Rome's own The Georgia Thunderbolt's will perform a hometown show at Peaches, 325 Broad Str., Rome, Saturday February 19.
You can win tickets on the Rebel Wednesday (Feb. 16 and Thursday (Feb. 17. However, if you fail to win you can purchase tickets by going online at:https://www.bigtickets.com/events/rome-ga-peaches/georgia-thunderbolts--rome-ga-peaches-2-19-22/
The bands five members hail from Armuchee and Taylorsville. Members are: Bristol Perry (drummer) Armuchee; Riley Couzzourt (lead guitar) Armuchee; TJ Lyle (lead singer, harmonica, keyboards) Taylorsville; Zach Everett (bass guitar, backing vocals) Taylorsville; and Logan Tolbert (rhythm and lead guitar) Taylorsville.
They all still live in the same places they grew up in. They claim Rome as their base since starting out. It's where they played the most and it is a midway point between Armuchee and Taylorsville.
Bristol Perry - (drummer) and Riley Couzzourt (lead guitar) both went to Armuchee High School. As for the three Taylorsville boys, Logan Tolbert went to Adairsville, TJ Lyle went to Woodland and Zach went to Cartersville High School.
Bristol and Riley formed a local band in high school called South of Heaven. They met Zach Everett (bass player, backing vocals) and TJ Lyle (lead vocals, keyboards and harmonica) at an open mic night at Sixes Tavern in Cartersville. Once they started playing together they realized to play the music they wanted to they needed a second guitar player and that's when Logan Tolbert (rhythm/lead guitar) came into the band. They continued to do local shows at restaurants and venues around Rome and Cartersville such as Schroeders and the Brewhouse.
They got the opportunity to open for The Kentucky Headhunters at the Chattooga County fair back in 2017. The guitarist for the Headhunters Richard Young was in his bus listening with the window open when the The Georgia Thunderbolt's kicked off. He came out of the bus and stood beside the stage for the whole set. When the guys came off stage he asked (with his cigar hanging out of his mouth) "you boys wanna make a record?" Of course that answer was a resounding YES! He also took the band on and is their manager as well.
In January of 2018 the Thunderbolts went to Glasgow Kentucky to start on their indie record and completed it that summer. They were opening shows for The Kentucky Headhunters, Ace Frehley, Cadillac Three, Molly Hatchet and others to get their name out there. In the summer of 2019, Ron Burman a record executive for Mascot Records, based overseas in the Netherlands with offices in the US, came down from New York to hear the guys play at the Basement in Nashville TN for a showcase. Not long after that they were offered a deal with Mascot to record their first major record release worldwide. They went back in the studio and cut a few more tracks for the album which was set to release in the fall of 2020 and then the pandemic hit. That of course pushed everything back. They then decided to release a 5 song EP in the fall of 2020 and release the album in the fall of 2021.
Their album, Can We Get a Witness, has received rave reviews from magazines and websites such as Classic Rock and Rolling Stone Country It was one of Rock and Blues Muse's top 10 albums of the year. Riley was also featured on the Cover of Vintage Guitar Magazines New Gear Yearbook.
They have toured with Black Stone Cherry (Richard Young's son John Fred Young is the drummer for this band) and have played dates with Blackberry Smoke. They will be heading up north with the Outlaws beginning the first week of March for a few weeks. This weekend they will be with Deep Purple down in St. Petersburg Florida. Their summer schedule is filling up nicely.
Proud of their hometown, all the videos on the band's YouTube channel were filmed in the Rome or Taylorsville area. The Lend A Hand video was filmed at the Lindale Mill in Rome. The club scenes in Take it Slow were filmed at Peaches Bar in downtown Rome. So You Wanna Change the World was filmed in downtown Cartersville and Taylorsville. Looking for an Old Friend has drone shots from the downtown Rome area and was also filmed in a field in Taylorsville.
The Georgia Thunderbolts love to show off their hometowns in most everything they do. They are proud to be from NWGA.
And they love to play anytime they can in Atlanta/NWGA and surrounding areas. But Rome, they say, is their favorite because it"s home.
For more Georgia Thunderbolts videos, check them out on You Tube.
![](/includes/gallery/1/images/album_1161/sm.20190819104942_61cd3696fd84a9135fb5680e8da9deb5.jpg "Foreigner Tribute Band "Head Games"")
