{{Short description|American folk-rock band}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = The Apache Relay | image = | image_size = | landscape = | alt = | caption = | background = group_or_band | alias = | origin = Nashville, TN | genre = Folk rock | years_active = {{start date|2009}}–2015 | label = Dine Alone Records (Canada) | website = {{URL|http://theapacherelay.com/}} | current_members = * Michael Ford Jr * Mike Harris * Brett Moore * Steve Smith * Kellen Wenrich * Ben Ford | past_members = }}
'''The Apache Relay''' was an American folk-rock band based out of Nashville, Tennessee. The band consisted of Michael Ford Jr (singer/guitarist), Mike Harris (guitar), Brett Moore (mandolin, organ), Steve Smith (drums), Kellen Wenrich (fiddle) and Ben Ford (bass and vocals).<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.sussexexpress.co.uk/what-s-on/entertainments/nashville-rockers-swagger-into-the-uk-1-6523821 | title=Nashville rockers swagger into the UK | work=Sussex Express | date=17 January 2015 | accessdate=8 February 2015 | archive-date=February 8, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150208170442/http://www.sussexexpress.co.uk/what-s-on/entertainments/nashville-rockers-swagger-into-the-uk-1-6523821 | url-status=dead }}</ref> The band's name originated from a race-competition scene in the movie Heavyweights.<ref name="fuse2012">{{cite web | url=http://www.fuse.tv/2012/08/you-need-to-know-nashville-folk-rockers-the-apache-relay | title=You need to know: The fervent folk-rock of Apache Relay | work=Fuse | date=21 August 2012 | accessdate=1 February 2015 | author=Lynch, Joe}}</ref>
==History== Formed in a dorm at Belmont University, they released the concept album ''1988'' in 2009 under the moniker "Michael Ford Jr. & the Apache Relay", later dropping the frontman's name for their follow-up 2011 album ''American Nomad''.<ref name="BillboardBio">{{cite magazine | url=http://www.billboard.com/artist/380475/apache-relay/biography | title=The Apache Relay bio | magazine=Billboard | accessdate=1 February 2015}}</ref><ref name="Paste2014">{{cite web | url=http://www.pastemagazine.com/blogs/av/2014/04/album-stream-the-apache-relay---the-apache-relay.html | title=Album Stream: The Apache Relay - The Apache Relay | work=Paste Magazine | date=15 April 2014 | accessdate=1 February 2015}}</ref> They opened for a number of Mumford & Sons tour dates, appeared at numerous music festivals, and a song from the album, "Power Hungry Animals" was used in the 2013 comedy film The Way Way Back.<ref name="HuffPost2014">{{cite web | url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-r-byrne/the-apache-relays-time-ha_b_5175886.html | title=The Apache Relay's Time Is Here | work=Huffington Post | date=21 April 2015 | accessdate=1 February 2015}}</ref>
In 2014 they released the single "Katie Queen of Tennessee" from their eponymous 2014 album ''The Apache Relay''.<ref name="RS2014">{{cite magazine | url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/apache-relay-build-up-katie-queen-of-tennessee-song-premiere-20140123 | title=Apache Relay Build Up 'Katie Queen of Tennessee' - Song Premiere | magazine=Rolling Stone | date=23 January 2014 | accessdate=1 February 2015}}</ref> They also recorded a cover of the Bruce Springsteen song "Cover Me" for the ''Dead Man's Town: A Tribute to Born in the U.S.A.'' compilation album.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.americansongwriter.com/2014/07/stripped-springsteen-tribute-album-fall/ | title=Dead Man's Town: A Tribute To Born In The U.S.A. Due Out This Fall | work=American Songwriter | date=7 July 2015 | accessdate=8 February 2015}}</ref>
==Discography== {| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" |- ! rowspan="2" style="width:14em;"| Title ! rowspan="2" style="width:18em;"| Details ! colspan="1"| Peak chart positions |- style="font-size:smaller;" ! width="35"| US Heat<br><ref>{{cite magazine|url={{BillboardURLbyName|artist=The Apache Relay|chart=Heatseekers Albums}}|title=The Apache Relay Album & Song Chart History - Heatseekers Albums|magazine=Billboard}}</ref> |- ! scope="row"| ''1988'' | * Release date: 2009 * Label: * Formats: | — |- ! scope="row"| ''American Nomad'' | * Release date: 2011 * Label: * Formats: | — |- ! scope="row"| ''The Apache Relay'' | * Release date: April 22, 2014 * Label: * Formats: | 43 |- | colspan="10" style="font-size:8pt"| "—" denotes releases that did not chart |- |}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{Official website|http://theapacherelay.com/}} *{{YouTube | u = apacherelay }}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Apache Relay}} Category:American folk rock groups Category:Musical groups established in 2009
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