Two Texas natives — 6’4” guitar-wielding Level Two sommelier Brock Butler, and bona fide rocker with Warped Tour cred and a razor-sharp wit, Ryan Garrett — walked into Nashville’s Red Door Saloon.
Several drinks later, Heartwreckers stumbled out.
The new duo — refreshingly blunt singer-songwriters with an endless supply of hooks and melodies, but absolutely no filter — will release its debut single, “Shut Up,” on January 19.
Pre-save/add “Shut Up” HERE.
“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been writing songs in Nashville and you throw out an idea and everyone in the room says, ‘Oh, that’s sick!’” Butler says. “But then they immediately follow it with, ‘But we can’t say that.
Adds Garrett, “And I’m like, ‘We can say whatever the f*ck we want.”
That credo informs the whole of Heartwreckers’ upcoming EP, Shut Up And Drink, a collection of five envelope-pushing country songs all written by Butler and Garrett, reflecting the unblinking lyrical and sonic approach the duo applies to country music. Produced by Andrew Baylis (Jelly Roll, Austin Snell, Pecos & The Rooftops), Garrett describes the project’s sound as “Country. Ass. Rock. With
the periods!”
Shut Up And Drink is set for release on May 24, supported by a run of live show dates beginning February 9 (current list of dates below) including May 1 performances at the 28th Annual Key West Songwriters Festival, Presented by BMI.
The EP’s first single, “Shut Up,” is a candid conversation between a heartbroken dude and his buddy, who advises him the best way to forget his ex is to “shut up and drink.” More tender than the title might suggest, the song underscores the bond between Butler and Garrett, who attended the same Boerne, Texas, high school but didn’t meet each other until they moved to Nashville.
“When I got to town, I kept hearing these whispers about this other kid from Boerne who got out and became a published writer like me,” Butler says. “I knew I had to find him.”
Adds Garrett, “We met at the Red Door Saloon in midtown, got drunk as sh*t, and the rest
is history.”
Prior to forming Heartwreckers, Butler and Garrett had both landed publishing deals, and had accumulated hundreds of hours of stage time (Butler toured the country in a reggae band, while Garrett played in an emo-rock group on the Warped Tour).
“We’re not scared to be told ‘no,’ and move forward anyway,” Garrett says. “We’re gonna sing and write whatever we want. I want to play in front of 50,000 people, but I’ll be happy playing in front of 500 if it means we can say what we mean and feel.”
Heartwreckers Upcoming Tour Dates (For tickets to all dates, visit www.realheartwreckers.com):
With Creed Fisher (*denotes Heartwreckers only) —
Feb 9 – Cedar Park, TX – The Haute Spot
Feb 10 – Baton Rouge, LA – The Texas Club
Feb 14 – Sanford, FL – Tuffy’s Music Box
Feb 15 – Stuart, FL – Terra Fermata
Feb 17 – Brooksville, FL – The Whitehead Farm*
Feb 22 – Leesburg, VA – Tally Ho Theatre
Feb 23 – Columbia, SC – The Senate
Feb 24 – Greensboro, NC – Hangar 1819
Feb 25 – Jacksonville, NC – Hooligan’s
28th Annual Key West Songwriters Festival Presented by BMI
May 1 – Key West, FL
Heartwreckers is managed by Joe Carter of Carter & Co, Keith Lazorchak (Hard 8 Working Group), Mike Taliaferro (Taliaferro Entertainment), and Scott Siman, with Jackie Marushka on PR.
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