Mountain Brook Musicians: A Rich History Of Talent In The Brook

MOUNTAIN BROOK, AL - When Birmingham's world-class music festival, Sloss Fest, concluded last year, festival-goers left having witnessed some incredible music talent, including Widespread Panic, Sturgill Simpson, Alabama Shakes and more. Fans may not realize, though, that some of that musical talent performing were Mountain Brook High School alumni. As well, at least one former Spartan will be featured in this year's festival.

Taylor Hollingsworth, a MBHS alumnus, will perform at this year's Sloss Fest as part part of the duo Dead Fingers with his wife, Kate. Hollingsworth has been a staple in the growing Birmingham music scene for more than a decade.

Mountain Brook High School has produced a bevy of musical talent throughout its history, and many of those talented musicians have gone on to achieve notoriety on a national stage, and are some of the most well-known musicians locally. For instance, MBHS alum Sarah Simmons was a Top 8 finalist on the fourth season of the music reality television show The Voice, and was one of the most popular performers on the show from fans nationwide.

Two of last year's Sloss Fest performers, Riverbend and Vulture Whale, included band members that attended MBHS, and many of the Birmingham music scene's major contributors are former Spartans.

Riverbend is comprised of MBHS students Stanton Langley, Max Simon, Price Pewitt and Sims Rufino. The band has played festivals and shows throughout the state, and have recorded an album that has received airplay on several radio stations. Langly's father Stanton Langley Sr., was a well-known musician in his own right, as a talented guitarist for the band Shattered Images with MBHS alumni Scott Swalley, Matthew Jackson, Drew Davis and Ken Johnson in the 80s and 90s, and later as a member of Johnson's band in the 00s.

Vulture Whale included MBHS alumni Wes McDonald, Lester Nuby and Jake Waitzman. Nuby, who currently plays guitar and sings in the band Holiday Gunfire, is also one of the premier music producers in Alabama. He works out of Ol' Elegante Studios in Homewood and has produced some of the top local and regional artists over the last several years, including the first album by international recording artists St. Paul and the Broken Bones. McDonald fronts the band Terry Ohms with fellow MBHS alum Drew Davis, and plays with a band called the Lost Controls with Davis and MBHS grad Chris Hoke. McDonald also works with local record label Cornelius Chapel Records.

Nuby also was the drummer for the 90s rock band Verbena, with fellow MBHS alum Scott Bondy. Verbena was signed to Capital Records in 1998 and opened for the Foo Fighters on their European tour. As well, the band performed on The Late Show with David Letterman, had a popular video on MTV and released three albums before disbanding in 2003. Bondy - who also performs under the name A.A. Bondy, released three solo albums and has had his music featured on several prime time television shows, including One Tree Hill, Bones and Shameless.

Speaking of having songs featured in popular t.v. shows, MBHS alumnus Matthew Mayfield has built a huge national fan base and has had his music also come up on t.v. soundtracks. Mayfield, one of the hardest working musicians in the business, tours extensively and has recorded more than a dozen EPs and LPs. His album Man Made Machines, released in 2010, topped the iTunes charts in the singer/songwriter genre upon its release. Mayfield was also part of the band Moses Mayfield with fellow MBHS alum Will Mason and signed to Epic Records in 2006. Mason now runs Mason Music, a music school with locations in Mountain Brook, Hoover and Cahaba Heights.

Mountain Brook's Callie Wilson - who also performs as The Lie Within Callie - has toured and recorded since her days as a student at MBHS. She has been critically-acclaimed by publications nationwide, and continues to record and release new music.

MBHS alumnus Jesse Payne has released critically-acclaimed albums and toured nationally. Payne's EP, Beyond the Leaves, earned him a spot in The Big Takeover's Top 40, alongside Band of Horses, Death Cab For Cutie, and Willie Nelson. Payne released his debut full-length album, Nesting, in 2010 and the album reached No. 3 in California on KDVS radio and stayed in the College top 30 across the United States for six consecutive weeks.

These artists, who are still producing music, are only some of the musicians from Mountain Brook on the scene currently. Dozens of other musicians have also made huge impacts on the Alabama music scene over the last few decades, including Jeff Mooney, who fronted the band Jeff and the Johns in the late 80s and 90s, who still plays in a band in Asheville, North Carolina called Blue Dragons. MBHS alums David Seale and Tommy Terrell made waves on the college radio scene in the early 90s as members of Three Hour Tour, and still play in bands around the Birmingham area. Seale and Terrell also played in the band Silent Majority with fellow MBHS grads Beth Sydnor, Bart Herring and Brent Thompson - who also still plays with various artists in the Birmingham area and was for more than 10 years the music writer for Birmingham Weekly. As well, MBHS grad Sims Crawford dazzled audiences in the 80s and 90s as a guitarist for the band Roadside.

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Photo of Les Nuby by Michael Seale/Patch