5 minute read
Kris Youmans & Her Mighty Fine Band
“IT’S ALL ABOUT FAMILY, FAITH AND FUN”
Written by JENNY ENDERLIN
Photos courtesy of KRIS YOUMANS
NO. 3 BEST LOCAL MUSICIAN/BAND
If you ask Kris Youmans what style of music her band plays, she will tell you “it’s a little this and that.”
Some might call it Americana western swing, others folk-country, but all who hear it call it amazing.
Kris Youmans & Her Mighty Fine Band were Georgia Country Artists of the Year in 2016 (and finalists nearly every year since), featured on Georgia Public Broadcasting in 2019, and have opened for Bret Michaels and The SteelDrivers.
The band tours annually, but can be found playing at local hotspots like The Cellar, Ashley Park’s Groovin’ on the Green, Mainstreet Newnan events, Senoia’s Alive After Five, Line Creek Microbrewery and RPM.
Youmans's musical career began early in life. At the age of 16, she busked along River Street in Savannah where she grew up. Eventually she married and had children, though during that season of life, she rarely played outside of church.
“And then I went back to it,” says Youmans. She’s been playing locally for the past 20 years. At first, she played solo gigs, but she wished to connect with other musicians. A friend introduced her to Warren Hall.
“He plays the pedal steel guitar,” says Youmans. “That’s what makes country music special – that pedal steel. Whenever you hear a country song, it’s in the background.”
Hall and Youmans clicked instantly – and not just in a musical sense. They have been together as a couple for 17 years and married for the last two.
“We love Barefoot Slim,” says fellow band member David Puett, referring to Hall by his nickname. The lap and steel guitarist plays barefoot because his long legs will not fit underneath his instrument if he wears shoes – and because it was summertime when he first began to play and it was too hot for footwear.
“It’s how I learned, and shoes feel awkward now, so I just stuck with that,” says Hall.
The rest of the band includes Jerry Lee who plays drums and “the twins,” including Puett, who plays guitar and bass, and Patrick Thompson on upright bass, mandolin and banjo. Their fathers were members of the same band when they were kids, so they have known each other their entire lives. In the 1990s, they played alternative metal together before branching into other genres.
“They’ve always been together musically one way or another,” says Youmans. Though the two men still both love rock, they now teach music, have families and serve on their church praise teams.
The five band members are a tight-knit group whose conversations are filled with playful banter, and it is clear they respect one another immensely.
“It’s just fun,” says Lee. “They’re like a family.”
“Not to be sappy or anything, but we’re blessed with this,” says Hall. “We count our blessings every time we play a gig.”
“Don’t get sappy,” laughs Puett.
“But it’s true, it’s true!” says Hall. “We know they could play with anybody, so we try to show respect and appreciation, and Kris is really good about considering the needs of families.”
“Yeah, I’m big on that,” says Youmans, who says her children are her biggest supporters. Likewise, she prioritizes her band members’ familial obligations. Youmans is extremely driven but values encouragement over competitiveness, unlike what she has seen occur in a lot of music scenes elsewhere.
“I have to say in Newnan, it’s not really like that,” she notes. “People help each other, they support each other. There’s this network of musicians. Everybody’s passing information back and forth.”
Youmans puts on the Blues Plate Special fundraiser for Meals on Wheels every year, and she created Newnan Unplugged as a way of giving new artists the chance to play publicly.
“I’m constantly trying to provide opportunities for someone that’s just starting out,” she says.
Youmans is responsible for providing their first stage performances to musicians like Sara Greer, Mary Martin, Sasha Hurtado of the TV show “The Voice,” and Callista Clark, who plays at The Grand Ole Opry.
Says Youmans: “I always tell young people just starting out, ‘Yeah, you just played a great set of cover songs; that really was great. So, are you writing anything?’”
Songwriting paves the way, according to Youmans.
“That’s where you’re going to make it,” she says. “To me, one thing that’s important is to encourage young songwriters to go ahead and get stuff out there. Songwriting is, to me, the basis of everything musical.”
Together, the band has produced tunes like “Crazy Nancy,” “Crescent Moon,” and “Whitfield Avenue.” They’re about to release their second album.
When asked what makes Kris Youmans & Her Mighty Fine Band so successful, the members point in unison to Kris.
“No. It’s. Not!” she responds, slapping the table with each word for emphasis. “It is not me. You know why it’s not me? Because I love the fact of the band. I like the band, the whole feeling of everybody working together. It takes everybody contributing to it.”
She is quick to brag about her fellow musicians’ talent and explain how each contributes to song creation, from suggesting sounds like crickets or gunshots in the background to helping write the arrangement.
“I couldn’t do it without all of them,” she concludes. NCM
