Kentucky Band The Creekers ‘Follow the Sound’ as Their Career Rises Alongside a Roots Music Revival: ‘It Gives Us Hope We Can Make a Living at This’

Just a couple of years ago, the members of the Kentucky band The Creekers were holding down day jobs while performing at tiny Kentucky clubs. Lead guitarist Tanner Horton, fiddler Anna Blanton, vocalists Scott Sutton, Allen Hacker, and bass/vocalist brothers Ashton and Jagger Bowling were all earning money in jobs ranging from distribution center work to forestry, music, and shoeing horses.

Over the past year, thanks to their viral bluegrass-drenched hit "Tennessee," they've performed at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium, Colorado's Red Rocks Amphitheatre, and made their Grand Ole Opry debut. Hacker jokingly quipped, "If you would’ve told us that when we were in Pat’s Snack Bar in Manchester, Kentucky, that we would play the Grand Ole Opry in two years, I’d probably say, ‘Give me what you’re drinking.’" Blanton admitted, "I don’t know if any of us ever thought we would play that."

Releasing their sophomore album Follow the Sound, the band marks their first full-length release with Warner Records Nashville. Forming in Leslie County, Kentucky in 2022, the band's name comes from their shared rural roots and inspiration from a Tyler Childers tune. Their music, dubbed "creekergrass," blends elements of bluegrass, pop, country, blues, and soulful Gospel.

With their new album, The Creekers delve deeper into rustic country themes, touching on fatherhood and making memories in the moving "Little Man." They also highlight rural Kentucky with "Outlaw Song," featuring Jamey Johnson, a Warner Records Nashville labelmate. Many of the songs on Follow the Sound were previously unreleased or only featured in earlier projects.

The band has been opening shows for Turnpike Troubadours, playing at The Station Inn in Nashville, and received the International Bluegrass Music Association's Moment Award.