Cary was raised in Sumrall, MS, pop. 903. He probably listened to anything from Lynard Skynard and Television, The Stones and Dylan, to Bill Monroe and Robert Johnson. He is also a pretty big Elton John fan. I know Frank likes the Who, the Descendants , and Dinosaur Jr. alot. And Laurie grew up listening to Flatt&Scruggs and a little Emmylou Harris and such.

They started as the Hilltops in around 1987 or 88 maybe. Afterwards, Cary and Laurie moved to L.A. They eventually learned that maybe it wasn't all that great after all. Pining for the South and real music, they formed Blue Mountain and actually played a few shows in L.A. before returning to home in Mississippi. 

In 1991/2 the album Big Black River was released under the Hilltops name, followed by the self titled first album under the new name Blue Mountain.  This was followed by Dog Days in 1995 and Homegrown in 1997.  In 1997 Cary and Laurie, in efforts to start something new, started their own label Black Dog Records.  In 1998 George Sheldon was brought in to play bass, while Laurie switched to acoustical.  And in 1999 Tales of a Traveler was released on Oct. 5th.  Roots, their last album was released on February 27, 2001.

Around the Spring of 2001, George and Frank quit the band to work on different projects.  After playing a few months as a three piece with different drummers, the band finally split up in the summer of 2001.

More info on both the albums and the record label can be found in the various sections of this home page. 

If you listen to Cary's lyrics and guitar playing, it's really not that hard to guess who some of his favorites were, and I think the reason I love Blue Mountain so much is that I also love so many of the same artists. It's really easy to relate to a song like ZZQ since I heard the same songs he mentions when I was 5. My parents used to play those records and the songs all stuck with me. Then, I also discovered punk rock and bluegrass. Until I heard Uncle Tupelo and eventually Blue Mountain, I thought those types of music were forgotten. Everyone was wrapped up in Winger and Poison and there was really no place for country or blues.

Anyway, there's a little more about Blue Mountain and why I like them.