Band Bio

With roots deep in the Carolinas, South85 blends country, folk, southern rock, and bluegrass to give you a listening experience that you won't soon forget. Driven by the original songwriting of Kathy Neal and the voice of Tracy Wyatt, South85 is in a classification all their own - radio worthy songs along with an atmosphere of a back-porch jam.

The marked “cowgirl” attitude and lifestyle exemplified by both Tracy and Kathy is interwoven throughout songs of independence, celebration of the south, hope, and plain old fun. South85’s sound is influenced by southern rock legends like Marshall Tucker Band, the Black Crowes, cross-genre Americana artists Old Crowe Medicine Show, Gillian Welch, and the sweet southern classics such as Tammy Wynette and Loretta Lynn. The band may blend a rocking electric stratocaster with a banjo or ease an acoustic ballad with dobro and mandolin with their varied sounds and themes.

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Tracy Wyatt - Vocals

Tracy’s a southern gal. Born in Gaffney, South Carolina. She grew up taking vocal lessons as a child with the hopes and aspirations of becoming a singer/entertainer. Her influences growing up were Tammy Wynette, Loretta Lynn, Dottie West, Skeeter Davis, the Judd’s, Waylon Jennings, and Charlie Daniels – just to name a few. Her biggest influence was her mother, who exposed her to all genres of music as well as handing down her gift of voice. From the age of 2 years old, she has sang and entertained for anyone who would listen – family, friends, strangers, and now her fans.

Kathy Neal - Guitar, Banjo, Mandolin, Vocals

Hailing from the beautiful foothills of upstate South Carolina, Kathy grew up in the little country town of Campobello. As a child she absorbed the many different styles of music from her granddaddy’s country classics to her older brothers' rock influences of the 70’s. Throughout middle and high school, Kathy played concert percussion at local and regional levels. After college she became very serious about playing guitar and immediately began writing songs.

Kathy’s songwriting spans from folk to pop, carrying with it a mix of influences primarily from the alternative artists she was exposed to in her mid twenties. Gillian Welch, David Rawlings, and Lucinda Williams are among her favorite songwriters.She is also very influenced by other artists such as Sheryl Crow, Dido, The Rolling Stones, and Bob Dylan.

Mike Bader - Guitar, Dobro, Banjo, Vocals

Mike is originally from the small town of Phenix, VA. After living in Radford, VA for seven years, he relocated to Charlotte, NC. A guitar player of sixteen years, Mike has been involved with many musical projects and bands over the years including Fool's Parade, The Lazy Sundays, Jerry Joe Reno, and Mudfoot.

While his first love is blues guitar, Mike also has a great appreciation for many other genres including jazz, rock, funk, folk, and recently his love of bluegrass has inspired him to pick up the dobro, banjo, mandolin, and fiddle. His influences include Steely Dan, Bonepony, Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Frank Zappa, and The Beatles.

Ashley Conine - Harmonica, Mandolin

Ashley grew up in Statesville, NC. He has played harmonica and guitar for several years, and has even been known to hit a lick on a mandolin every now and then. He enjoys a diverse array of musical styles, culled from the dusty vinyl stacks at local public libraries.

In the past he has played off and on as sideman to both Abe Reid and Matt Walsh, and was also a member of Mudfoot. With a style drawing from both Piedmont and Chicago blues, his main influences include the likes of Sonny Terry and Junior Wells, among others.

Andy Burger - Bass

Though he focuses on bass duties in South 85, Andy also plays guitar, mandolin and banjo. He started playing guitar in high school, and has played in bands ever since, meeting Mike and Ashley when they formed the blues rock band Mudfoot in 2003. Primarily a guitarist in most bands, Andy switched to bass full time when joining South 85.

Andy's influenced by bluegrass, blues, rock, jam, country, jazz and metal. Among his many influences - The Grateful Dead, Stevie Ray Vaughan, The Black Crowes, Jimmy Herring, Steve Kimock, Matt Flinner, George Porter, Ryan Adams, James Hetfield, Dan Tyminski and Gov't Mule.

Eric Howard - Drums & Percussion

Eric studied percussion at Lenoir Rhyne College and East Carolina University before pursuing a career in IT. He took some time off from the music world until he met his friend (and our current bass player) Andy Burger. He picked up the sticks again, studied for a year plus with Jeff Sipe, played with a few other bands along the way, including a stint with Andy and Mike in a post-Mudfoot project, and well we couldn’t let him get away!