Song: “Devil You Know”
With ties to ZZ Top, the Boston Red Sox, and Nashville, this artist rocks
When I first heard about this song by Tim Montana, my initial instinct was to think the singer was a fictional relative of Hannah Montana.
Oh, glib thoughts, how wrong you can be . . .
Tim Montana was born in Kallispell, MT, and raised in Butte in a trailer with no electricity. He taught himself guitar by candlelight, performed in school talent shows, and moved to LA to study music after graduating high school. There, he met a music producer who encouraged him to move to Nashville.
Playing Montana’s 2007 Independence Day concert in Choteau, he met David Letterman, who invited him to appear on The Late Show in 2008. This led to a string of songwriting collaborations.
In 2013, a band he formed called Tim Montana and the Shrednecks took shape, and soon Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top was intrigued. The collaboration resulted in the single, “This Beard Came Here to Party,” which the 2013 Boston Red Sox adopted as their anthem during their successful World Series run.
- The band even recorded a custom version for the post-season referencing Red Sox highlights and Boston landmarks.
- Tim Montana and the Shrednecks had also performed “The Star Spangled Banner” at Fenway Park early in the season.
Montana has written a string of country hits, including “Hillbilly Rich” and “Tennessee Mountain Top.”
“Devil You Know” is the first song on his 2024 album, Savage, which Loudwire ranked as the 11th best rock album of the year. It is excellent.
Enjoy this live performance from Denver earlier this year!