Today we’d like to introduce you to The Native Howl.
Hi The Native Howl, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Well, we have all known each other since 2005 (when we were 15 years old or so) and have been playing music together in one capacity or another since then. We all came up with definitive heavy metal and hard rock influences and jammed with each other in different bands throughout high school and college (with Chan and Alex even graduating together from Oakland University with music degrees). In 2012, Alex and Jake began writing, recording, and performing acoustic folk rock music as The Native Howl. Then, in 2014, we attended a bluegrass festival in Northern Michigan called Wheatland. After watching various bluegrass groups, Alex had the epiphany that bluegrass and thrash metal (the genre that we all came up playing) have glaring similarities: both are fast, precise, heavy, melodic, and emotive. And then, that very night, the song “Thunderhead” was written, and our newly-coined genre “Thrash Grass” was born and Jake soon after learned how to play the banjo in order to give that song the missing element that it so desperately needed.
Chandler joined the group very soon after and brought the musical edge and prowess that had always been missing. And in 2019, Zach (also a longtime friend and colleague) then joined and brought to the table the heaviness and rhythmic foundation that would complete The Native Howl’s musical lineup.
After countless national tours and 2 Bluegrass Billboard Charting albums, we competed in and won the No Cover competition show with a star-studded cast including judges Alice Cooper, Lzzy Hale of Halestorm, and Gavin Rossdale of Bush. Winning this show was a turning point in our career, securing a record deal with Sumerian Records and much, much more.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Our musical journey has been anything but smooth… until our signing with Sumerian Records in 2022, we were completely independent. We wrote, recorded, and produced all four of the records ourselves (even building a recording studio with dear friend Joe Horsch, who would go on to mix and master all of our albums up until this point). We conceptualized and shot all of our own music videos with Horsch’s help and marketed them to what would become our grassroots fanbase (even having many video clips go viral on Facebook and YouTube, with tens of millions of views). All the while, we dealt with our own personal hardships and struggles, and rather than letting them destroy us, we fought tooth and nail to conquer our inner demons and channel them into the music of pain and suffering in the hopes that they would help spread love and light to the those who were themselves downtrodden and suffering.
One particular struggle that sticks out to us is the early years of touring. During many national headlining tours, we went across the United States performing our live show in many venues that were not suitable to perform in and to very small crowds. It took an abundance of perseverance to fight through these tough live situations, but in retrospect, it forced us to hone our live performance and gave us the ability to adapt to any live situation.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
We are very proud of our genre Thrash Grass, and the fact that we have combined our favorite elements of both metal and bluegrass and to give audiences something that, in the words of many, “they didn’t know they needed”.
We are also very proud of our musical skills that we have worked tirelessly at our entire lives. And we love the synergy between us musically; at a Howl show, there seems to be an even split of attention paid from audiences to each of us. We believe that you can watch any of the four of us at any given time during our set and be entertained.
We are also proud of our fanbase; our fans are so kind to us and immensely supportive.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
Books – Anything Stephen King
Podcasts – Tuesdays with Stories!
Bands – Metallica, Pantera, Tool
Contact Info:
- Website: thenativehowl.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thenativehowl/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheNativeHowl/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLGcujWVz1OAsneaJBJimkg
Image Credits
Collin Smith Bryan Beasley Jeff Grahm
