Movers & Shakers

In the business world, movers and shakers are people who take initiative. They set the balls rolling and make things happen. While this isn’t the reason Southern groove-rock band the Movers & Shakers adopted the phrase for their band’s name, they definitely live up to the meaning. Only two years after coming together, the group has put together their first full-length and entirely self-produced album, to be released Nov. 11.
The Movers & Shakers came together in 2012 under the moniker Country Line High but, at a friend’s insistence, changed their name to match the title of one of their first songs, “Movers & Shakers.” By that time the four members—Jesse Riner, Mike Peadan, Chandler Woods and Nicholaus Wilkerson—were already in the process of assembling original music for their first album while juggling gigs, promoting their shows and traveling across the southeast for performances.
“One of the biggest challenges has been [being] able to get paying gigs down here in the South, without the largest art scene and demand for original music,” said Riner, the band’s lead guitarist who happens to hail from Statesboro. Not that they let this stop them; in fact, the band made such a name for themselves early on that they secured a spot opening for the Charlie Daniels Band during the 2013 Vidalia Onion Festival. Since then, the group has seen a rise in popularity. Riner said that the number of gigs increased noticeably after their performance with the big-name band, and that the Movers & Shakers have been playing and traveling consistently throughout the southeast since May.
And somehow, in the midst of all this travel, the four musicians have found the time to record an album.
The production journey has been a long and tumultuous one for the Movers & Shakers, who began the recording process back in 2012, shortly after they came together. They wrote most of the music and began recording with a studio down in Savannah, but for personal reasons the people in charge of the studio had to leave town and the album was left unfinished. The band was left with the hectic task of recovering their material and re-recording with the salvaged master tracks.
But once they had their material back, the band flew through the recording process. Chandler Woods, the band’s rhythm guitarist and a GSU grad, used the know-how he’d picked up in his music technology minor to set up their sound room and take care of the details of recording, mixing and mastering the tracks.
“That would honestly show how awesome Chandler has been for us in this whole process,” Riner said. “He really soaked up a lot of knowledge at GSU, and it’s been able to really, properly engineer this thing for us.” In fact, once they had resumed the recording process at Woods’ house took just a few months, compared to the year spent with the recording studio in Savannah.
“Sometimes you just have to do it yourself,” said Riner with a laugh.
That might as well be the band’s tagline. On top of booking their own gigs and the other tasks involved in self-managing a band, the Movers & Shakers are in the process of promoting their own album using every avenue available to them. They’re also making plans for their second album; while their first album was stalled because of difficulties in Savannah, the Movers & Shakers put so much new material together that they can start recording their second album as soon as this one is off the ground.
Despite how tenacious they are in their management and dedication to their music, the Movers & Shakers don’t let their serious side bleed into their music. Their music is infused with carefree energy, dominated by a sense of well-being and fun. As Riner said, it’s meant to make people want to dance and shake—the true origin of the band’s name.
The self-titled album will debut on most major music sharing sites on Nov. 11, and the band will send it off in style at the Ampersand bar in Savannah on Nov. 8 after their morning performance at Baldwin Park for Savannah’s Rock and Roll marathon. - Connect Statesboro

INSPIRED by classic rockers like Lynyrd Skynyrd and Creedence Clearwater Revival, Movers & Shakers “love anything with a beat and a groove,” bassist Mike Peaden says.

Two years in the works, their self-titled album LP blends elements of funk, disco, and rock ‘n’ roll. Recorded at several locations over the years and produced by guitarist Chandler Woods, Movers & Shakers weaves tight rhythms with acoustic guitar and classic electric guitar riffs to get crowds on the floor and dancing.

Saturday’s a big day for the local boys—not only are they celebrating their first record’s release, but they’ll also be one of the bands keeping Rock ‘n’ Roll marathoners pumped on their way to the finish line. As a bonus, there will be drink specials at the Ampersand shows for any runners who participated in the marathon. - Connect Savannah