University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Southern Miss Announces Band Drivin N Cryin for Football Homecoming Pregame Show
8/11/2021 10:00:00 AM | Football
HATTIESBURG, Miss. – The Southern Miss Department of Athletics announced Wednesday that the band Drivin N Cryin will perform as part of the Spirt Park Live concert series at Southern Station prior to the school's homecoming game against UTEP on Oct. 9.
"As we continue to elevate our game day experience, Drivin N Cryin should be a big hit for many alumni coming back for Homecoming," said Southern Miss Senior Associate Athletic Director of External Relations Brad Smith. "You will not want to miss their performance in Spirit Park."
Celebrating their 35th Anniversary together, the Atlanta-based folk rock act has spent most of their career on tour. In October 1985, Drivin N Cryin played its first show at Atlanta's famed 688 Club. The band quickly gained attention for their blistering live shows, and amassed a rabid fanbase in the fertile soil of the late-1980s Southeast music scene.
Now, 35 years later, and after releasing four full length albums on Island Records and one on Geffen Records, founding members Kevn Kinney and Tim Nielsen find themselves enjoying a milestone anniversary for the band, having survived the pressures of fame, a shifting musical landscape, multiple lineup changes, and miles of back roads and highways to arrive here.
Fly Me Courageous is the fourth studio album by the hard rock/Southern rock band Drivin N Cryin, released on January 8, 1991, by Island Records. The album is the band's most commercially successful release, in part due to the title track striking a patriotic chord in the United States during the start of the Persian Gulf War. In 1995, Fly Me Courageous was certified gold. After a gold record, 9 full-length albums, and a handful of EPs to their credit, the band still refuses to rest. In 2012, a documentary about the band, entitled Scarred but Smarter: Life n Times of Drivin N Cryin, was produced.
In 2015, a collection of 10 choice cuts from the band's 4-EP "Songs" series, entitled Best of Songs, was released on Nashville's Plowboy Records. Additionally, the band was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame the same year. The following year, Drivin N Cryin released a vinyl-only album, entitled Archives Vol One, with a collection of basement recordings from the years 1988 to 1990.
With Dave V. Johnson on drums, and the band's newest member, Laur Joamets, (originally Sturgill Simpson) added to the lineup, Drivin N Cryin continues to tour the U.S. to great acclaim. Island Records re-released their highly recognized Mystery Road album through Universal Music Group (2017) & Darius Rucker cut Straight to Hell on his new album, When Was the Last Time, released October 2017 with guest vocal appearances by Luke Bryan, Charles Kelley, and Jason Aldean.
Mystery Road was named one of "The 50 Best Southern Rock Albums of All Time" by Paste Magazine that year as well. In 2018, New West Records re-released their self-titled 1997 album with a new name, Too Late To Turn Back Now!. In addition, the band recently celebrated the release of their 9th studio album, 'Live the Love Beautiful'. Produced by Nashville's, and former band member, Aaron Lee Tasjan, the album was released on Drivin N Cryin Records to much praise.
This makes two acts confirmed for the Spirit Live concert series as Adam Doleac is slated to play prior to the football team's opener, Saturday, Sept. 11, versus Grambling State.
"As we continue to elevate our game day experience, Drivin N Cryin should be a big hit for many alumni coming back for Homecoming," said Southern Miss Senior Associate Athletic Director of External Relations Brad Smith. "You will not want to miss their performance in Spirit Park."
Celebrating their 35th Anniversary together, the Atlanta-based folk rock act has spent most of their career on tour. In October 1985, Drivin N Cryin played its first show at Atlanta's famed 688 Club. The band quickly gained attention for their blistering live shows, and amassed a rabid fanbase in the fertile soil of the late-1980s Southeast music scene.
Now, 35 years later, and after releasing four full length albums on Island Records and one on Geffen Records, founding members Kevn Kinney and Tim Nielsen find themselves enjoying a milestone anniversary for the band, having survived the pressures of fame, a shifting musical landscape, multiple lineup changes, and miles of back roads and highways to arrive here.
Fly Me Courageous is the fourth studio album by the hard rock/Southern rock band Drivin N Cryin, released on January 8, 1991, by Island Records. The album is the band's most commercially successful release, in part due to the title track striking a patriotic chord in the United States during the start of the Persian Gulf War. In 1995, Fly Me Courageous was certified gold. After a gold record, 9 full-length albums, and a handful of EPs to their credit, the band still refuses to rest. In 2012, a documentary about the band, entitled Scarred but Smarter: Life n Times of Drivin N Cryin, was produced.
In 2015, a collection of 10 choice cuts from the band's 4-EP "Songs" series, entitled Best of Songs, was released on Nashville's Plowboy Records. Additionally, the band was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame the same year. The following year, Drivin N Cryin released a vinyl-only album, entitled Archives Vol One, with a collection of basement recordings from the years 1988 to 1990.
With Dave V. Johnson on drums, and the band's newest member, Laur Joamets, (originally Sturgill Simpson) added to the lineup, Drivin N Cryin continues to tour the U.S. to great acclaim. Island Records re-released their highly recognized Mystery Road album through Universal Music Group (2017) & Darius Rucker cut Straight to Hell on his new album, When Was the Last Time, released October 2017 with guest vocal appearances by Luke Bryan, Charles Kelley, and Jason Aldean.
Mystery Road was named one of "The 50 Best Southern Rock Albums of All Time" by Paste Magazine that year as well. In 2018, New West Records re-released their self-titled 1997 album with a new name, Too Late To Turn Back Now!. In addition, the band recently celebrated the release of their 9th studio album, 'Live the Love Beautiful'. Produced by Nashville's, and former band member, Aaron Lee Tasjan, the album was released on Drivin N Cryin Records to much praise.
This makes two acts confirmed for the Spirit Live concert series as Adam Doleac is slated to play prior to the football team's opener, Saturday, Sept. 11, versus Grambling State.
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