Rivers
After a whirlwind year since their debut EP was released in January 2019, King Calaway is proof that there’s strength in numbers. Their eponymous EP in January 2019 features hit single “World For Two,” which became the #1 most added song at country radio in its debut week. Their first full-length album Rivers – out now on BBR Music Group/Stoney Creek Records – builds on the five-song EP’s success, with seven new tracks and was executive produced by Robert Deaton and Ross Copperman. After being named one of the seven new country acts to watch out for by Billboard, the band continues to take the country music industry by storm from multiple performances at the famed Grand Ole Opry – including an incredible performance moment with the legendary Ricky Skaggs – to making their late night television performance debut on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and an appearance on the internationally acclaimed show Neighbours. They’ve brought their energetic live show to various stages, including a CMA Fest debut and opening slots for Rascal Flatts and Garth Brooks. Hailing from across the globe – from the small towns of the American Midwest to the small coastal country of Gibraltar; from the Atlantic Seaboard to the Central Belt of Scotland – King Calaway brings a worldly perspective. They’re country stars for a new generation, singing songs that erase the boundaries between genres and countries. King Calaway isn’t looking to blend into the crowd. They’re not even looking to fit in. They’re in the business of standing out…and King Calaway stands tall.
He may be the youngest member of the band, but don’t mistake lead guitarist Caleb Miller for a rookie. An instrumentalist since the age of 4, Caleb began playing bar gigs while still in elementary school, building a strong reputation around his hometown of Portsmouth, Ohio. By 13 years old, he was working as a session guitarist, balancing his schoolwork with a string of recording sessions. He could play everything: country, metal, rock, blues, and more. He puts that diversity to good use in King Calaway, a band whose wide-ranging sound mirrors his own background. Soft-spoken in person, he’s a dynamic presence onstage, bouncing between concise hooks and bursts of virtuosic solos. “He plays beautiful melodies on guitar,” says Jordan Harvey. “He uses it like a voice.”
A Franklin, TN native, Chris Deaton was raised in a creative household that included his father: award-winning video director and music industry exec Robert Deaton. Happy to keep the family business alive, Chris moved to Atlanta after high school to study at the Atlanta Institute of Music while also playing drums for Brothers Road. The band was signed to Zac Brown’s record label, Southern Ground, and although their time was short-lived, Chris was hooked. Moving back to Nashville, he bounced between gigs, playing bucket-list events such as the CMA Awards and CMA Country Christmas along the way. As King Calaway’s drummer, he grounds the band with punchy percussion, while also pulling double duty as the group’s high harmony singer. “He’s very musical,” says bandmate Chad Jervis. “When he plays, he doesn’t just think about the percussion. He thinks about the big picture.”
Born and raised in Gibraltar, Simon Dumas is one of King Calaway’s three frontmen, as well as the band’s pianist. He has spent much of his life onstage, starring in a school musical as a child before landing a spot in a Gibraltar-based choir that competed internationally. Later, while earning his degree at the Royal Northern College of Music in England, he sharpened his songwriting chops as the frontman of Frontiers, a group that also featured his two brothers. Simon moved to America during his final year of college to study at USC and joined King Calaway less than a month after he finished, foregoing an opportunity to become a Catholic missionary. “He’s still very grounded in his faith,” says drummer Chris Deaton, “and we’re so lucky to have him.”
After a knee injury dashed his hopes of becoming a soccer star, Jordan Harvey turned to music, kicking off his career as a drummer. Raised in Edinburgh, Scotland, he began working in a local recording studio at 16 years old. After moving to London and studying music at Tech Music School, Jordan headed back home to Edinburgh, where he opened for Simple Minds as a member of the OK Social Club. By 2016, he was playing his own shows as a solo act, and by 2017, he was singing on BBC One — the UK’s most-watched TV channel — as a contestant on the singing competition Let It Shine. Upon leaving the show, Jordan packed up his instruments and relocated to Nashville, where he cut his teeth with nightly gigs at Tootsie’s on Lower Broadway before joining King Calaway’s roster. In the band, he shares lead vocal duties with Simon Dumas and Chad Jervis, while also switching between rhythm guitar and piano. “His voice is like a laser beam,” says bassist Austin Luther. “It’s so focused, it hits you right between the eyes.”
Chad Michael Jervis was 8 years old when he received a copy of Elvis Presley’s 30 #1 Hits. The album floored him, sparking a lifelong fascination with music, songwriting, and showmanship. As a middle-school student in Wilmington, Delaware, Chad began attending the Cab Calloway School of the Arts, where he studied singing, drama and musical theater. The education continued at Berklee School of Music. There, Chad also joined a local band, which required him to balance his course load with a touring schedule that took the group from coast to coast. As one of King Calaway’s lead singers, Chad mixes his training with raw, unforced talent, while also playing acoustic and electric guitar. “He has such a silky tone to his voice,” says vocalist Simon Dumas. “He sounds phenomenal in the upper register.
Austin Luther grew up in Marshall, Minnesota. At 10 years old, he received his first bass as a Christmas present. It was U2’s Adam Clayton who inspired him to pick up the instrument, yet Austin wasted little time developing his own unique approach. Years of lessons helped hone his musical instincts, while his postsecondary musical education helped ready him further for an adulthood spent onstage and on the road. Although only in his early 20s, Austin has already done it all: international shows, cruise ship performances, and cross-country tours with major-label acts. With King Calaway, he teams up with drummer Chris Deaton to provide the band’s rhythmic bedrock. “He’s the best bass player I’ve ever come across,” says bandmate Jordan Harvey. “Not just in Nashville. He’s the best one I’ve ever come across.”