By Stephen Thomas Erlewine, AllMusic

A group of Southern rock traditionalists from Nashville, the Steel Woods lay claim to the sound pioneered by Lynyrd Skynyrd. Like Skynyrd, the Steel Woods balance heavy blues-rock with Southern poetry, and this quartet add a bit of plain-spoken outlaw country to the mix, as evidenced on their 2017 debut Straw in the Wind.

Prior to forming the Steel Woods, guitarists Wes Bayliss and Jason “Rowdy” Cope were both pursuing musical careers. Cope found work as a session musician and played in Jamey Jonhson’s band, but once he met Bayliss at a Nashville gig, the two clicked. First they became friends, then they wound collaborating, adding bassist Johnny Stanton and drummer Jay Tooke to round out the lineup. An eponymous EP came out in 2016, and the next year saw the release of Straw in the Wind on Thirty Tigers.

This article originally appeared on AllMusic.

Source: http://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-steel-woods-mn0003610052/biography

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