The Hillbilly Way or THW are an American country music band formed in and around Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 2012 and originally consisted of Chris "Abby" Abbondanza (lead vocals), Dave Cramer (keyboards), Ryan Lucotch (drums), Jeff Volek (bass guitar, accordion), David "Junior" Guthrie (electric guitar), and Bob "Crafty" Crafton (steel guitar). The band originally started as a Reunion to their previous band name The Povertyneck Hillbillies.
Under their previous name, The Povertyneck Hillbillies, they released a total of three albums: the independently released Hillbilly State of Mind and Don't Look Back in 2002 and 2004, followed by a self-titled effort in 2006 on Rust Records, Universal Music Group. Although these three albums produced no chart hits, they sold more than 10,000 copies nationwide and their video for the song "Mr. Right Now", went to #2 on Great American Country, GAC, for 15 weeks. The group toured all over the continental US during this time under "The Dale Morris & Associates", now called Paradigm Talent Agency and were marketed by AristoMedia. They also attended the CMA Awards and were featured in magazines such as Country Weekly and Rolling Stone. In 2008, Higbee, the founder of "The Povertyneck Hillbillies", issued a press release indicating that the band would be on hiatus indefinitely. Higbee then went on with his own band called "The Chris Higbee Project", while Abbondanza began a solo career, and "Junior", Ryan, and Jeff formed a band called "The West Virginia Push", A.K.A. "Junior & The Push".
In 2012, the band reformed under the name of The Hillbilly Way, and had a kickoff concert August 25, 2012, at CONSOL Energy Park, home of the Washington Wild Things minor league baseball team, in Washington County, Pennsylvania. The band now consists of Chris "Abby" Abbondanza, Jeff Volek, David "Junior" Guthrie, and Keith Kleinhampl.
Biography
The Povertyneck Hillbillies were founded in 2000 in the borough of Dawson, Pennsylvania by fiddler Chris Higbee. After multiple band members he met future lead vocalist Chris "Abby" Abbondanza, they met and befriended each other after discovering common musical interests. Through the help of other friends, the two musicians found five more members who would complete the band's lineup: guitarist David Guthrie, keyboardist Dave Cramer, bass guitarist Jeff Volek, steel guitarist Bob Crafton and drummer Ryan Lucotch. The seven-piece band then assumed the name The Povertyneck Hillbillies. Povertyneck was a name derived from a small area near Dawson, PA known to locals, near Higbee's grandfather's farm.
In the 2000s, the band began touring throughout Pennsylvania, playing at various bars and clubs to help develop a fanbase. Eventually, they were discovered by members of the Pittsburgh Steelers, a franchise of the National Football League, who chose the band to play "The Star-Spangled Banner" at a halftime show for the team. Eventually, the Povertyneck Hillbillies were chosen as the Steelers' official band.
By 2002, the band had released its debut album, Hillbilly State of Mind; a second album, Don't Look Back, followed two years later on Cort Records. Although neither album produced any chart singles, the albums sold more than 10,000 copies nationwide; as a result, they were named by the Country Music Association as one of the top-selling independent country acts of 2005. Crafton was forced out of the group by Rust Records in 2006, allowing them to be signed to Rust Records and released their self-titled third album. This album produced non-charting singles in "Mr. Right Now" and "One Night in New Orleans", the latter of which was previously recorded by Blackhawk. The Povertyneck Hillbillies left Rust in 2007.
On January 14, 2008, Higbee announced that the band had "decided to take a break of indefinite length." According to his press release, "Abby, Jeff, Junior and Dave have chosen to stop performing with the band.