Review: The Georgia Thunderbolts 'Can We Get A Witness'

The Georgia Thunderbolts

By Mike O’Cull

21st Century Southern Rock iconoclasts The Georgia Thunderbolts shine brightly on their debut full-length album Can We Get A Witness. Set to break free October 15th, 2021 via Mascot Label Group, the record represents the start of a new era of Southern Rock built on life-changing songs and the energy of modern living. Working out of Rome, Georgia, the band created 13 soul-drenched, anthemic tracks for this new release and recorded them at Barrick Recording Studio in Glasgow, Kentucky with producer Richard Young at the desk. Those sessions yielded a set of music that aspires to the timelessness of Southern Rock giants like Lynyrd Skynyrd and The Allman Brothers Band but also shows the influence of Neil Young and Ozzy Osborne. It’s a strong batch of songs that are more than capable of helping rock music get back into the mainstream.

The Georgia Thunderbolts’ lineup of TJ Lyle (lead vocals), Riley Couzzourt (guitar), Logan Tolbert (guitar), Zach Everett (bass, harmony vocals, keys), and Bristol Perry (drums) is a top-shelf unit that blends tough, strutting southern blues with the kind of dirt-road rock and roll that people feel in their bones. Their bond was forged performing with heavyweights The Kentucky Headhunters and Blackberry Smoke and became an audible brotherhood that permeates every note they play. They put down a better-written and more personally authentic take on their chosen style than most of their peers that makes Southern Rock sound relevant again while still attracting new, contemporary fans.

“Take It Slow” opens Can We Get A Witness with a gut-punching beat, beautifully overdriven guitars, and TJ Lyle’s remarkable voice. His style falls right in between soulful roots music and mighty old-school metal and his vocal takes are absolutely glorious. He hits his lyrics with a bluesman’s phrasing and the power of a natural-born rocker and will snap you immediately to attention. All the band members play together as a unit with the skills and presence of arena veterans and will have you ordering this set before the first cut is done.

“Lend A Hand” starts off stomping and swampy before opening up into a high-flying chorus hook that will set up housekeeping in your ears. Guitarists Couzzourt and Tolbert put a full-on stranglehold on this one, rocking the pocket and ripping leads in all the right places. Their tones are stunning all the way through the record and they’re one of the strongest guitar duos out there right now. The mid-tempo chiller “So You Wanna Change The World” is a nice downshift among the harder cuts and hits the same deep, emotional spots as some of the tracks on Skynyrd’s often-overlooked 1976 masterpiece Gimme Back My Bullets. The guitar work here is stellar once again and delivers a ton of truly heartfelt twang.

One of the record’s most happening songs is the Georgia Thunderbolts’ muscular cover of the Allman Brothers’ highway hymn “Midnight Rider.” In the Thunderbolts’ hands, it becomes a dirtied-up hard rocker and they give this classic tune a treatment that’s not been heard before. It gets especially heavy at the end in a way that the ABB would likely never do but would dig.

The riff-driven“Can I Get A Witness” is crunching, hypnotic and topped off by another brilliant performance by vocalist Lyle. If you don’t get chicken skin when he really leans into his lines, you may have a soul deficit that needs tending to. Other killer songs on the set include “Spirit Of A Workin’ Man” and the moody closer “Set Me Free.” The Georgia Thunderbolts are a straight-up great rock band, Southern or not. The songwriting snaps, the vocals roar, and the guitars are exactly what they should be. You’ve been waiting for this record to come along. Believe that.

Watch “It’s Alright”