Jimmy Mowery’s New High

On any random day, more likely than not, you’ll find local singer/songwriter/guitarist Jimmy Mowery rehearsing with his new four-piece band, The New High, in a practice space in Klocker’s Tavern in Myrtle Beach. Here in January, anyway, The New High rehearses five days per week, four-plus hours at a shot. The dedication comes in preparation for the Grand Strand’s coming live music season. They’ve already knocked out a few local dates, have others on the books, and if Mowery and his pals gets their wish, all this hard work will lead to performance opportunities on a national level.

“All four of us are trying to do the band thing full-time,” said Mowery, fully aware of the challenges that imposes. But he says there’s real chemistry and real history with the membership. The band will perform locally at The Warehouse in Conway, 9 p.m. Jan 15.

The New High includes Mowery as front man, lead vocalist and guitarist. Joining him are Jeff Wendle (bass/voc), Joey Howard (keys, guitar, voc), and Jeremy Davis (drums/voc).

“Jeff and I had a band called Dropout High and an indie label deal in 2006 when we all lived back in Pennsylvania, said Mowery. “But by 2009 everything was on hold. Our songs and publishing got stuck in a bad contract. Joey and Jeff and I put together a band after that, but after about a year and a half it wasn’t going anywhere, and that’s when I moved to Myrtle Beach. I’d known Jeff and Joey for a long time, and they started making plans to come down here, too.” Gretsch-endorsed drummer Jeremy Davis, fresh from the University of South Carolina and phenomenal YouTube success (40,000-plus subscribers) joined The New High in November.

In 2011, just after Mowery moved to Myrtle Beach, he began a solo career with the help of local booker/manager Scott Byrd who saw Mowery’s potential and began a professional relationship that continues today. After new country act Austin-Mowery was formed in 2012 with guitarist/vocalist Alex Austin, Rusty Hewitt and Jason Kaufman, Mowery moved forward working full time, playing the Murrells Inlet circuit, North Strand stops, private events, Wild Wing Cafes in three or four states, and a Nashville showcase of sorts. While Country music dominated Mowery’s live performance time, he was never too far removed from his first musical love – radio-friendly power pop.

“At the end of 2015 we officially ended Austin-Mowery. We all wanted to play different music. Growing up it was all about Bon Jovi, but if I could play anything it would be Blink-182, Green Day, Sum 41 kind of pop-punk,” he said. “[The New High] learned 36 cover tunes for a Thanksgiving show, and other shows we’ve got coming up, but now we’re starting to bring our originals into rehearsal. We want to pick up where we left off back home. We figure if we could do it then when we were 19, 20 years old, now that we’re a little older, wiser and better at playing music, our plan is to go as far as we can.”

“Jeff and Joey and I are equally involved in songwriting, and Jeremy is the…I guess I don’t want to say “real musician” in our band, but he has a percussion degree, and awesome talent.”

While no recordings exist of The New High’s original music yet, Mowery’s solo ReverbNation page contains songs off “The Chase” that are of a similar style. “Similar,” said Mowery, “but our new stuff is more piano and keyboard driven. We’re geared toward a Maroon 5 kind of vibe.”

The New High’s ReverbNation page has a performance schedule, and will be the home for future audio clips, but YouTube is where The New High sees it future marketing potential.

“Social media drives everything today,” said Mowery, “that’s all record companies look at any more. We’re glad for Jeremy’s experience with his YouTube channel. We hope to copy that by posting weekly videos as soon as we can, and promoting our stuff that way.”

This story was originally published January 8, 2016 at 8:15 AM with the headline "Jimmy Mowery’s New High."