Bozeman Magazine

The Steel Woods’ sophomore Thirty Tigers album, Old News, represents a creative leap for the southern roots rock songwriting team of Alabama native Wes Bayliss and his  North  Carolina partner Jason “Rowdy” Cope, who completed their first recordings barely months after they first met.

Released in 2019, Old News puts The Steel Woods’ blend of outlaw country and rowdy Southern rock on display with thoughtful songwriting that touches on universal truths like perseverance, unity, hope and resilience. Foot-stomping originals like “All Of These Years” draw inspiration from motifs on the road, while sensitive ballads like “Without You” reference the love and loyalty of dynamic women. The band ends Old News with a four-song epilogue to honor several recently lost musical icons — Tom Petty, Merle Haggard, Wayne Mills and Gregg Allman. Watch the official music video for their cover of Petty's “Southern Accents” via Rolling Stone Country here.

Old News also features renditions of classics like “The Catfish Song” by Townes Van Zandt and “Changes” by Black Sabbath (as Charles Bradley performed it). The Sabbath nod follows The Steel Woods' cherished cover of “Hole in the Sky” from their 2017 studio debut, Straw in the Wind. The music video for Straw In The Wind’s title track has nearly 2 million views on YouTube, watch it here.

Live in concert, the group captivates crowds with their energetic live shows. Garden & Gun boasts that “fans of Southern rock will find hope for the genre’s future in The Steel Woods,” and they’ve already won over critics at the Associated Press, American Songwriter, No Depression, Wide Open Country, The Boot and Magnet.