{{Short description|American country music band}} {{About|the American band||Western Flyer (disambiguation)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=October 2012}} {{Infobox musical artist <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Musicians --> | name = Western Flyer | image = WesternFlyer-2011.jpg | caption = The members of Western Flyer at a reunion dinner in 2011 (from left to right: Danny Myrick, Chris Marion, Roger Helton, Steve Charles, TJ Klay, and Bruce Gust) | alt = The six members of Western Flyer, gathered at a restaurant | background = group_or_band | origin = Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. | genre = Country | years_active = 1992–1997 | label = Step One | past_members = Steve Charles<br />Bruce Gust<br />T. J. Klay<br />Chris Marion<br />Danny Myrick<br />Roger Helton }} '''Western Flyer''' was an American country music band founded in 1992 in Nashville, Tennessee. The band consisted of Danny Myrick (lead vocals, bass guitar), Chris Marion (keyboards, vocals), T. J. Klay (harmonica, mandolin, vocals), Bruce Gust (drums, vocals), Steve Charles (lead guitar, vocals), and Roger Helton (acoustic guitar, banjo, vocals). The band released two albums for Step One Records, as well as six singles. Their highest peaking single is "What Will You Do with M-E?", which reached No. 32 on the ''Billboard'' country charts in 1996. After Western Flyer disbanded, Marion joined the Little River Band, and Myrick began writing songs for other artists.
==History== Western Flyer was founded in 1992 by lead singer and bass guitarist Danny Myrick and keyboardist Chris Marion. Completing the lineup were harmonicist/mandolinist T.J. Klay, drummer Bruce Gust, lead guitarist Steve Charles, and guitarist/banjoist Roger Helton. The band members met in Nashville at a church where some of them had been playing in the church band. The band took the name Western Flyer from a brand of bicycle.<ref name="whitburn">{{cite book|last=Whitburn|first=Joel|title=Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008|publisher=Record Research, Inc|year=2008|page=456|isbn=978-0-89820-177-2}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Rush |first=Diane Samms |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=qbwwAAAAIBAJ&pg=6755%2C4222623 |title=Western Flyer's in gear |work=Lakeland Ledger |date=November 27, 1994 |page=6C |accessdate=2015-08-30 }}</ref>
The group signed to the independent Step One Records label in 1993, and released a self-titled debut album a year later. This album accounted for five chart singles, of which four reached the lower regions of the ''Billboard'' country charts. The album's third release, "Cherokee Highway", did not chart in the U.S., although it was a Top 40 hit on the ''RPM'' Country Tracks charts and received media attention for its story of interracial violence.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/405063/COUNTRY-SONG-DARES-TO-ATTACK-RACISM-HEAD-ON.html?pg=all |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923231101/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/405063/COUNTRY-SONG-DARES-TO-ATTACK-RACISM-HEAD-ON.html?pg=all |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 23, 2015 |title=Country song dares to tackle racism head-on |accessdate=2008-08-04 |date=February 18, 1995 |work=Deseret News}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Rose |first=Van |url=http://archives.timesleader.com/1994_13/1994_10_03_FOR_BAND_WESTERN_FLYER__NO_ROAD_S_TOO_ROUGH__NO_SUBJECT_S_TOO_TO.html |title=For Band Western Flyer, No Road's Too Rough, No Subject's Too Tough |work=Times Leader |date=October 3, 1994 |accessdate=2015-08-30 }}</ref>
Western Flyer's second album, 1996's ''Back in America'', produced its highest charting single in "What Will You Do with M-E?" which reached No. 32 on the U.S. country charts.<ref name="whitburn"/> Also included on this album were "She Wants to Be Wanted Again," which Ty Herndon also released on his 1996 album ''Living in a Moment'' and released as a single in 1997, and "Lost in You", which received a "Critic's Choice" review in ''Billboard''.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vQkEAAAAMBAJ&q=%22western+flyer%22+billboard&pg=PA78 |title=Reviews and Previews |magazine=Billboard |date=November 16, 1996 |page=78 |accessdate=2015-08-30 }}</ref> ''Back in America'' produced no other chart singles, and Western Flyer disbanded in 1997. Marion subsequently joined the Little River Band, a rock group, in 2004. Danny Myrick signed to a songwriting contract with 3 Ring Circus Music, which is owned by Jeffrey Steele. Myrick has co-written "International Harvester" for Craig Morgan, "Loud" for Big & Rich,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.3ringcircusmusic.com/content/home_c.htm |title=3 Ring Circus Music |accessdate=2008-04-01 }}</ref> the Number One hit "She's Country" for Jason Aldean, and "How Far Do You Wanna Go?" by Gloriana.
