- KBCS 91.3 - Seattle, Washington
Tilford Sellers revives the early days of American music where country/blues/rock were still basically the same music. You can hear strains of the Grand Old Opry and Hank Williams. You can hear echos of Charlie Feathers and Buddy Holly. It's feel-good honky tonk music that's refreshingly simple, direct, and fun. Highlights for me are "Get Ready" and the title track, "What You're Doing To Me."
- Taproot Radio Podcast #61
Great Great Stuff!!! - Root Hog Radio
Great Great Stuff!!! - Root Hog Radio
Discography
"What You're Doing To Me" - Released June 2011
CD in stores and online. Download from bandcamp, iTunes, Amazon, and EMusic. Songs streaming at www.tilfordsellers.com
"Heartaches, Lies, And Cheating Songs" Full Length Album, Recorded November, 2011. Release March 20, 2012 Now streaming at www.tilfordsellers.com
Photos
Bio
Tilford Sellers And The Wagon Burners, from Columbus, Indiana play straight-up original Honky Tonk dance tunes and Hillbilly Boogie. When Tilford and his boys add in a little Western Swing and Bakersfield Sound, you've got yourself some great dancing music.
Go through Tilford Sellers’ swinging doors and find honky tonk so muddy you’re bound to lose your boots. They play cheating songs that won’t make you cry, songs of lament waiting for Saturday night.
Since the release of their first cd “What You’re Doing To Me” in 2011, they have been busy touring from Kansas City to North Carolina and Michigan to Alabama. Their second cd, “Heartaches, Lying, and Cheating Songs” was released in March 2012.
They recorded songs for their third record in October, 2013. Release date will be announced soon.
They say they don’t play shows to sell records, they sell records so they can keep playing music the way it was intended to be played and heard. LIVE.
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