Bishop Gunn was a 4-piece

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

Americana Americana may refer to: *Americana music, a genre or style of American music * Americana (culture), artifacts of the culture of the United States Film, radio and television * ''Americana'' (1981 film), an American drama film * ''Americana'' (20 ...

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

band from

Natchez, Mississippi Natchez ( ) is the only city in and the county seat of Adams County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 14,520 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located on the Mississippi River across from Vidalia, Louisiana, Natchez was ...

. It consisted of Travis McCready, Ben Lewis, Burne Sharpe, and Drew Smithers. Bishop Gunn was influenced by artists such as

Wilson Pickett Wilson Pickett (March 18, 1941 – January 19, 2006) was an American singer and songwriter. A major figure in the development of soul music, Pickett recorded more than 50 songs that made the US R&B charts, many of which crossed over to the '' ...

Lynyrd Skynyrd Lynyrd Skynyrd (, ) is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida in 1964. The group originally formed as My Backyard and comprised Ronnie Van Zant (vocals), Gary Rossington (guitar), Allen Collins (guitar), Larry Junstrom ...

and

Soundgarden Soundgarden was an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1984 by singer and drummer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil, and bassist Hiro Yamamoto. Cornell switched to rhythm guitar in 1985, replaced on drums initially ...

. The band was named after a tombstone they saw in Natchez, that was over the resting place of the sixth Bishop of Natchez, John Edward Gunn. The band suspended activity February 20, 2020.

History

Frontman Travis McCready left his blue-collar job working as a welder in a steel mill to pursue a career in music full-time. Drummer Burne Sharpe was searching for a singer to perform with for a festival date, so they met and performed together at Great Mississippi River Balloon Race in 2014. The band was joined by former marine Ben Lewis on bass, then the Bishop Gunn line-up was completed in 2017 when they met guitarist Drew working in a guitar shop in

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

Music career

Bishop Gunn recorded their first EP in Leipers Fork at producer Casey Wasner’s studio, The Purple House, and it was self-released on their own label Farm2Turntable in February 2016. The EP tracks included: "Let the People Know", "Eye of a Hurricane", "Have Your Way With Me", "Bank of the River" and "Riders". The band played together regularly at Smoot's Grocery in Natchez and played throughout

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

and

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

in 2017 including shows in autumn of that year supporting

. Bishop Gunn worked on a new album in 2017 recording with new guitarist Drew Smithers at Muscle Shoals Sound, The Purple House and

Fame Studios FAME (Florence Alabama Music Enterprises) Studios is a recording studio located at 603 East Avalon Avenue in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, United States, an area of northern Alabama known as the Shoals. Though small and distant from the main recording l ...

. They released their debut full-length album titled ''Natchez'' named after their hometown on May 4, 2018. Bishop Gunn played a

SXSW South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

showcase in March 2018, then toured with The Marcus King band,

Blackberry Smoke Blackberry Smoke is an American country rock band formed in Atlanta, Georgia, in 2001. The lineup consists of lead vocalist and lead guitarist Charlie Starr, lead/rhythm guitarist Paul Jackson, bassist Richard Turner and keyboardist Brandon Stil ...

, Whiskey Myers and played two cruises on

cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports of call, where passengers may go on Tourism, tours k ...

s with

Kid Rock Robert James Ritchie (born January 17, 1971), known professionally as Kid Rock, is an American musician, singer, rapper, and songwriter. After establishing himself in the Music of Detroit#Hip-hop, Detroit hip-hop scene, he broke through into m ...

. In May 2018 the band launched their first "Bishop Gunn Crawfish Boil" (BGCB) festival in

. The event sold around 4000 tickets and took place in Bluff Park, Natchez. The band released their first single, "Shine", from their new album ''Natchez'' in May 2018 to coincide with the festival. Directed by Tyler Barksdale, the video, set in Natchez features people in different jobs and positions working in the city, from the Natchez Brewery to the steel mill where Travis McCready once worked. The song is also featured on comedian Theo Von's podcast, "This Past Weekend". The band were included in ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' magazine's "10 New Country Artists You Need to Know: May 2018" along with

The Felice Brothers The Felice Brothers are an American folk rock/country rock band from New York.Bumgardner, Ed, 8 November 2007'Music Notes: Felice Brothers are earthy, their music visceralRelish Now!''. History Originally from Palenville in the Catskill Mo ...

and

Maren Morris Maren Larae Morris (born April 10, 1990) is an American singer-songwriter. Rooted in the country genre, her music blends in elements of pop and R&B. Her accolades include a Grammy Award, an American Music Award, five Country Music Associatio ...

. The band released a second single from ''Natchez'' titled "Alabama" in October 2018 together with a video that featured comedian and broadcaster Theo Von. The story of the recording of the track "Alabama" is that Bishop Gunn were heading to the recently reopened

Muscle Shoals Muscle Shoals is the largest city in Colbert County, Alabama, United States. It is located on the left bank of the Tennessee River in the northern part of the state and, as of the 2010 census, its population was 13,146. The estimated popula ...

to record "Alabama" when they received a phone call telling them that

Rick Hall Roe Erister "Rick" Hall (January 31, 1932 – January 2, 2018) was an American record producer, songwriter, and musician who became known as the owner of FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. As the "Father of Muscle Shoals Music", he was ...

, the studio's owner for more than 50 years, had died. At the urging of Hall's son, Rodney, Bishop Gunn continued driving to Fame, where they recorded "Alabama" with help from a number of local musicians, including rapper GMane who later starred in the music video. The video was produced and directed again by Nashville director Tyler Barksdale and features an eerie baptism scene replete with snakes and Pentecostal worship. The video was part of a series of videos that tell a story inspired on the song. In 2019 the band released a video for ''Makin' It'' from the album '''Natchez, directed once again by Tyler Barksdale. The song, about the death of Travis McCready's brother, was featured in ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's top 10 country and Americana songs of February 2019. The band also won the ''

Classic Rock Classic rock is a radio format that developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, it comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the early-1990s, primarily focusing on comm ...

'' magazine poll with the song in the same month. The band embarked on their first European tour February 2019 headlining shows from Dublin, to Cologne, including their first London show. The band also supported

The Struts The Struts are a British rock band formed in Derby in 2012. The band comprises lead vocalist Luke Spiller, guitarist Adam Slack, bassist Jed Elliott, and drummer Gethin Davies. The band have released four studio albums, two EPs and two live a ...

in Paris, then joined

Slash Slash may refer to: * Slash (punctuation), the "/" character Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Slash (Marvel Comics) * Slash (''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'') Music * Harry Slash & The Slashtones, an American rock band * Nash th ...

for a run of European dates. On February 20th, 2020, the band announced via Facebook that "Bishop Gunn is suspending all future activity including tour dates and new music releases." The band stated the reason was "internal issues."

Discography

* ''Bishop Gunn'' EP (2016)

Studio albums

* ''Natchez'' (2018) * ''Gypsy Cadillac'' (2021)

Members

* Travis McCready - Vocals/Guitars/Harmonica * Drew Smithers - Lead guitar * Hudson Laird - Lead guitar * Ben Lewis - Bass guitar * Burne Sharpe - Drums

References

External links

Bishop Gunn Natchez review

Bishop Gunn, The American Dream in an album

Bishop Gunn, Bello Bar, Dublin

Bishop Gunn, The Sound of Natchez
{{DEFAULTSORT:BishopGunn Rock music groups from Mississippi Musical groups established in 2017 Americana music groups Country music groups from Mississippi 2017 establishments in Mississippi Natchez, Mississippi