SHAZAM

Mixing country-rock songcraft with thick vocal harmonies, Georgia follow in the countrified tradition of the Eagles, the Band, and Crosby, Stills & Nash. Although named after the Peach State, the band's Southern roots reach back to Florida, where brothers Jeremy, Jordan, and Jon Mitchell were raised in a musical household. Jeremy eventually left home to attend Baylor University in Texas, and the desire to pursue a music career prompted him to relocate to Atlanta after graduation. Back in the Southeast, he crossed paths with David Swift, the lead guitarist for a South Carolina-based rock band, and the two quickly launched their own project. Jon Mitchell also climbed aboard, having recently arrived in Atlanta to work as a songwriter, and the brothers' youngest sibling -- Jordan, who had enrolled at Liberty University on a golf scholarship -- opted to put aside his clubs and turn Georgia into a harmony-driven quartet. With Jeremy playing bass, David and Jon playing guitar, and Jordan handling lead vocals, Georgia steadily built up a following in the boys' adopted home state, while tour dates with Will Hoge and Bob Schneider helped spread their music beyond the Southeast. The Cabin Sessions EP, a collection of acoustic-based songs recorded in a cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains, was released in 2007, and the group later decamped to California to work on a full-length album with Whiskeytown's Mike Daly. ~ Andrew Leahey, Rovi