Modern Day Honky Tonk Heroes Colin Southfield & The Mushroom Country Band Drops New Single ‘Bad Checks’

While it might not seem common, there’s some of the most authentic Honky Tonk country rock music bellowing out of Eastern Pennsylvania.

Colin Southfield & The Mushroom Country Band are delivering just that and more with their latest single “Bad Checks,” which comes shortly after their debut track “Sunday Stone” dropped in December. Both of these songs are products of their September 2nd studio session at Church Recording Studio in Pittsburgh, PA, where it was also mixed.

While there to record the singles, they also shot music videos for each of them with the help of KLEWS, the brand identity for videographer and editor Kenny Lewis. Besides entertainment and promotion, there is also a charitable angle the band is using their platform to make the most of with these projects. At the end of each video, viewers are encouraged to donate to and support the Scleroderma Foundation. 

These songs are already getting recognition on major streaming platforms, and rightfully so. Both of their singles landed on Spotify profile Mill Tailers’ New Western playlist, and “Bad Checks” was added to another called Best New Blues by a user named Don’s Tunes. Frontman Colin Suierveld joked that “they probably didn’t need another blues song with reference to the devil, but it’s on there anyways!” in his Facebook post thanking the inclusion on Tunes’ playlist.

But to pigeonhole their genre solely as country or western would be unfair and inaccurate. With the genuine self-described tagline of “unmistakably American music,” you could throw in a number of other valid descriptions: blues, Americana, and southern rock.

Between a groovy baseline, twangy electric guitars, and cheerful keys, “Bad Checks” feels like it would belong in the soundtrack of an action scene in a western movie, or played live for a crowd at one of Nashville’s Honky Tonks — somewhere where people are laughing, dancing, drinking, and having a good time all around. “The devil, he writes bad checks. Now I’m paying with my soul,” sings Suierveld for the hook with his gritty, passion-filled voice.

Guitarist and pedal steel player Derrick Beattie, nicknamed “DB,” is given an extra chance to shine in the bridge, which is a delight. Suierveld shouts “dig in, DB!” as the introduction for Beattie to launch into his solo, an appropriately high-energy and fun break on theme with the rest of the song.

The band is getting ready for their first opportunity to perform these songs to a live audience — a virtual one, that is — through The Palace’s online series, a venue in Greensburg, PA. Cleverly donned the VIP: Virtually In the Palace experience, Colin Southfield & The Mushroom Country Band are slotted for March 18th at 11pm ET.

With a good chunk of content out for the short time this band has been established, there is sure to be a lot more to look forward to from these sonic gunslingers.