500 Miles to Memphis

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500 Miles to Memphis
500 Miles to Memphis in 2018
Background information
Origin	Cincinnati, Ohio, United States
Genres	Punk Rock Americana
Years active	2003–present
Labels
Associated acts	The O's, Old 97's, Dopamines, Dutch Henry, Evelynn Rose, Moth, Cari Clara, Camp Sugar, Warsaw Falcons, Six Nights Alone
Website	www.500mtm.com
Members	Ryan Malott Noah Sugarman Kevin Hogle David Rhodes Brown Aaron Whalen Nate Hickey

500 Miles to Memphis^[1] is an Americana punk band from Cincinnati, OH. Their music is a cross-genre blend of country, Americana, bluegrass, and punk rock. Ryan Malott formed the band in 2003. Since then they have released four studio albums, which have won multiple awards,^[2] and been licensed to numerous movies, TV shows, and video games.

They have actively toured the United States since 2003.

500 Miles to Memphis consists^[3] of Ryan Malott (vocs, guitar, banjo), David Rhodes Brown (lap steel), Noah Sugarman (bass, vocs), Kevin Hogle (drums), Aaron Whalen (guitar, vocs), and Nate Hickey(guitar, mandolin, vocs).

History[]

2002–2003[]

At the age of 19, Ryan Malott started the band under the name of Underclass Motto which was then changed 500 Miles to Memphis. The name and the band were born out of a move from Cincinnati, OH to Dallas, TX in 2002 where Malott and friends hoped to start a punk band. In 2003 Malott formed the group and played their first show near the University of Cincinnati.

2004–2005[]

David Rhodes Brown and Noah Sugarman joined and helped the group take on a more mature sound and establish themselves as a serious act. Shortly after, Malott and co. signed with a local record label called 3rd Silo Records. They released their first full-length album, self-titled, and received a Cincinnati Entertainment Award for best “Roots/Folk/Americana”. The band began touring and wrote what would become, Sunshine In a Shot Glass.

2006–2007[]

Malott met a local drummer, Kevin Hogle, who was touring with MOTH at the time. Originally, Hogle was hired as a session player on the record until Malott could find a permanent drummer. In the spring of 2006, 500MTM began recording the album, Sunshine In a Shot Glass. Once they had rough mixes of the album, Malott began sending demos to national labels with all passing except for Deep Elm Records.^[4] In May 2007, they released Sunshine In a Shot Glass and hit the road once again. At this point, Kevin Hogle had become a full-time member, solidifying the band's lineup.

For many years following, Noah Sugarman played lead guitar and Jeff Snyder joined on bass.

2008–2012[]

There were many lineup changes, but the core members, Ryan Malott, Noah Sugarman, Kevin Hogle, David Rhodes Brown, stayed together. In 2010, 500MTM cut We’ve Built Up to Nothing. Shortly after the album’s release, Aaron Whalen joined on lead guitar moving Noah Sugarman back to his original position on bass.

2013–2017[]

500MTM decided to take some time off to sober up and concentrate on other projects. In 2014, the band reunited for another album, Stand There and Bleed, which was backed by their friends and fans through Kickstarter. It was a self-released album recorded by Ashley Shepherd at Audiogrotto.^[5]

2018–2019[]

Malott and co. clear-headed and more driven than ever to create music, started doing regional tours and pre-production on the album "Blessed Be the Damned". For the first time in their careers, Malott and Sugarman decided to start writing together. In May 2018 the boys of 500 jumped in the studio to record with engineer Adam Pleiman and producer John Pedigo.  Philip W. Peeples of Old 97s joined the band for a few tracks adding percussion to the songs "Save Me" and "I'm a Bastard"

2019–present[]

Their 5th studio album, "Blessed Be the Damned" was released on Jan. 26th, 2019 and dubbed "one of the first must-have records of 2019" by New Noise Magazine.^[6] Their album spent 5 weeks on the NACC Top 200 and 4 weeks on the FMQB SubModern Top 200 Albums. In May 2019, 500 Miles to Memphis signed a deal with Vinnie Fiorello at Paper + Plastick Records to release a vinyl record on August 9.

Awards[]

500 Miles to Memphis

• Winner of the 2005 Cincinnati Entertainment Award for best Roots/Americana/Folk
• Nominated for the 2006 CEA for best Rock
• Winner of the 2007 CEA for best Live Act
• Winner of the 2007 CEA for best Rock
• Nominated for the 2007 CEA for Album of The Year
• Nominated for the 2007 CEA for Artist of the Year
• Winner or the 2008 CEA for best Rock
• Nominated for the 2010 CEA for Album of the Year
• Winner of the 2011 CEA for Best Live Act
• Winner of the 2012 CEA for Best Live Act
• Winner of the 2013 CEA for Best Live Act
• Nominated for the 2015 CEA for Album of the Year^[7]

Licensing[]

500MTM's music has been licensed to multiple movies and TV shows, including:

• Travis Pastrana 199 Lives
• Kid Rock"Under-rated and Unsung"
• MTV's Nitro Circus
• MTV's Teen Mom
• Rock Band the video game
• Marlboro's bands on the run

Band members[]

Current members[]

• Ryan Malott - vocals, guitar, banjo (2003–present)
• Noah Sugarman - bass, vocals (2005–present)
• Aaron Whalen - guitar, vocals (2010–present)
• Kevin Hogle - drums (2007–present)
• David Rhodes Brown - lap steel (2006–present)
• Nate Hickey - vocals, mandolin, guitar (2018–present)

Past members[]

• Joshua Murphy - vocals, guitar (2014–2018)
• Jeff Snyder - bass (2007–2010)
• Elaina Brown - keyboard, vocals (2009–2010)
• Stephen Kuffner - guitar, vocals (2007–2009)
• Jason Gallagher - guitar
• Wade Owens - bass (2003–2005)
• Lee Steele - drums
• Brett Davis - drums (live/touring)
• Brian Davis - guitar (live/touring)
• Bryan Poindexter - drums
• Wasabi Hansen - guitar, vocals
• Aaron Hostetler - guitar, vocals
• Sean Duley - drums
• Ben Wirsching - drums
• Greg Tudor - backup vocals, guitar (2013-04-12, Newport, KY, The Southgate House Revival)

Session musicians[]

• Paul Patterson - fiddle (2007)
• Annalyse McCoy - vocals (2007)

Discography[]

Studio albums[]

• (2005) 500 Miles to Memphis (3rd Silo Records)
• (2007) Sunshine in a Shot Glass (Deep Elm Records^[8])
• (2010) We’ve Built Up to Nothing (Self-released)
• (2014) Stand There and Bleed (Self-released)
• (2018) Basement Bluegrass Sessions EP (Self-released)
• (Jan 2019) Blessed Be the Damned (Self-released)
• (August 2019) Blessed Be the Damned (Paper + Plastick Records)

Live albums[]

• (2011) Live at the Historic Southgate House
• (2018) Revival (Self-released)

References[]

• Grever, Nick (February 28, 2010). "Cincinnati’s own 500 Miles to Memphis". The News Record.
• "500 Miles To Memphis - Four Cincinnati Entertainment Awards Nominations!".

External links[]

• 500 Miles to Memphis at YouTube
• CincyMusic Profile