Beatin’ the Odds – an Xperience Interview with Liam Sweeny

Beatin’ the Odds interview.

I love southern rock. It’s a family thing, growing up getting rocked in my stroller while my dad drank beer and listened to the Allman Brothers coming out of a bar jukebox. C’mon, it was the seventies. Anyhoo, something about southern rock hits me in the heart and makes me want to howl at the moon. We all have a music that does that.

Beating the Odds is a band out of this area that has taken the mantle of southern rock excellence and worn it from the Adirondacks to the Catskills. From Clifton Park, this group really has what it takes to rock house.

I connect with the band to discuss beer and life on the road.

RRX: Beating the Odds is a local Southern Rock band. You guys have been all over the area, and you’ve opened up for the Charlie Daniels Band. It’s impressive. But I will play the lay observer, the uninitiated, the unwashed mass and ask; how can a northeastern band truly play Southern Rock?

BTO: It’s quite amazing the Southern Rock Fan base that exists in the Northeast. Each of our members, like yourself, was weaned on Southern Rock. When I was a teenager in the late 70’s, Allman Brothers, Skynyrd, Outlaws, Tucker all lived on the turntable. We just try our best to do the genre justice each time we plug in. We also play from the heart and feel like we capture the spirit authentically.

RRX: Southern Rock is really a rebellion. Maybe because the South struggles with rebellion. In some cases, the historical reason of Southern rebellion has been divorced of just the feeling of rebellion. Southern Rock embraces the feeling of rebellion. Does Beating the Odds as a band have a sense of rebellion?

BTO: Great question. The short answer is yes. We are a loud, raunchy, yet polished live Southern Rock show. We like to have fun doing what we do. Being boys from the Northeast, we are not as connected to the south and it’s historical struggles as much as we are with the rebellion of rock and roll. It’s a safe bet we won’t be arrested throwing a TV out the hotel window.

RRX: I’ve heard you cover Skynyrd. Do you write original music, or it is covers only? And, assuming from what I hear, that you’re all seasoned musicians, have you ever sat down and put your own stuff together? I ask, because southern rock is so distinct, I imagine it would be hard to put it into something new. So, any original stuff?

BTO: No original stuff. Our rehearsals are calculated and focused on doing 2 things: Keeping our current material air tight and adding new material and making the new stuff air tight. We go off on tangents sometimes, but within the structure of a cover tune.

RRX: I grew up on oBeatutlaw country and Southern rock. My dad always had Skynyrd on, or the Highwaymen. I talked before about rebellion, but it’s just this “anything goes” atmosphere, this sense of making it in the world with moxie, beer, and friends you call family. Do you put any of that into your music, and if so, how?

BTO: Well, it starts with our fans, and I hesitate to call them fans. Most of them have followed us so long they are part of our family. Every single performance we draw off these friends who come out in droves to see us. We rarely have to worry about playing to a partial full venue. Our fans know we leave it all on stage and we do it for them. We are VERY fortunate to have this, and it takes years to cultivate…We are going on our 12th year.

RRX: You opened up for the Charlie Daniels Band. That’s a big brag, and well earned. I always wondered if there was a mismatch when you open for a big act. Charlie’s rig, in all its infinite mysteries, probably a little bit higher end than most. Is there ever a fear you’re going to blow something on your guitar or a pedal because you’re plugging into a super-pro rig?

BTO: Thank you! We were honored to get the Charlie Daniels gig and on March 17th, 2023, we are opening for Molly Hatchet at the Strand. The truth is to your question, no…That is never a concern. We own our own large system and have taken some bigger stages with bigger systems than ours…MOST nationals play similar rigs to what we do, just mic’d through a bigger FOH system. As far as performing is concerned, we are confident in our show, our live experiences and what we deliver. We just do what we do whether its our own show or an opener.

RRX: All music brings people together. It may only bring two people out of a thousand together, but still. If you’re not playing to bring people together, you’re just exercising your hands. So Beatin’ the Odds brings people together, and you all with them. I’d like to give you a chance to talk about the family your music has created.

BTO: I alluded briefly to this above in your other question, but there is so much more that makes the bond and union between the people that come see us and Beatin the Odds the band, special. It’s sort of cliché for bands to call their fans family sometimes. I will say that in my time playing in bands, this is something very special. It’s one of the reasons we know we are going to draw. Our friends, fans and family, which by the way are all the same, deliver to us every single time we play. So, its on us to make them want to do it again and again. Many of our band members hang out with many of our fans all the time. After a while the line between fans and friends gets so small that they are the same thing. We are so grateful for this friendship that it’s never taken for granted. Ever.

Thank you for allowing this interview.