McAlyster was an American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

group founded in Pensacola, Florida. Its members comprised Cody Collins, Josh Walther, Leigh Usilton and Valerie Gills. They were signed to

MCA Nashville Records Universal Music Group Nashville is Universal Music Group's country music subsidiary. Some of the labels in this group include MCA Nashville Records, Mercury Nashville Records, Lost Highway Records, Capitol Records Nashville and EMI Records ...

in 2000. Their debut single, "I Know How the River Feels", was previously a No. 32 country single in 1999 for

Diamond Rio Diamond Rio is an American country music band. The band was founded in 1982 as an attraction for the Opryland USA theme park in Nashville, Tennessee, and was originally known as the Grizzly River Boys, then the Tennessee River Boys. It was fou ...

, and was originally recorded by

Ty Herndon Boyd Tyrone Herndon (born May 2, 1962), known professionally as Ty Herndon, is an American country music singer and songwriter. His music career began in the 1980s as a member of the Tennessee River Boys, a predecessor to the country band Diamon ...

on his 1996 album '' Living in a Moment''. McAlyster's demo rendition was released as a single, peaking at No. 69 on the country charts. ''Billboard'' gave their version a mixed review, praising the harmonies but questioning its appeal to the country format. McAlyster released no other material and broke up after this single. In 2007, former member Cody Collins succeeded

Richie McDonald Richard Vance McDonald (born February 6, 1962) is an American country music singer and songwriter. From 1998 until his departure in 2007, he was the lead singer of the group Lonestar, which recorded seven studio albums on BNA Records during his t ...

as lead singer of the group Lonestar for one album, '' Party Heard Around the World'', while Walther began a solo career leading the Tampa-based

cover band A cover band (or covers band) is a band that plays songs recorded by someone else, sometimes mimicking the original as accurately as possible, and sometimes re-interpreting or changing the original. These remade songs are known as cover songs. ...

Phase 5 which shared the stage with

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

at an event for McCartney's stepson in 2015. Usilton now works as a vocal coach.

Singles

Music Videos

References

Country music groups from Florida MCA Records artists {{US-country-band-stub