Smokin' Novas

Andrew (founding member) started his career with the folk rock duo Billy Pilgrim in the early ‘90s.   He and partner Kristian Bush (Sugarland, Dark Water)  released albums for Atlantic Records earning multiple Top 5 singles on the AAA charts, rotation on VH1, and a reputation as dynamic performers traveling throughout the US and Europe.  Andrew has also released multiple solo albums including the widely acclaimed, Curios, in 2011. In 2020, Billy Pilgrim re-released their album, Time Machine, along with two pre-internet albums Words Like Numbers and St. Christopher’s Crossing. 

Brian (founding member) started his career in the Athens, GA music scene then moved onto the stages of Atlanta, GA as a founding member of The Tastemakers.  During this period, he shared the stage with many national and international artists including Cheap Trick, Meat Loaf, The Romantics amongst many more notalbe names in the industry.

Brian was with The Highlanders out of Athens, GA where he met Andrew while recording their debut album. Andrew was asked to guest on the album by singing one of the tracks at a studio in LA where he lived at the time.  The pair quickly became aware of each other's musicianship but it wasin't until Andrew moved back to Atlanta, where Brian resides, could they really start to begin conjuring up the magic you are about to hear.

The two immediately started writing songs and the debut ablum resulated in poignant lyrics and slick guitar arrangements all produced by Don McCollister, a Grammy Award winning producer who has worked with Andrew on several records, most notably Billy Pilgrim's debut album on Atlantic in 1994.  

John Keane (R.E.M., Widespread Panic) who produced The Highlanders, co-engineered the Novas debut album and co-produced Travel Mercies was prominently featured throughout both albums playing pedal steel, electric guitar, mandolin and background vocals and he has played on nearly all of the track on the bands second album that was released in the spring o 2022, "Travel Mercies".  John also joins Smokin' Novas when they perform as a trio and full band.