Grady Hoss & The SideWinders is a modern day Ameripolitan country artist with classic country twang.

    Maryland singer/songwriter/producer, Lance Davis, is reprising his southern origin as the country singer-songwriter, Grady Hoss. Through the 7-year, trying emotional experience of watching his 84 yr old father endure Alzheimers, Davis found that his heart was being pulled away from his usual Rock-and-Rolling style, towards the country music of his childhood. "I started revisiting the old country music that dad used to listen to when I was a kid because it reminds me of him.. It's very nostalgic listening to this music now as an adult...Kinda like listening to Frank or Bing at Christmas time ya know?" 

     As opposed to his most recent productions, the genre of choice in his youth tended towards an amalgamation of alt rock and heavy metal to then forming dark moody alternative bands in the 90's and 2000's (For Souls On Fire, LATEBLOOM, Shelton Davis). In 2007, needing to distance himself from the relentless music business, Davis stepped away from his personal pursuit of being a singer/songwriter.  During that time Davis spent most of his time building his studio ROKBOX Productions and producing other artists and mixing. Lately however, through encouragement from his friends, family and a (lately) tumultuous life, Lance became inspired to return to expressing himself through song writing. "This time I'm doing this for myself. No 'larger than life' goals or expectations...I just wanna have fun doing what I love to do."

    Pairing the pain of his father’s battle with Alzheimers and ending a long term relationship, Davis took refuge in writing country compositions. "This was such a learning experience for me on so many levels but the one I was most surprised by was how I realized that this music was so engrained in my blood." Davis’ father, Jerome Grady Davis, was an “old-fashioned southern man,” from North Carolina and raised his son on the classics; Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Marty Robbins, Buck Owens and other country legends. Still scouring his most base memories for inspiration, Davis was pulled back into the world of his childhood, nearly grasping the faint echoes of Johnny Cash streaming from his parents’ stereo.

    Though influenced by the country singers of his youth, Davis was most affected by his family. Davis looks back fondly on listening to his mother, a singer-songwriter herself, sit at the edge of her bed, play guitar and sing Emmy Lou Harris and Patsy Cline songs. His father’s side of the family, as well, brought the true spirit of country into his early memories, adding drums and banjo to the performance. The band’s name itself comes from his daddy, whose middle name is 'Grady'...and ‘Hoss,’ a Southern term of endearment, holds a special place in Lance’s memory as well. "When I was a kid some of my dad's friends used to call him ‘Hoss’...I used to get the biggest kick out of that,” recollects Davis. The 1972 GMC Pickup Truck his father drove, complete with a cb radio, an airbrush logo containing a Texas rattlesnake wearing a cowboy hat, provided the second half of the band name. "My dad's CB handle in the 70's/80's was 'The Sidewinder' and his best friend Gil had a 70's Hot Rod Van and he would go by 'Lil Red Devil'...Man I loved when we would all go on road trips together"

    As a tribute to classic country music artists and session players, Grady insisted his band also have classic nicknames: Grady Hoss’ Sidewinders consist of guitarist Bucky Vennerson (Vince Federici), drummer Earl Smokesman (Charlie Heim), bassist Dusty Reigns (Dan O'neil) and Dave Van Allen on pedal steel.  This unique requirement also helped fulfill Davis’ personal expectation of each band member; to KEEP THINGS FUN. Don’t be fooled by Davis’ seemingly carefree attitude towards this project. Davis has a firm belief in the healing nature of music and its ability to bring about a “balance between the body, mind and soul”. He isn’t shy to admit that much of his music includes “a bit of melancholy,” simply because when the heart is heavy, “music is therapy”. This is exactly the theory that launched Lance back into writing, although he initially kept his compositions personal. Only through the support of several close friends was Davis propelled to record these “diary compositions”. His undying notion that “there's nothing like a connection and synergy with other musicians,” led him to invite these close friends to become his band. Ready to execute his duality as a musician to the world, Grady and his Sidewinders stormed the stage with a fresh repertoire of country songs.