Today we’d like to introduce you to Jeff Pruitt and Kent Gray.
Hi Jeff and Kent, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
We met 10 years ago through a Craigslist ad. We hung out a few times and found we both liked Muse along with other similar artists. We played a few open mics at the Vine. We then rented out a studio space and practiced five days a week for several hours. We played our first show as “Giant”, but we had to change the name mid–show to Gigante.
The fans at our show thought we were an 80s band. We played shows as Gigante for about one year. We decided to take a break from creating music in 2014. We came back as “The High Society” and recently reformed under the name The Heavy Pour. Since reforming we have changed our sound to play a heavier style of rock’n’roll taking influence from bands like ‘68, Royal Blood, and Death From Above 1979.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
During our hiatus, the two of us both experienced much self-growth. We found ourselves in circumstances that left us unable to play music together. After overcoming those obstacles we have been able to inject the emotions felt during those challenging times into our music. Since 2022, things have been relatively smooth.
Of course juggling careers, family, and other personal endeavors presents somewhat of a challenge but that’s the same for most musicians. Being “new” on the local music scene does present its own set of challenges too. What venues will book a relatively unknown hard rock duo? How do we grow our following and our reach to get into some of these bigger venues?
These are common questions we find ourselves discussing during breaks at rehearsals, after shows, or even through text. We don’t have the answer to those questions inherently other than go out there, play with every ounce of emotion, and leave it all on stage. No one can judge if, at the end of the day, you said: “I gave it my all”.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Over the years Jeff has played in many bands of different natures and genres. He started out as a Trumpet player and still will fiddle around on the trumpet from time to time. Currently, Jeff is the lead singer and guitarist for another local band The Smokin’ Jays.
Having two bands to perform with might be challenging to most but for Jeff it allows him to express himself through different forms of music. Jeff will also host singer-songwriter nights at local venues such as The Cove from time to time. He is very supportive of the local music scene and does whatever he can to support up-and-coming musicians.
Kent has been playing drums for close to 20 years starting out in junior high. Growing up he focused mainly on jazz and playing in his church youth and adult praise bands. He was briefly a member of the University of Memphis band program, as was Jeff. Coming to a city with so many talented musicians and drummers can seem intimidating but that is what motivates him to be better. We’ve all heard the phrase “You are your own worst critic.” well for Kent that is his way of pushing himself to be the best drummer and musician he can be.
Jeff and Kent have different stories of playing music locally. One has been solidified in the music scene for many years and the other just now really cutting his teeth. However, our journey as musicians is similar with us both playing in the school band, being trained in music theory, and also performing in the U of M band.
These similarities allow us to create music and have a musical understanding where at times we don’t need words. When we are playing oftentimes you’ll notice us make eye contact or a simple head nod to know what’s coming next. That connection is something very special to each of us.
What matters most to you? Why?
What matters most… that’s a difficult one to answer because there are a lot of things that matter to us but just picking one is challenging. Making music that can resound with our audiences is very important to us. No, when we write lyrics or songs, we aren’t thinking about what someone in the audience might want to hear.
We are writing based on what we are feeling at that moment or the moments leading up to that point. With that being said, we hope that lyrically we can connect with someone in our audience who might be feeling the same way or processing the same emotions we were at the time we wrote the song.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: instagram.com/theheavypour901
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/theheavypour901
- Other: linkr.ee/theheavypour901
Image Credits
Cameron Mitchell and Sarah Gray
