Mike Arterbury and Jim Wyly have known each other for over 30 years and have been singing together off and on for most of this time.. About four years ago, they hooked up with his son, Mark, and a friend named Larry Murray and started jamming together. They slowly picked up the other guys; Eddie Penix , Riley Hickerson and John Christian , and Movin' Target was born.
A large band by choice, gives Movin Target a wide range of influences making it impossible to quickly list the influences of everyone. This is not a One Star Band ! Jim, Ed, Mike and Mark all take there turn in the sun creating an appeal that ranges across a wide scope of age groups and listening habits. Movin' Target, as the name implies, moves around from genre to genre and some instrumental switches as well. |
"We're very confident about our original music because we started off playing in bars where covers are king, and we got away with playing mostly original songs right from the start. The cover tunes we do are carefully selected from our individual influences”, said leader Jim Wyly. If you must try to tie down a list of influences, the majority of it comes from the 1964 to 1975 era. Much of the original music that we now call Americana and Roots is heavily influenced by this period of popular music, although Movin Target's music is not entirely boxed in by this.
In 2004 Movin' Target won Best Americana Band and Best Songwriting at the "Texas Music and Entertainment Awards" in Arlington.. Movin' Target has the blend of genres, vocals and new material that will keep listeners locked in from the first song |
Looking for a band with a lot of original variety of sounds and great vocal harmonies, then, Movin' Target is a band worth looking into. Featuring "Multiple" lead singers, rich instrumental mixes and several creative songwriters. The original material is clever and home-spun, covering the classic love songs to the front porch philosophies that anyone can identify with, mixing sounds of Americana, Roots, Rock, Country and R&B originals with a list of standard covers. For lack of a better word, Roots Rock Americana, may vaguely describe the music.
Movin' Target has recently released their new CD, UnPegged , which has been in process for almost a year. Fueled mostly by the writing of Jim Wyly, It is a four, five, six, seven or eight piece band, according to the venue, with a blend of guitars, keyboards, midi-guitar, harmonica, fiddle, lots of percussion and vocal harmonies. And don't be surprised if a sax or another guest vocalist is sitting in for the evening.
This seven-piece group is somewhat unique in the fact that four of the band members sing lead vocals. "We span several generations and formats, from Country, Americana, Rock and R&B," said founding member and head writer Jim Wyly. All band members are writers and the influences portray a long list of diverse styles, stemming mainly from the 60's thru the 70's music. |
