Music INSIGHT
The Boys are Back in Town
Ethan and the Ewox 20-year Anniversary Shows
by Benjamin Nunnally
B
eing a local band from Alabama isn’t
a free pass to playing the big shows
and rubbing elbows with history, but
somehow, Ethan and the Ewox pulled it off.
“I played the Meadowlands, like the Beatles!
That was never supposed to happen to some
poor kid from Gadsden, Alabama,” said Gary
Chumney, drummer for the band. “Ethan
Baker, some poor kid from Silver Creek,
Georgia, he was never supposed to go play
at Jazz Fest in front of 35,000 people, until
the two of us got together and got this opportunity.”
10
Over the last two decades, Ethan and the
Ewox have pulled off seemingly impossible feats, traveling around the country
and opening up for acts like the Dave Matthews Band and Drivin’ and Cryin’, playing
hundreds of dates a year and releasing six
albums independently during the late 90s
and early 2000s, building up a fan base that
still recognizes them on the street.
Now they’re coming back home to Jacksonville for their 20th anniversary, playing two
shows at Brothers Bar with Anniston mathrockers Pace House providing support. The
November 2015
INSIGHT