Throwin’ High Fives to Austin’s Wheeler Brothers & Suzanna Choffel

By Ashley M. Halligan

In the 2011 September/October issue of ALM, I wrote a feature titled “Musicians on the Rise,” where I took a gander and predicted who I thought would be makin’ great big musical strides in the very near future.Of the three folks and bands I had my eyes (err, ears) on, two received superlatives at this year’s Austin Music Awards. And we’d like to give ‘em both a HUGE congratulations.

Suzanna Choffel received nominations for Best Female Vocals and Best Songwriter. Choffel has since moved on to New York City with her significant other — Momo’s (farewell, Momo’s) owner Paul Oveisi, though she’s still very much a part of the local music scene, regularly scheduling shows and visits. I did, after all, say in that piece: She really couldn’t be more Austin. If I were to take another gander, it’d be that she’ll always be an Austin gal at heart, no matter where she hangs her hat.

And that brings me to Wheeler Brothers’ success, which came in a great big, abundant package at this year’s AMAs. Being awarded Best New Band for 2011-2012 was, perhaps, the most exciting part for Austin’s muchloved folk, rock, collaborative, songwritin’, band-phone-totin’ (that’s right, give them a ring: 512-983-5934), North American highway wandering group of boys who are quickly being discovered (and loved) in every venue they’ve rocked thus far.

But, the icing on the cake was the individual awards received within the band: Best Acoustic Guitar – Nolan Wheeler; Best Bass – Tyler Wheeler; and, Best Miscellaneous Instrument (for his beloved lap steel) – A.J. Molyneaux. They were also voted Best Roots Rock and came in as runner-up for Best Folk Band. Meanwhile, their producer, Mark Hallman, was runner-up (in the Best Producer category) for their album Portraits. Sheesh, that’s a mouthful, but is well-deserving of rounds of drinks, high fives, congratulatory hugs (they like those) and perhaps a few drunk dials on the aforementioned band phone.

So what’s next for Wheeler Brothers? Surely they won’t stop now, particularly after their appearance on Carson Daly’s Last Call, which aired in late March. The band’s manager, Pat Cassidy, said, “We’re taking a week off from the road every month to record our new album, being produced by none other than local songsmith Drew Smith. Hoping for a late fall release, we’ll keep touring in support of Portraits.” So far, the guys have played 130 shows in the past 13 months. And Cassidy says there’s no sign of slowing down. The {early} onset of summer has brought invitations to some fantastic festivals as well, including the Strawberry Music Festival in Yosemite, California.

Danny Matthews (guitar/vocals) reflected on 2012 thus far, “South by Southwest was an insane week. We are still absorbing and decompressing from the 14 shows during that week, the AMAs and sleeplessness. It was easily the craziest, most exciting, humbling week the band has ever had. We are super grateful for the awards. Hopefully, we can live up to it and continue to progress. We are so happy to have the city’s endorsement.” Elaborating on the beautiful chaos they’ve been immersed in, Nolan Wheeler added, “It’s great to feel some love in our hometown, even after being away on tour for so many months. We’ve had a great response to our album Portraits so far. I know we were all a little curious to see what people would think of our very first piece of work. The next struggle is balancing our time from the road and working on our next album.” And, of course, he said a thanks was in order, “To all our friends out there— thank you so much for your support.”

With five awards at the AMAs alone and immense national coverage already, I’d predict with utter confidence, that they’ll will be rocking every North American nook and cranny possible, whether on stage or on air, by the end of the year. Their national success is already happening; and I’d not be a tad bit surprised if they grow at an international level just as quickly as they grew their Americana roots in the States. Good luck, boys. This world is all yours, with sets of ears just waiting for an introduction to you. ALM