The chemistry isn't lost when V-Roys return for New Year's Eve show

The V-Roys' reputation has only grown since the group disbanded on on New Year's Eve, 1999, but the group has only reconvened for two special shows. The band is, from left, Scott Miller, Mic Harrision, Paxton Sellers and Jeff Bills. Photo and cover photo by Annie Clark Rankin/Special to the News Sentinel

Mic Harrison of the V-Roys performs 'Sooner or Later'

The sound coming from a warehouse in North Knoxville is unmistakable. It's also something music fans on at least two continents thought they would never hear again. Scott Miller, Mic Harrison, Jeff Bills and Paxton Sellers playing music together again in the V-Roys — a band that called it quits on New Year's Eve, 1999, at the Tennessee Theatre.

At the time, the guys were brash Americana rock 'n' rollers in Sunday-go-to-meeting suits. They were steeped in the classics — from Roger Miller and Merle Haggard to Chuck Berry and Elvis Presley to the Pixies and the La's. For five years or so the V-Roys were the band that Knoxville rooted for and the rest of the country and the British Isles were catching on to.

When the group members announced in late summer that they were releasing a new V-Roys compilation album ("Sooner or Later") and reconvening for a New Year's Eve show, fans were surprised and thrilled. The show was originally scheduled at the Bijou, but tickets sold out in less than three hours. It has since been moved to the Tennessee Theatre, which is expected to sell out soon. Fans are coming from as far away as England to attend.

The show is still a long way off when the band is running through songs surrounded by chilly block walls covered in ugly green paint. The band kicks off "Kick Me Around" with Harrison playing lead guitar riffs — a duty he hasn't held since combining forces with the High Score several years ago.

Although Miller, Harrison, Bills and Sellers may have aged a few years, the sound is spot-on.

The band plays "Strange" and "Fade Away" before "Can't Shake Knoxville" segues into "Wind Down."

By that point, the mood feels almost joyous. Miller mumbles the lyrics for effect. Harrison laughs. Drummer Bills smiles watching Sellers and keeping in sync with Sellers' bass guitar.

Afterward, the members amiably confer on the details of what they've played.

"You know how we did it like this?" Miller plays a series of chords on guitar. "We do it on the first verse, but not on the second verse."

And the band goes through the two songs again.

Breaking again, the members discuss what songs can still be added. Is there time to work up "Burned"? How about covering buddy Todd Steed's "The Hit List" or Jerry Lee Lewis' hit Touching Home"?

The group runs through "Touching Home" and it's a go.

Just before Christmas, the members discussed what it has been like being back together and preparing for the shows:

"It's a cliche to say 'It all came back,' but it really did," says Bills. "Everybody in the band has something, somewhere that needs tweaked, but that's why you have practices."

"It's MORE fun than I thought it would be," says Harrison. "Everybody is getting along great. There's no baggage. Everybody's in it to have a good time."

Sellers says he was surprised by how quickly tickets sold and how much interest there still was in the band.

"I was really shocked by the response," he says.

In fact, the band's reputation has only seemed to have grown through the years. In Knoxville, the group is regularly cited as the most popular rock act to have come from the city, and the group's recordings and songs still reverberate with fans who heard them more than a decade ago.

Although Sellers admits the members of the V-Roys have a unique chemistry when they're playing together, he says he's never been sure what fans have held so special about the group.

"It's an intangible thing and, hopefully, it's still there," he says. "I feel like we've got to live up to something. We are what we are and we've never tried to be anything else ... I don't want to shatter any myths!"

Bills says part of the band's magic has to do with things that are not always evident:

"A lot of it is not your standard 2/4 kind of thing. There's a little swing to it ... It's not a conscious thing. It's just the way things turned out."

At the core, though, is the songs.

"If you ask about the V-Roys, people will tell you about this or that song," says Bills. "'No Regrets,' 'Lie I Believe,' those are songs people have a relationship with. That's a big component of the whole experience. If the song means something to you, the rest doesn't matter. They (Harrison and Miller) wrote songs that meant something to people."

Although the group initially billed the Tennessee show as "One night, goodbye," the band did commit to one more show on Dec. 27. The owners of the Southgate House in Newport, Ky., called to say the club was closing for good and they'd really like the V-Roys to consider one more reunion show. The Southgate was one of the V-Roys' favorite places to play in the past and the Cincinnati area (Newport is just over the Ohio state line) was one of the first where the band gained a following outside of Knoxville.

"It's the New Orleans of the north!" says Miller. "If the Down Home was closing and had called we would've hopefully done that, too."

All of the members consider the gig a warm-up for the New Year's Eve event.

Both Miller (who now lives in Virginia) and Harrison have new albums planned for the spring, and Bills is performing with the band The French.

Miller and Harrison won't completely rule out the possibility of another reunion in the future.

"Somebody could twist my arm, probably," says Miller, "but this has been a lot of work. Getting the record out was the main thing. The show wasn't something we really planned on."

Bills and Sellers give less credence to the possibility.

"I'm not interested in it, personally," says Sellers. "I don't want to feel like we're exploiting something. That's not to say that I don't want to play with the guys, but it's not necessary to make money off it. If we did a bunch of shows I'd feel like we're just taking advantage of what we built up. I'd just like to keep it special.""We really got out front of it to let people know we're not reforming and we're not touring," says Miller. "There is no band to negotiate with. That's why this is a special event."

At the moment, though, the members are just ready to ring in New Year's to fans who haven't seen them together in a very long time.

"I'm chomping at the bit, you know?" says Miller.

"Yeah, we're gonna be fine," says Harrison. "I'm ready!"

© 2011, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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