Bill Satcher – A Thousand Horses
The band A Thousand Horses formed in 2010 and are from Nashville, Tennessee. Blending country music with elements of rock, the band have built up a loyal worldwide fanbase, toured with Jason Aldean, Thomas Rhett and other country music stars and even have a US number one hit with ‘Smoke’. During their debut UK visit JLTT sat down with ATH guitarist Bill Satcher to chat about the band, their songs and the first live music show he went to. Enjoy…
How did the name ‘A Thousand Horses’ come about?
When we first formed the band a few years back, Michael and I wrote a song titled ‘A Thousand Horses’ and after kicking around a few more ridiculous ideas we just decided to name the band after the song. I think it was the only thing the four of us could agree on.
Do you have any favoured stage guitars?
My go to guitars are always Gibson. I have several Les Pauls and 335s I switch between. Right now I’ve mostly been using an ES Semi-Hollow Les Paul that I’ve added a Bigsby to and a 59’ 335TD that screams. The Gibson Memphis factory is really putting some amazing stuff out right now. I do have one Tele I play on a few songs but it’s really just a parts-caster.
Do you have any favoured stage microphones?
The entire band just recently switched over to using Sennheiser Stuff. They’re incredible and have lots of crisp clarity. I think we are using the ew500 series for vocals and the e906 mics on the guitar cabs.
Can you tell me about the other members of ‘A Thousand Horses’? e.g. (who else is in the band and who plays what)
Yeah, Michael Hobby is the Lead Singer. We went to high school together in South Carolina and have been playing together since then. Graham DeLoach is the Bassist and we are first cousins, and Zach Brown is our other guitarist. we met in 2010 and that’s when we formed ATH.
When were you first exposed to country music?
I grew up in the Carolinas so Country Music was and is just part of the atmosphere there. I don’t really remember being exposed to it the first time. It was always just part of life and growing up, and almost all my friends listened to country radio a lot.
Are/were your parents musical?
Not really, but they are big music fans over all. Music was always playing in the house. From a young age I was exposed to an array of musical genres from The Beatles, Led Zeppelin and The Moody Blues to Singer Songwriter stuff like Patty Griffin, Shawn Colvin and James Taylor. The list goes on.
Why do you think country music has seen a surge in popularity in both the US and the UK over the past few years?
I think country music is in an exciting time. There are lots of new artists with vast musical backgrounds and they are all bringing their own kinda thing to the table. I think as a genre overall it’s expanding and propelling itself forward musically everyday.
What is the best A Thousand Horses song to a) dance to b) drive to?
Dance to: ‘First Time’ or ‘Southernality’.
Drive to: ‘Heaven Is Close’ I started writing that song driving around Nashville in my car with the windows down a couple of springs ago. It was born on an afternoon drive and that’s also where it lives best.
Name a song with ‘One’, ‘Five’ and ‘Ten’ in the title
• ‘One Of Those Nights’ – Tim McGraw
• ‘Five Years’ – David Bowie
• ‘Ten Years Gone’ – Led Zeppelin
Without giving too much away, what can a UK audience expect from A Thousand Horses live show?
I think they can expect a great time ya know. The show is a great party and a great way to come rock out and forget about all the bull**** for a little while.
What the first gig you went to? Where was it?
The first show I ever attended was Paul McCartney at the Philips Arena in Atlanta, GA. I was 13 years old.
Could you tell me about the song ‘First Time’
‘First Time’ is the opening track on our debut album Southernality. Michael and I wrote the song with a friend on his back porch in a couple hours. It’s one our favourite songs to play live. It came together pretty effortlessly working it out with the band. It’s a real rocker.
The producers of the television show ‘Nashville’ ask to use A Thousand Horses song in the series. What song would you like them to use and which character would you like to perform it and why?
I think that the character Gunner would do a good version of our song ‘Back To Me’. He seems to do well with the acoustic numbers.
If Rosanne Cash and Boz Scaggs were to record one of your compositions which song would you put forward and nominate a dream band to provide the backing or instrumentation.
Probably our song ‘Sunday Morning’ with The Heartbreakers (Tom Petty) as the backing band. That would be pretty great.
What has been your best experience of opening for another act, as regards a positive response to your own set?
In the US we are on tour right now with Jason Aldean and Thomas Rhett. Every show has been incredible and the crowds have been great showing up early to see us and really getting into it.
Glenn Sargeant
A Thousand Horses debut album ‘Southernality’ is out now on Big Machine Label Group. For more information visit their official website here: http://bit.ly/1puzHTl
(Many thanks to Bill Satcher for taking part in the interview and both Chris Dean and David Sullivan at Wilful Publicity for all of their help with arranging this interview, supplying the official photos and all of their support)
