Hard Working Americans is an American rock supergroup formed in 2013. The band consists of singer

Todd Snider Todd Daniel Snider (born October 11, 1966) is an American singer-songwriter whose music incorporates elements of folk, rock, blues, alt country, and funk. Early career Snider was born in Portland, Oregon and grew up in nearby Beaverton, wher ...

, bassist

Dave Schools David Allen Schools (born December 11, 1964) is a bass player and founding member of American rock band Widespread Panic. He is also a record producer, songwriter and journalist with articles published in a wide variety of music magazines. Schoo ...

from

Widespread Panic Widespread Panic is an American rock band from Athens, Georgia. The current lineup includes guitarist/singer John Bell (musician), John Bell, bassist Dave Schools, drummer Duane Trucks, percussionist Domingo "Sunny" Ortiz, keyboardist John "JoJ ...

, Chad Staehly of Great American Taxi on keyboards and

Duane Trucks Duane Trucks (born December 28, 1988) is an American musician best known as the current drummer for Widespread Panic and Hard Working Americans. Life and career Duane Trucks was born on December 28, 1988, in Jacksonville, Florida. He began lear ...

, also from

, younger brother to

Derek Derek is a masculine given name. It is the English language short form of Diederik, the Low Franconian form of the name Theodoric. Theodoric is an old Germanic name with an original meaning of "people-ruler" or "lead the people". Common varian ...

, on drums. Guitarist and vocalist

Neal Casal Neal Graeme Casal (November 2, 1968 – August 26, 2019) ...

died in 2019.

History

Their debut performance was December 20, 2013 at a

Boulder, Colorado Boulder is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule city in Boulder County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the most ...

benefit for Colorado Flood Relief. They embarked on a US Tour shortly thereafter. Their self-titled debut album ''

Hard Working Americans Hard Working Americans is an American rock Supergroup (music), supergroup formed in 2013. The band consists of singer Todd Snider, bassist Dave Schools from Widespread Panic, Chad Staehly of Great American Taxi on keyboards and Duane Trucks, also ...

'' was recorded in 2013 at

Bob Weir Robert Hall Weir ( ; né Parber, born October 16, 1947) is an American musician and songwriter best known as a founding member of the Grateful Dead. After the group disbanded in 1995, Weir performed with the Other Ones, later known as the Dead ...

TRI Studios Tamalpais Research Institute, also known as TRI Studios, is a virtual music venue in San Rafael, California. It is the brainchild of Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir, currently of Dead & Company as well as Bob Weir and Wolf Bros. TRI is a state ...

San Rafael, California San Rafael ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "Raphael (archangel), St. Raphael", ) is a city in and the county seat of Marin County, California, United States. The city is located in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay region of th ...

. It is composed entirely of

cover songs In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song released ...

from artists ranging from

Randy Newman Randall Stuart Newman (born November 28, 1943) is an American singer, songwriter, arranger, pianist, composer, conductor and orchestrator. He is known for his non-rhotic Southern American English, Southern-accented singing style, early America ...

Drivin N Cryin Drivin N Cryin is an American Southern rock band from Atlanta, Georgia. History The band was formed in 1985, soon after Kevn Kinney had relocated to Atlanta from Milwaukee.Kinney, Kevn> Bio">Drivin' N Cryin' >> Bio. Drivin' N Cryin' Official w ...

. The album was produced by Schools and Snider, and was mixed by John Keane.

John Popper John Popper (born March 29, 1967) is an American musician and songwriter, known as the co-founder, lead vocalist, and frontman of the rock band Blues Traveler. Early life Popper was born on March 29, 1967, in Cleveland, Ohio. His father was a ...

guests on

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica incl ...

. ''Hard Working Americans'' was released on January 21, 2014, on Thirty Tigers/Melvin Records. In 2016, the band released their second album, ''Rest in Chaos,'' which, unlike their previous record, is composed primarily of original songs written by the band themselves. The exception is the track "The High Price of Inspiration", written by

Guy Clark Guy Charles Clark (November 6, 1941 – May 17, 2016) was an American folk and country singer-songwriter and luthier. He released more than 20 albums, and his songs have been recorded by other artists, including Townes Van Zandt, Jerry Jeff ...

for his album ''My Favorite Picture of You''. Clark has a cameo speaking, and also plays guitar on the track. ''Rest in Chaos'' was written and recorded live as the band was finishing their first tour; using Snider's poetry to start the lyric, he finished the songs after principle recording was complete. The album was produced by band member Dave Schools, and also featured the addition of Jesse Aycock to the band's lineup. Longtime friend and collaborator

Elizabeth Cook Elizabeth Cook (born July 18, 1972) is an American country music singer and radio host. She has made over 400 appearances on the Grand Ole Opry since her debut on March 17, 2000, despite not being a member. Cook, "the daughter of a hillbilly s ...

sings on the track "Massacre". In 2019, founding guitarist Neal Casal died.

Members

Current members

* Chad Staehly *

* Jesse Aycock

Former members

Neal Casal Neal Graeme Casal (November 2, 1968 – August 26, 2019) ...

(2013–2019; his death)

Releases

Studio albums

* ''

'' (2014, Thirty Tigers / Melvin Records) * ''Rest in Chaos'' (2016, Melvin Records)

Live albums

* ''The First Waltz'' (2014, Melvin Records) * ''We're All In This Together'' (2017, Thirty Tigers / Melvin Records)

Singles

* "Down to the Well" (2013, Thirty Tigers / Melvin Records) * "Stomp and Holler" (2014) * "Opening Statement" (2016)

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Rock music groups from California American rock music supergroups Musical groups established in 2013 2013 establishments in the United States Thirty Tigers artists