Southern rock group Whiskey Myers recently took to social media to celebrate some milestones in the music business. The band, which blends elements of country music, hard rock, and classic rock to create a sound all their own, may not be a household name just yet. But their thousands of fans recently became millions of fans, as evidenced by the group’s new platinum certifications for a few of their hit singles.
In the Instagram post, the band holds up two separate commemorative displays featuring four different singles. Three of the songs (Stone, Ballad of a Southern Man, and Broken Window Serenade) have been certified platinum; the last song (Virginia) is certified gold. In the United States, platinum certification means that an album has sold 1 million copies or that a single has sold 2 million copies. Digital streams also affect the numbers, as 100 free streams typically count as one “buy” or similar download.
The boys from Whiskey Myers captioned the post by thanking fans for their support; and reminding the world that it’s about the music, not the honors.
“Since day 1 of being a band, all we want to do is make music that we’re proud of, and hope that maybe people will like it too. That’s our main goal every time we go in to the studio. We don’t do it for the accolades and awards. That being said, we are honored to now have 3 platinum singles and another gold single. Thank you to all of our fans for making this happen! Without y’all, none of this would be possible,” the caption reads.
Whiskey Myers writes and produces much of their own music
Releasing a hit single (or four) is a great achievement for any singer. But crafting the song from inception, through studio time, and into a final product all internally takes an incredibly talented collective. Having total creative control is both blissful and risky in the business of music, but the Whiskey Myers men make it look pretty easy.
In 2021, the Texas-ensemble returned to one of their favorite recording studios in the town of Tornillo (the same site as their 2019 self-titled effort). Apparently they enjoyed it so much that they named their latest album after the town.
“So Tornillo [is] our second self-produced album,” said Cody Cannon to Outsider‘s Jim Casey. “Yeah, we wrote all the songs. Just kind of the same ol’ Wiggy stuff. We did go out there . . . we ventured. It’s going to have a little bit different sound. We added a bunch of stuff we haven’t used before. We just wanted to do something a little different. I mean, it’s still Whiskey Myers at its core. But it’s kind of fresh and a little bit different sound. We did a lot of brass and horns on this one, which is something we’ve always wanted to do.
“Just being fans of all that old music and Motown stuff and a lot of the stuff coming out of Muscle Shoals, and old rock and roll. We’re big Stones fans. So it was something that we always wanted—to put some horns on it. So going to have some horns coming at you on the new record.”
