BR5-49

BR549 (originally spelled BR5-49) was an American country music band founded in 1993 that last played live in 2013 and has been on hiatus since then.

The band was formed in Nashville by co-leads Gary Bennett and Chuck Mead. Their music, referred to as alternative country or neotraditional, contains elements of western swing and rockabilly. They eschew modern Top 40 pop-country for a more raw, honky-tonk sound, with songs about 50s pin-up/dominatrix Bettie Page and The Ramones. They took their name from a telephone number regularly used in a Junior Samples sketch on the television show Hee Haw.

Read full Bio