“I started violin lessons at the age of four after my granny saw an ad in the Columbia paper for a new violin teacher in town. Looking back, I’m not even sure if I really knew what I was getting into. I think I just knew it involved me being on stage and that’s all I needed.”
Tennessee native Natalie Stovall was performing professionally by age 10. Her Grand Ole Opry debut was two years later.
“It’s funny when people ask me if my music is country. I grew up in Columbia, Tennessee playing fiddle at Opryland every day, but at the same time I was a child of the radio. Once I put my fiddle down for the day, I was just as likely to be listening to Michael Jackson or Aerosmith as I was to Reba or Faith Hill. I’m sure my music reflects that, that’s who I am.”
Natalie met drummer James Bavendam when both were students at Berklee College of Music in Boston. Rounding out the band are guitarist Miguel Cancino, bassist Zach Morse, and guitarist/vocalist Joel Dormer.
“… something different started to happen when the five of us got together in 2006. … After so many years playing and living in a van together, it came to a point where it didn’t matter that the posters at the venues just had my name – we had become a band. And I felt that since we walk like a band, and talk like a band and play like a band…well, then let’s just call it what it is. That’s when The Drive was born.”
Last year, HitShop Records president Skip Bishop offered them an exclusive recording contract. They are recording their debut album with Grammy award winning producer Paul Worley (Lady Antebellum, The Band Perry).
Bringing their stage presence to the studio with their latest single, “Mason Jar,” Natalie Stovall and The Drive indulge all the senses as she describes the effect of his love on her as having the same results as drinking homemade whiskey from a mason jar … just one dose and her vision is blurred, she is craving that rush … (well you know).
As Natalie remarked, “…there is no better high than when the band is on and they’re reaching for that place between music and magic and we have a crowd in front of us willing to take that ride. That is musical heaven.”
Their latest single captures that magic, bringing listeners a natural high.
Following their last single “Baby Come On With It,” the single is scheduled to impact radio on September 8.
About The Author
