“Southern Comfort” by Area Code 615

If you ever look at a map of the United States, you’ll notice that Nashville is equidistant between Chicago and New Orleans. Since the 1950’s it’s been the center of the country music industry. It’s also been a sanctuary for session musicians who migrated there from both those cities, and everywhere in between, dragging with them various musical influences.

One of those unsung musicians was drummer Aaron Kenny Buttrey. Born in Nashville and raised on the road from the age of 14 with Chet Atkins, Buttrey also performed with everyone from Elvis Presley, to Bob Dylan and Joe Simon, to Neil Young, Peggy Scott-Adams, and Donovan.

In 1969 he helped form Area Code 615, a group aptly named after Nashville’s area code. They were a progressive country rock supergroup of sorts, made up of some of those session players like Wayne Moss, Mac Gayden, Charlie McCoy and David Briggs.
“Southern Comfort” is the first single from their debut self-titled album released in 1969 on Polydor. It’s not their most popular single, that would be “Stone Fox Chase” released a year later, but this song truly showcases the various musical genres that made their way through Nashville.
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We lost Kenny Buttrey this week in 2004. He was a true legend among musicians and his slick and funky style will forever be mimicked and enjoyed by future generations.