Local band Ole 60 has received nominations in the 2024 People’s Choice Country Awards. The event, hosted by Shania Twain, is scheduled for September 26 and will air across NBC and Peacock.
The band burst onto the social media scene this year with their hit single “Smoke & a Light,” which went viral on TikTok. They recorded the song and three others to release their first EP, “Three Twenty-four,” late last year and have gained notoriety ever since.
Owensboro Times profiled the band in February, just before they went from a hidden gem to a nationwide phenomenon that topped Apple’s Country Charts. Read that feature here.
Although the band — which includes members from Owensboro, Hawesville, Ohio County, and Tell City — has only six tracks on Spotify, it has amassed more than 2 million monthly listeners.
Jacob Young leads the charge on vocals and guitar, while Ryan Laslie plays the lead guitar. Aden Wood plays the drums, while Colby Clark plays bass. Dustin Fuqua and Dwight McGlynn are the band’s newest members.
Young began having jam sessions in a shed in Maceo before meeting Laslie and moving the operation to Galaxy Pizza in Hawesville.
That is, they played after they were done with their shifts making pizza.
During these practices, they began throwing names around, eventually landing on Ole 60, the route Young took to Roby’s house when they first started playing. Young began writing songs in 2021, introducing them to the group and eventually recording with Justin Eckerd in Bowling Green.
In February, they signed a record deal with Nashville-based Grey Area. Not long after that, they launched a nationwide tour, selling out venues from Michigan to Florida, South Carolina to California, and everywhere in between.
One of their more iconic shows was when they returned home on June 19 to headline Friday After 5. With more than 17,000 fans in attendance, they broke the 28-year attendance record.
The group describes their music as “not your father’s country band,” blending classic country with Southern rock, contemporary folk, and even some grunge influences.
Visit the band’s website here.
