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Thursday, 15 July, 2010 2:32 PM

Country group Flynnville Train to release amazing sophomore record, Redemption

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- New country group Flynnville Train was formed in Middletown, Indiana in 2001. It is made up of Tommy Bales, Brian Flynn, Brent Flynn and Damon Michael. Their self-titled debut album was released on Sept. 11, 2007. It produced two singles on the Billboard country singles charts "Last Good Time" and "Nowhere Than Somewhere." Flynnville Train will release their sophomore album, Redemption on July 20. It features the group's current single "Preachin' to the Choir." This is a great album that is very likely to produce many hit songs for the group.

I recently spoke to lead vocalist Brian Flynn in an exclusive phone interview. How did the band get its name Flynnville Train?

"Obviously, two brothers in the band's last name is Flynn," he explained. "We come from a very small, rural town in central Indiana called Middletown. We were the only real act in this area. The town pretty much named the band. We didn't. They called it Flynnville. Everytime we rehearsed in the middle of the night, you could hear the Nazarene Church on the other side of the town. They said it sounds like the train is coming through the town again. That's where Flynnville Train comes from."

The band had the unique opportunity to open for Toby Keith on tour a couple of years ago.

"It was great, we're no longer with that label, but we're still friends," Flynn said. "I'm so grateful for him for giving us our first shot. If it wasn't for Toby, me and you wouldn't be talking. It was unbelieveable to come out of the clubs playing for 500-600 people and play for 25,000 every night. That's a pretty abrupt change. It was fun and I love that whole organization. They're good people and they were good to us. I can't thank them enough."

What's the story behind the band's latest single "Preachin' to the Choir"?

"That song really speaks about what's going on in the world," the lead vocalist answered. "We're just fed up and all we really want is the truth. I think we can all handle the truth being blue-collar workers. I'm really speaking for the people. When I heard the song, I thought, 'that's it right there, exactly what I've been watching on the news every night.' It's a song of the times is what it is. I love singing it. I remember the first time we played it in Meridian, Mississippi, we were with Blake Shelton. We played that song and nobody ever heard it that night. It was like flipping a switch on. I was like, 'yeah, we got us one here fellas.'

"Everybody really relates to the song real well. It's a song about sending our soldiers over. You work everyday for your paycheck. You're eating your paycheck up in gas just to get back and forth from work. I hear the stories all around the country. What a great song. It's a great truth. I love singing it."

Flynnville Train will release their second studio album, Redemption, on July 20.

"We wrote a lot of songs on the album," Flynn responded. "Everybody says, 'why did you call this album redemption?' Every artist thinks there's no way I can put out as good an album as the first. Your first album you've got your whole life to write those songs. The second album is always the toughest. I remember my brother saying, 'I don't know if we can top that record.' I can honestly say, this album, Redemption, is the best album we've ever made from A to Z. We kind of redeemed ourself musically, somewhat spiritually and just give ourself a shot in the arm so to speak. We're really with what we've done. It's a more mature record than the first record. Most importantly, we wrote songs about family, friends and things about growing up as a child. At that time, you didn't think they were so important. When you get older, you look back and think, that was very important. You take those things for granted.

"We tried to write songs that mean something to someone. Not just some cliché hook line that's here today and gone tomorrow. I think that gets lost in the music industry today, I honestly believe that. What you hear is what you get. The album's really personal. I wrote about my father that passed away shortly before the time we jumped on that bus with Toby Keith. We really didn't have time to mourn over him until we got home. That's when it really hit us. There's a song on there called 'On Our Way' and that song's really about my father. He taught us how to play and he was our inspiration. I wrote a song called 'Home,' which was about our grandparents because I grew up on a farm. If you listen from one to 11, you'll get it."

The group just performed at the CMA Music Festival (formerly Fan Fair) in Nashville last month.

"It was a blast, you get to see a lot of your old friends and people you don't get to see very often," he said. "It was great. We went and signed autographs at the convention center. I thought people had forgot about us actually they didn't. Our line was so long that they had to cut them off. That never happened the first time around. The fan base hasn't forget us. Radio hasn't forgot us either. We did make a little bit of a mark in the music industry two and half years ago."

Any plans to return to metro Detroit area in the near future?

"Oh yeah, I love playing up there," the lead vocalist answered. "We do have various plans to do that. We have had some calls. I love Detroit, always have. It's a great music town anyway. You got your Kid Rock up there. We're fans of a lot of artists that come from Michigan like Bob Seger, Grand Funk Railroad. I grew up learning to play music by listening to those guys. We do want to come back to Detroit though. There is plans for that."

What was it like winning the 2009 People's Internet Radio Award?

"It was a blast, it always is," Flynn replied. "Internet radio is so important. I love talking to everybody on the internet. People don't realize how important it is. I think it's more important in some cases than mainstream radio. There's a lot of good music on there that people don't get to hear. We're very greatful to play music and do what we love. You've made your success on your happiness. That's the way I look at it."

Where do you guys expect to be in the next five years?

"We just take it one step at a time, that's how you do it," he said. "I mean it's hard to choose your own fate in the music industry. The music industry changes constantly. We are considered a southern rock band, country rock band. We're a very high energy act, if you've never seen our show. The kind of music we play, I think, is timeless. Look at Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Marshall Tucker's of the world, Charlie Daniels of the world. They're still here. They're still kicking. We've been compared to Hank Jr., the Kentucky Headhunters and people like that. That's good company as far as I'm concerned."

For more information on Flynnville Train, visit www.flynnvilletrain.com.