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Jacksonville, Florida, is a seaside city known for its huge population, sandy beaches, and abundant waterways. If you’re in or near this popular area, you can probably tell that music, art, and culture thrive in this vibrant city. You may be interested to know that many famous bands got their start here. Read on to explore some popular Jacksonville native musicians.
Lynyrd Skynyrd
In 1964, three high schoolers formed a band and called it My Backyard. Ronnie Van Zant was on vocals and Allen Collins and Gary Rossington were on guitar. In the next few months, after adding bassist Leon Wilkeson, keyboardist Billy Powell, and drummer Bob Burns, the troupe newly dubbed themselves Lynyrd Skynyrd. The unique name was a mocking tribute to the school’s gym teacher Leonard Skinner, who was notorious for chastising male students with long hair. The group would go on to become one of the most famous Southern rock bands in the country.
Lynyrd Skynyrd mixes the grit and jazziness of blues-rock with the liveliness and folksy sounds of country. After skyrocketing to popularity in the ’70s, the band cemented itself in the history of classic rock forever with the crowd favorite “Sweet Home Alabama.” Featuring spirited guitar and keyboard solos, Southern gospel choir samples, and an extremely catchy hook, of course, the song was an instant hit. It also perfectly exemplifies the band’s blend of hard rock with Southern roots.
Throughout the band’s early career, new members included drummer Artimus Pyle and guitarist Steve Gaines. Backing vocalist Cassie Gaines, Steve’s sister, was also in the band. The group ceased playing in 1977 after the tragic loss of Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gains, and Cassie Gaines due to a plane crash. Ten years later, the band re-formed with Ronnie’s younger sibling Johnny Van Zant on vocals and Randall Hall on guitar. New members afterward included guitarist Ed King, former Blackfoot frontman Rickey Medlocke, ex-Outlaws Hughie Thomasson, ex-Damn Yankee Michael Cartellone, and former bassist for the Black Crowes, Johnny Colt.
Molly Hatchet
In the early 1970s in the United States, Southern rock was all the rage. Emerging from the rich and storied music traditions of the American South, this genre combined blues, country, gospel, and English rock-and-roll in a one-of-a-kind way. Some of the frontrunners of this movement consisted of the Allman Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Molly Hatchet. In 1975, guitarist Dave Hlubek founded Molly Hatchet in Jacksonville, Florida. He named it after an infamous 17th-century ax murderess, Hatchet Molly, who would allegedly behead her lovers.
Molly Hatchet established themselves through intense touring with the likes of Aerosmith, Bob Seger, and the Rolling Stones. in 1979, they released their most popular song, “Flirtin’ With Disaster,” featuring skilled guitar work, extra distortion, and lead singer Danny Joe Brown’s iconic vocals. This piece is often cited as one of the best country-rock songs of all time, earning acclaim along with classics like Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama” and Marshall Tucker Band’s “Can’t You See.” After being propelled to fame, Molly Hatchet toured at rock festivals and concerts everywhere, averaging 250 live shows per year.
Limp Bizkit
In 1994 in Florida, vocalist Fred Durst and bassist Sam Rivers formed Limp Bizkit. Joining later was John Otto on drums and Wes Borland on guitar. After Durst became friends with bassist Fieldy of Korn, the band that pioneered the nu metal genre and brought it mainstream, Limp Bizkit’s fame started. Thanks to mostly word-of-mouth publicity, label contracts began to come in and the band released their first album, “Three Dollar Bill, Y’all.” By the late 1990s, Limp Bizkit had solidified itself as a key player in the growing rap-metal scene.
Nu metal became popular in the 1990s because of bands like Korn, Limp Bizkit, and Kid Rock. This subgenre of alternative metal fuses the intense, distorted sounds of heavy metal with an aggressive rap style. It also pulls from genres like alternative rock, funk, grunge, punk, and industrial. The last is a category defined by abrasive and transgressive themes. Indeed, one of Limp Bizkit’s most famous songs, “Rollin’ (Air Raid Vehicle),” exemplifies the style of angry vocals. This song features in “The Fast And The Furious,” the first in a long series of films about street racing.
Shinedown
The early 2000s saw a resurgence of interest in what may be called pop-rock. As bands like Snow Patrol, Sum 41, the All-American Rejects, and Fall Out Boy were gaining popularity among audiences, pop-punk groups from the 1990s like Green Day, Weezer, and Blink-182 continued their success. Post-grunge bands like Nickelback, Foo Fighters, Daughtry, and Shinedown also joined the fray. While always self-described as simply an American rock band, Shinedown’s music has been characterized in diverse ways. Categories like hard rock, alternative metal, post-grunge, and even nu metal have all been used to place the group.
Vocalist Brent Smith formed Shinedown with drummer Barry Kerch in 2001 in Jacksonville, Florida. Later members included Eric Bass on bass and Zach Myers on guitar. With an iconic rock sound, the band has cited Pink Floyd, Iron Maiden, and Foo Fighters as influences. You may know them by their hits, “Second Chance,” “Cut the Cord,” “Sound of Madness,” “45,” and “Monsters.” Each of their songs and albums has shown to present unique rock-adjacent sounds. For example, while “Cut the Cord” seems to call on classic and blues rock, “Second Chance” puts forth a more angsty, grungy mood.
As you can see, Jacksonville has been the birthplace of some talented artists. While many of the biggest names to date came from the legendary Southern rock movement in the 1970s, other rising stars forged their way through different genres. Clearly, Jacksonville is a site of inspiration to a diversity of musically inclined people. But we want to know what you think. Did we miss anyone? Who are your favorite Jacksonville or Florida artists? Let us know here at Keith Pierson Toyota and we’ll be sure to add them to our list.
Fans at a rock show by Luuk Wouters is licensed with Unsplash License
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