In today's world of over produced country music that is made for the masses, it's not always a bad thing to be a little left of center. That road that is a little left of center is the exact road that the members of the John D. Hale Band intend on taking. Promoters say he JDHB is dead set on making country music their own way -- without exceptions.

John D. Hale, vocalist and songwriter, was raised on an exotic animal ranch is Southeast Missouri. John's lifestyle from a baby on has been as unique as his style of music. From the age of two months, his sidekick raised with him was a chimpanzee just two weeks older than him. John (not the chimp) has been playing guitar since he was very young. John played mandolin and sang harmony vocals in his first band when he was just twelve years old. He started writing songs around the age of eighteen.

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In 1989, when John's brother Jimmy and buddy Smooth Roose gave a 10 year old John D. Hale a worn out cassette tape of "No Kinda Dancer" by Robert Earl Keen, Jr., no one would have guessed it would change their lives. Too young to actually grasp the deep songwriting of the album, John still recognized that it was something different from the big country stars of that time.

Fifteen years later marked the beginning of the John D. Hale Band. John along with Smooth Roose. By the age of 16, Smooth was not only playing banjo in his dad's band, but also the mandolin in another bluegrass band, John's nephew Cody Phillips, Jay Cagle, and recent addition of Chris Brotherton, set out to do things their own way and play and record music the way that it's supposed to be done - real and honest .

The release of the JDHB's debut album "One Of A Kind" in March of '06 grabbed the attention of people worldwide getting radio airplay all over Europe, Australia, Canada, and the United States. That along with the growing popularity of satellite radio has taken this little Missouri band a long way. "One Of A Kind" ended the year being the 17 album out of the top 50 albums of 2006 on XM Radio's Channel 12 X-Country.

Not the prettiest group of guys in the world, not the most talented, but a group that puts more heart and soul into music than anyone else. It is a given that the John D. Hale Band will be around for a long time preaching their brand of country music to anyone who will listen. As the title of their first CD, "One of a Kind," suggests, the John D. Hale Band is just that.

Be on the lookout for the early spring release of "Live at the Snorty Horse Saloon", the bands first live album, which is guaranteed to make anybody feel at home.

The JDHB takes the most pride in putting on one of the best live shows you'll ever see and will be performing a full band "up close and personal" acoustic show Sat. Aug. 23, at Capone's Restaurant and Lounge in El Dorado Springs. Call (417) 876-2211.