A Thousand Horses

A Thousand Horses Biography by James Christopher Monger A rootsy and road-tested Southern rock ensemble with both bar band swagger and country-pop smarts, Nashville's A Thousand Horses specialize in a blend of hard-hitting classic rock, modern country, and highway-ready Americana, combining the Southern rock of the Black Crowes and Lynyrd Skynyrd with a hardscrabble craft that's equal parts heartland rock and Red Dirt country. After cutting their teeth for several years, they broke through with their debut single, "Smoke," which topped the Billboard Country Airplay charts in 2015. A Thousand Horses spent the next few years building their audience and sharpening their attack through constant touring punctuated by the occasional single or EP, such as 2018's Bridges. They returned with their tough, literate second album, Broken Heartland, in 2022. After slimming down to a trio, the band released their third LP, The Outside, in 2024. The culmination of the musical pursuits of longtime friends and Newberry, South Carolina natives Michael Hobby (lead vocals, harmonica) and Bill Satcher (lead guitar), who had been making music together since they were 15, the band, which also features the talents of Graham DeLoach (bass, vocals) and Zack Brown (guitar, vocals), released an eponymous debut EP in 2010. This led to the group inking a deal with Big Machine Records/Republic Nashville in 2014. Their first single for the label, "Smoke," was a number one hit, earning the band widespread exposure. It was followed by "(This Ain't No) Drunk Dial," which peaked at number 22. Southernality, A Thousand Horses' debut full-length album, was released in 2015 in the midst of a North American tour, and landed in the Top Five at the beginning of the next year. They followed up in 2018 with Bridges, an EP that featured six new tracks. Between 2019 and 2020, A Thousand Horses issued a series of singles, beginning with "My Time's Comin'," running through "Livin' My Best Life" and "Drinking Song," and culminating with "A Song to Remember," the first track released on their own Highway Sound imprint. The band spent the next two years working on the material that became their long-awaited second album, Broken Heartland, which arrived in August 2022. Brown left the band in 2023 and they carried on as a trio, releasing the leaner, but satisfyingly melodic The Outside in August 2024.