==''Western Flyer'' (1994)== {{Infobox album | italic_title = no | name = Western Flyer | type = studio | artist = Western Flyer | cover = westernflyer1.jpg | alt = | released = August 20, 1994 | recorded = | venue = | studio = | genre = Country | length = | label = Step One No. 85 | producer = Ray Pennington, Western Flyer | prev_title = | prev_year = | next_title = Back in America | next_year = 1996 }}
===Track listing=== #"Western Flyer" (Danny Myrick, Tony Wood) – 3:53 #"She Should've Been Mine" (Kent Blazy, Jim Dowell, Rob Crosby) – 3:41 #"His Memory" (Donny Kees, Richard Ross) – 3:20 #"Cherokee Highway" (Myrick, Wood) – 4:45 #"I Would Give Anything" (Roger Ball) – 3:10 #"Friday Night Stampede" (Marcus Hummon, Monty Powell) – 3:07 #"Liar's Moon" (Myrick, Don Pfrimmer, Philip Douglas) – 2:41 #"A Hundred Others Like It" (Myrick, Wood) – 2:45 #"The One Who Understands" (Greg Barnhill, Richard Bach) – 3:43 #"Pathway to the Moon" (Hummon, Michael Puryear) – 3:43
===Personnel===
====Western Flyer==== *Steve Charles- electric guitar, background vocals *Bruce Gust- drums, percussion, background vocals *Roger Helton- banjo, fiddle, acoustic guitar, background vocals *T.J. Klay- acoustic guitar, harmonica, mandolin, background vocals *Chris Marion- keyboards, background vocals *Danny Myrick- bass guitar, lead vocals
====Additional musicians==== *Cory Hutchinson- background vocals *Steve Mauldin- string arrangements *Kris Wilkinson- strings
==''Back in America'' (1996)== {{Infobox album | italic_title = no | name = Back in America | type = studio | artist = Western Flyer | cover = westernflyer2.jpg | alt = | released = July 23, 1996 | recorded = | venue = | studio = | genre = Country | length = | label = Step One No. 98 | producer = Ray Pennington, Western Flyer | prev_title = Western Flyer | prev_year = 1994 | next_title = | next_year = }}
===Track listing=== #"Back in America" (Layng Martine, Jr.) – 3:52 #"Lost in You" (Bryan Smith) – 3:36 #"Wish You Were Here" (Bob Dellaposta) – 3:54 #"Surrender" (Joe Diffie, Kent Blazy, Lonnie Wilson) – 2:52 #"I Know Where You're Coming From" (Jerry Taylor, Ashe Underwood) – 3:41 #"What Will You Do with M-E?" (Craig Martin, Rick Tiger) – 4:38 #"New Tin Roof" (Chapin Hartford, Jeff Moseley) – 3:11 #"She Wants to Be Wanted Again" (Billy Henderson, Steven Dale Jones) – 4:09 #"Less Than a Minute" (Tommy Barnes) – 3:15 #"Black and Blue" (Danny Myrick, Tony Wood) – 3:05 #"Rhythm of the Highway" (Myrick, Wood) – 4:17 #"Sixteen Tons" (Merle Travis) – 8:14
===Personnel===
====Western Flyer==== *Steve Charles - electric guitar, background vocals *Bruce Gust - drums, percussion, background vocals *Roger Helton - banjo, fiddle, acoustic guitar, background vocals *T.J. Klay - acoustic guitar, harmonica, mandolin, background vocals *Chris Marion - keyboards, piano, background vocals *Danny Myrick - lead vocals
====Additional Musicians==== *Bobby All - acoustic guitar *Kelly Back - electric guitar *Buddy Emmons - steel guitar *Aubrey Haynie - fiddle *Dirk Johnson - keyboards, piano *Jerry Kroon - drums *Gary Prim - keyboards, piano *W. David Smith - bass guitar *Kevin Williams - acoustic guitar
==Singles== {| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" |- ! rowspan="2"| Year ! rowspan="2" style="width:16em;"| Single ! colspan="2"| Peak chart<br />positions ! rowspan="2"| Album |- style="font-size:smaller;" ! width="45"| US Country ! width="45"| CAN Country |- | rowspan="2"| 1994 ! scope="row"| "Western Flyer" | 61 | — | align="left" rowspan="5"| ''Western Flyer'' |- ! scope="row"| "She Should've Been Mine" | 62 | — |- | rowspan="3"| 1995 ! scope="row"| "Cherokee Highway"{{efn|"Cherokee Highway" peaked at number 34 on ''Cashbox'' Top 100 Country Singles.<ref name="cashbox">{{cite journal | url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/90s/1995/CB-1995-05-06.pdf | title=Top 100 Country Singles | journal=Cashbox | pages=22 | date=May 6, 1995}}</ref>}} | — | 38 |- ! scope="row"| "Friday Night Stampede" | 71 | 62 |- ! scope="row"| "His Memory" | 74 | 80 |- | 1996 ! scope="row"| "What Will You Do with M-E?" | 32 | 36 | align="left" rowspan="3"| ''Back in America'' |- |rowspan=2|1997 ! scope="row"| "Wish You Were Here"<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/1990s/1997/RR-1997-03-07.pdf | title=Going for Adds | journal=Radio & Records | pages=81 | date=March 7, 1997}}</ref> | — | — |- ! scope="row"| "Lost in You" | — | — |- | colspan="5" style="font-size:8pt"| "—" denotes releases that did not chart |- |}
;notes {{notelist}}
==Music videos== {| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" ! Year ! style="width:16em;"| Video ! Director |- | rowspan="2"| 1994 ! scope="row"| "Western Flyer"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cmt.com/videos/western-flyer/384598/western-flyer.jhtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305074436/http://www.cmt.com/videos/western-flyer/384598/western-flyer.jhtml|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 5, 2016|title=CMT : Videos : Western Flyer : Western Flyer|publisher=Country Music Television|accessdate=October 14, 2011}}</ref> | rowspan="3"| Greg Crutcher |- ! scope="row"| "She Should've Been Mine" |- | 1995 ! scope="row"| "Cherokee Highway" |}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * [http://www.tjklay.com Official TJ Klay website] * [http://www.brucegust.com Official Bruce Gust website] * [http://www.stevenpcharlesmusic.com Official Steve Charles website]
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Category:Country music groups from Tennessee Category:Musical groups from Nashville, Tennessee Category:Musical groups established in 1992 Category:Musical groups disestablished in 1997 Category:Step One Records artists