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When I was 13, my family moved from Virginia to Georgia. This is when I started playing music. I went to high school in Alabama, and through playing a little in the music scene there, I met Andy Jackson. In 1995, he invited my rock band to play with his, which led to us starting a band together that was eventually called Hot Rod Circuit. It took a few band names, a move to New England, a bunch of shows, personnel changes and band drama to get to that name, but once we did, we rocked it out for more than 10 years. As Hot Rod, we had put out one EP, six full-length records (five studio and one b-sides), made four music videos, and earned a modest amount of fans in the United States and other countries. There are plans for at least one more Hot Rod record to be released sometime in the future.

In between Hot Rod records, I started my first side project band in 2001 called The Don’t Tells. It was my wife and I writing poppy rock songs for fun. We put out one 7” and two full-length records, played several shows, and did one US tour.

I had tried my hand at pedal steel on a few Don’t Tells songs, and in 2002, I started taking pedal steel lessons back in Virginia. This is when I started getting into country music. I had liked and still like the older country that my grandparents used to listen to and watch on the “Grand Ole Opry,” but it wasn’t until Jay Russell, a friend and band mate, turned me onto Gram Parsons that I really became a country fan. He played me the song “Blue Eyes” by The International Submarine Band, and I don’t think I’ve been the same since. Not only was Gram an inspiration because of all the great pedal steel players he played with (which interested me most at the time), he also had fantastic musicians, songs, style and harmonies.

The Only Children, from Lawrence, Kansas, are the first band I played with that was doing something that lent itself to pedal steel. Most OC members had previously played in The Anniversary, a band that Hot Rod had toured with frequently. I played on two records and did one tour with this band. Solid dudes.

Once I moved to Colorado in 2005, I started playing more aggressive country rock with the Ft. Collins band Drag the River. I toured with them for nearly two years and played on two of their records. Again, solid dudes. On the road, I would sometimes sing a couple of songs at the end of the night, when everyone had reached the too-drunk-to-play part of the evening.

Around this time I felt like I needed to record some of my own material. I had been listening to a lot instrumental steel music and put together a project called Mt. Lyon, playing covers and originals of instrumental steel music. I booked time to make a record for this project and, while in the studio, planned to also record a solo record with me singing some songs I had been working on. I ended up putting Mt. Lyon on the back burner, as my solo record, The Hurtin’ Kind, turned out great. That’s when the Casey James Prestwood band was born.

I did not play pedal steel on The Hurtin’ Kind but was still playing regularly. Last year, I toured with some friends from California called Limbeck. I had played pedal steel on their record, and they thought they’d try it out live. They are great friends, players, and people. I had a great couple tours with them. As that was wrapping up, I got a call about playing with Rocky Votolato. Two of my old Drag the River buddies were playing with him also. I toured with him twice and had lots of fun.

Hot Rod Circuit played its last show Dec. 12th, 2007. Since then I’ve been working full time and pursuing my solo career. I just did a West Coast tour with Salt Lake City’s Band of Annuals as my backing band and my wife on the Wurlitzer piano. We formed my new live country band: Casey James Prestwood and The Burning Angels.

I am currently working on writing some new material for my next record.

Thanks for checking me out.

Casey James Prestwood
Aug. 31st 2008

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