User:Teally420

The Mother Truckers band
The Mother Truckers are a Rock/Country band originally from the San Francisco Bay Area. They formed in 1999 when Josh Zee ( from the band PROTEIN) Guitar/Vocals and Teal Collins Ukulele/Vocals started writing together. The two had met at a local Blues Jam at the 4th street Tavern in San Rafael, CA and had played local gigs since the early 90's. From the start and till the end all songs were written solely by Josh Zee and Teal Collins.

Early Days
The Mother Truckers first official gig was at the Hotel Utah in San Francisco - at this point the line-up was Josh Zee, Teal Collins, Andy Nelson. They quickly made the rounds playing at all the SF clubs - Slim's, Paradise Lounge, El Rio, The Covered Wagon. Also playing at the original Sweetwater in Mill Valley. They recorded their first EP entitled "Hell's Half Acre" at the home studio of Tim Alexander (PRIMUS) who also played drums on this recording.

After sending the CD to Rancho Nicasio, Bob Brown (Manager of Huey Lewis and the news and Pablo Cruise) immediately called them and said "Frankly, I'm a fan"- The band would enter into management with Bob and he would get them on many great opening gigs - opening for Huey Lewis and the News, Dwight Yoakum, Merle Haggard, George Jones, Charlie Daniels, Reba McEntire at places like Konocti Harbor and Saratoga Mountain Winery. At this point the lineup was Josh, Teal, Pete Franco, Dana Miller and Dave Zirbel.

A pivotal moment in the bands career occured when they opened for Western Swing band Asleep at The Wheel at Bob Brown's venue Rancho Nicasio. Ray Benson took Josh and Teal aside and urged them to move to Austin, TX.

While in Marin they recorded "Something Worth Dying For" which was their first widely available release.

Austin Texas & Touring
In 2005 Josh and Teal drove out to Austin, TX. Shortly after getting settled they started putting together a new rhythm section with Pete "The Beat" Langhans, and Leslie McCurdy. They got a Tuesday Night residency at a club called "Ego's" right on Congress avenue. 3 months in to their residency at Ego's they got a chance to play at the world famous Continental Club, and after that got offered a Thursday Happy hour residency. They played many Austin Festivals, SXSW, Keep Austin Weird, and started touring more and more.

They started recording their 2nd release "Broke, Not Broken" around this time. This album was the most Country of all their albums.

The Mother Truckers won Best Roots Rock band at the 2006 Austin Music Awards and Best New Band.