Staff Reports - The Paris News
Inspired by the lyrics and lives of music legends Merle Haggard and Johnny Cash, four area roughnecks are attempting to walk their own line on the crooked road that is Texas music. Known for their vintage pearl-snap shirts and hippie-inspired hair styles, local band Miles From Nowhere is slowly converting new fans to the age-old southern genre that seems to be taking Texas and Oklahoma by storm.
Merrol Ray, Joey Jordan, Adam Walker and Wesley Joe Malone make up the band and have been playing at local bars and fundraisers for more than a year.
"We play a lot of cover tunes right now, but we do have originals," Ray, lead vocalist, said.
The band, currently looking to record, brings a unique mixture of country, rhythm and blues, bluegrass and rock to the stage with a hint of outlaw sensibility. Ray's song "I Am" is based on his struggles with drug and alcohol addiction.
"It's a daily battle," he said. "It's not something you can beat. You face it every day."
Walker said his song "November" illustrates love gone bad and was written in about 20 minutes on a warm fall day.
"It was really flowing that day," the 27-year-old rhythm guitarist and vocalist said.
The band, which frequents venues such as Crosswire and Dillon’s in Paris and The Hangout in Commerce, has opened for rising music stars Aaron Watson and Jason Aldean, known for "Hicktown". The men of Miles From Nowhere credit music greats such as Hank Williams Jr., the Alman Brothers and the Steve Miller Band as their inspiration. Jordan said he prefers the sounds of Willie Nelson and Ray Charles.
"Old country and old R&B," the 36-year old bass guitarist, said. "They run neck and neck."
Jordan said he was impressed with Jamie Foxx's portrayal of the blues legend in last year's blockbuster movie "Ray," especially since he met the star at a church in Greenville when they were both kids.
"We played with him a few times," he said. "He was playing piano and organ ... most people know him as a comedian or for his movies, but not as a musician."
Malone, 19, is known as the punk rocker of the bunch.
"Johnny Cash is my hero," he said, adding his favorite band is the Misfits. "They both write about the same stuff if you really listen to their lyrics. It's all about the music."
But no matter their music preference, the band said it is open to performing all kinds of music.
"A lot of it is personal preference," Ray, 38, said. "We play what we like to play, and we play what we think people like to hear."
"It's just an adaptation and overcome situation," Walker said.
Miles From Nowhere is scheduled to perform at Dillion's in Paris on Dec. 14 and Dec. 16 with the Michael O'Neal Band and at the Elk's Lodge on Dec. 17.
But in all, the men of Miles From Nowhere have only one request.
"Support local bands," Walker said. "Because if it wasn't for local bands, we wouldn't have music today."
"Yeah, every band had to start from somewhere ... except for Queen," Malone laughs. "They've always been mainstream."
Published: December 11th, 2005