10 Bands You’ve Probably Never Heard: The Letter H

I have a very large, diverse music collection. This is the series where I share with you some great bands that should be more famous. This post contains bands that start with the letter H (according to my iTunes anyway). I had 23 choices for bands you’ve never heard in the letter H. Here are some of my favorites.

Halfway To Gone

Halfway to Gone is one of my favorite bands. They only made a few albums before they called it quits, but they are glorious. Every single song on their eponymous album is gold. Pure, adrenalin-fueled rock and roll right here.

Origin: New Jersey
Genre: stoner rock, hard rock
Years active: 1999-2004

Hammerlock

Another fun band. Hammerlock is led by a husband and wife duo who make hard-driving southern rock.

Origin: California
Genre: southern rock, stoner rock, hard rock
Years active: 1995–present

Hammock

Hammock has only two members, but you’d never know it from their big sound. Beautiful post rock soundscapes. Put it on and close your eyes.

Origin: Nashville, Tennessee
Genre: Post-rock, ambient
Years active: 2004–present

Hands Of Orlac

I could easily see Hands of Orlac as the soundtrack to an old-timey horror movie, which is fitting since their band name comes from one.

Origin: Rome, Italy
Genre: Progressive rock, horror rock
Years active: 2009–present

Hank Williams III

This one is sort of cheating since everyone’s heard the name Hank Williams and even Hank Williams, Jr., but not too many are familiar with Hank 3, which is a damn shame because he is just as talented as his grandfather, and in my opinion, even more talented than his father. Hank 3 does pure country like his grandfather, not that new country crap.

For my money, Hank 3 is one of the most talented musicians working today, if for no other reason than the sheer number of genres he writes music in. He has been in a metal band (Superjoint Ritual, which we’ll cover in the Letter S post), a punk band (Assjack) and his own self-titled country band. I love all three.

When I saw him live, he did three entire sets in three different musical genres. The crowd started off with a bunch of country folks in cowboy hats. After the first set, which was the country set, they all took off in disgust. They missed two other sets that were absolutely amazing, because they wouldn’t tolerate anything that wasn’t pure country. I stayed for the whole show and wanted more.

Origin: Nashville, Tennessee
Genre: country, hellbilly, outlaw country
Years Active: 1991–present

The Haunted Windchimes

The ‘Chimes as they call themselves are Americana at its best. I absolutely love this guy’s voice. Plus, they have banjo, and as we all know, I am unable to resist the allure of banjo.

Origin: Pueblo, Colorado
Genre: bluegrass, Americana, roots, folk
Years Active: 2006-present

Hermano

Once upon a time, there was a band called Sons of Kyuss from the California desert. They had a unique sound, now called desert rock or stoner rock. In this band were a number of musicians who’ve gone on to make a name for themselves. Most notably, Josh Homme and a couple other Kyuss members formed Queens of The Stone Age. I really only like two songs by QOTSA; they just sound like watered-down Kyuss to me.

On the other hand, I absolutely love everything John Garcia has done, the lead singer for Kyuss. He is a musical King Midas. Hermano was one the bands Garcia was in after Kyuss. They’re awesome and they’re not even my favorite of Garcia’s projects (we’ll get to the others in the letters S and U).

Origin: California
Genre: Hard rock, stoner rock, desert rock
Years Active: 1998–present

Hi Fi & The Roadburners

When rockabilly revival bands like The Stray Cats were making it big in the 80s, Hi Fi were lost in the shuffle and they have been ever since. These guys are so incredibly awesome, I’m ashamed to say that they never really made a name for themselves before they called it quits, but they left us some great music.

Origin: Chicago, Illinois
Genre: rockabilly, punk rockabilly
Years Active: 1984-2011

11Comments

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1

siriusbizinus on November 24, 2014 at 9:03 am

I like a lot of these songs, and I do agree that Hank Williams III is more talented than his dad. Hank Jr. is more of that stadium country, but I feel that Hank III is more like that 80’s and early 90’s country revival sound (when it was trying to get back to its roots in the 40’s and 50’s). It’s probably why I don’t listen to him as much as I listen to Hank Williams. But I will say that Hank III has to be talented, because I’ll listen to him on occasion and I really don’t like country music.

I also found that bit about Hermano and QOTSA interesting. I listened to QOTSA first and didn’t know about Sons of Kyuss until about 4 years ago. It’s probably why I like some of the stuff Kyuss did but prefer QOTSA more. Then again, tastes regarding spinoff bands and new bands after a breakup could be subject to the Beatles effect: it’s why I loved listening to the Beatles, but couldn’t stand Wings or John Lennon’s solo career except for a couple songs.

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  goldfish on November 24, 2014 at 9:07 am
  
  Cheers to Hank 3. I’m not a huge fan of country either, but I love his stuff.
  
  I think whether you like QOTSA or not depends largely on whether you liked Kyuss first. I LOVED Kyuss and QOTSA has always been a disappointment to me in comparison. It can’t even come close to touching the magic of Kyuss. Incidentally, the only two songs I love by QOTSA are on the Kyuss/QOTSA split: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyuss_/_Queens_of_the_Stone_Age
  
  Also, I’m pretty opinionated, but I don’t expect anyone to agree with me since I know my tastes are far from the norm. 🙂
  
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3

Sofia Leo on November 24, 2014 at 9:40 am

Love me some banjo, too!

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  goldfish on November 24, 2014 at 9:40 am
  
  Yay! It’s one of my favorite instruments. 🙂
  
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    Sofia Leo on November 24, 2014 at 9:45 am
    
    Managed to get one for myself but haven’t done more than strum a bit on her. Someday I’ll play a Real Song 🙂
    
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      goldfish on November 24, 2014 at 9:46 am
      
      Nice. 🙂
      
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the worm keeper on November 24, 2014 at 12:47 pm

This post cracks me up! For some reason, I’ve always imagined that you are a little old lady with a gold fish. I could revise that vision now. But why would I do that when I can do this instead: imagine that you are a little old lady with a gold fish that listens to Halfway To Gone.

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  goldfish on November 24, 2014 at 2:40 pm
  
  Well, at 5’9″, I hardly qualify as little, I sadly still have decades before I get a senior citizen discount, and I’m hardly a lady. burp Also, I am a notorious killer of goldfish. Can’t keep the damn things alive.
  
  Sorry to shatter your illusions. 😉
  
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    the worm keeper on November 24, 2014 at 3:08 pm
    
    Dang it.
    
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stephrogers on November 25, 2014 at 1:58 am

My stupid slow internet won’t load the videos, which is a pity because you’re right, I hadn’t heard of any of those

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  goldfish on November 25, 2014 at 8:01 am
  
  Booo to stupid slow internet.
  
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