A Thousand Horses

The four core players – lead vocalist Michael Hobby, guitarists Bill Satcher and Zach Brown, and bassist Graham Deloach – are capable of raising the roof on their own, but when they augment their sound with three backing singers and a couple of extra performers, the band is downright thunderous.

“They can perform live with four, five, six or nine people on stages smaller bands complain about,” manager Scott McGhee of McGhee Entertainment told Pollstar, laughing. “They are just as a home on a stage five people say they can’t fit on as they are on a festival stage.”

Of the four key players, Satcher and Hobby were high school friends in North Carolina, where they were joined during summer breaks by Satcher’s cousin, Deloach, from Savannah, Ga. They were eventually introduced to Brown, who joined the band as they started gigging around the South.

With their blend of rock, country, gospel and soul influences, one can argue if A Thousand Horses is a country or rock band, but it’s definitely Southern – a statement they make with the title of their current album, Southernality.

The band initially signed with Interscope but, when label head Jimmy Iovine decided to change direction, found itself without a deal. It caught the attention of McGhee, who shared his enthusiasm with Republic Nashville’s Jimmy Harnen, who brought ATH to Big Machine’s Scott Borchetta, who signed them to a new deal.

McGhee says the band is never really off the road, and is booked through 2016, largely in support on Jason Aldean’s tour. But they are considering one-offs and festival looks in between those dates, and a European tour in March.

“You fall in love with the sound,” McGhee said, “but their live show will blow you away.”