You’ll believe just about anything Micah Hayes sings in his rusty Southern growl. Genuine and gritty, the Austin songwriter comes off appropriately lonesome for the Americana realm, yet tough enough to be a rock & roll poet. In either uniform, his heart remains on his sleeve.
His band, Town Hall Devils, has expanded and retracted in membership since forming in 2010 – always including drummer Ky Williams. Last year, the group crystallized with the addition of guitarist Tyson Swindell (Games and Theory, Pack of Wolves), whose scathing guitar tone redefined THD so much that they scrapped all material and started over. That resulted in November’s Ouroboros Blues, a five-song EP fusing roots rock with elements of punk and psychedelia.
Left of that debut disc was the rocker “Frenchy,” which rides a bashing beat as Hayes sings, “It’s all that I could do not to tell you, your war is over and the soldiers are coming home!”
Town Hall Devils hit the highway this summer to promote Ouroboros Blues.
This article appears in May 8 • 2015.