If you’ve listened often to live music around here, odds are good there are a few songs that you’ve heard so many times they’ve officially worn out their welcome.
We’re looking at you, “Wagon Wheel” and “Margaritaville.” These two songs occupy prime spots on a setlist that seems to rotate throughout live music venues, ensuring that somewhere on Hilton Head Island, no matter what day it is, someone is playing “Hotel California.”
Heavy Equipment isn’t that kind of band. Make no mistake, they are a cover band. They’re just not the cover band you ask to play “Freebird.” In fact, definitely don’t ask them to play “Freebird.”
“If someone asks us to play ‘Freebird’ I give them one of these,” said Russell Harley while providing a single-digit salute. “And I say, ‘The next one’s gonna cost you.’” (He’ll be the first to tell you that his lack of a filter is one of the reasons why he prefers a keyboard and a bass to a microphone.)
While fans of the overplayed and the expected might walk away disappointed, those who expect a little more from their live music will definitely be back the next time Heavy Equipment takes the stage.
“We like to say we play songs that people know, but that other bands don’t play,” said drummer Jon Bruner.
“We try to play the oddballs,” added guitarist Scott Evans.
That deep bench of familiar favorites runs across the entire spectrum of popular music. At any given Heavy Equipment show, you might hear Flock of Seagulls’ “I Ran (So Far Away)” followed by Rush’s “Subdivision.” You might hear some Stone Temple Pilots, or you might hear some more Rush. It all depends on what the band is feeling in that moment.
Heavy Equipment: (from left to right) John Mitchell, Russell Harley, Jon Bruner and Scott Evans
“We usually look out into the crowd and we’re like, ‘Are these people older than us?’ and if they are, we start out with what we call our light dinner music,” Harley said. “It’s songs to digest your food to.”
But if the crowd lets them, Heavy Equipment has no problem melting some faces.
“That’s actually our goal, is to have people be really hoarse the next day,” Bruner said.
There are two big factors working in Heavy Equipment’s favor, helping them pull off such an impressively diverse set list. The first is the respect each has for each other and for the music. Each member of Heavy Equipment had established themselves in the local scene years before coming together like the Avengers of Lowcountry music.
“We’ve all been in 90 bands over the years,” Bruner said. “The four of us can learn a song in five minutes.”
The second factor in their favor is the literal heavy equipment from which they draw their name.
“We bring an insane amount of equipment to a small gig,” said front man Jon Mitchell. It certainly helps that Evans happens to be the owner of John’s Music. “Scott is the pusher of the band. He supplies us our drugs of heavy, nice equipment. So, we’re kind of a walking advertisement for the store.”
“Also indentured servants,” added Harley, eliciting laughter from the entire band. “I have a nice $2,000 keyboard so I’m indebted to Scott for the next however many gigs.”
It’s not unheard of for Evans to bring three or four guitars to a gig, for both Mitchell and Harley to bring a selection of bass guitars as they trade off duties, and for Bruner to drag out an eight-piece drum kit along with cymbals.
It’s not just about getting a chance to show off the merchandise. Each piece of equipment serves a purpose.
“I have a 90-pound guitar amp that I can replace with a half-pound digital device, but I just don’t get the same feel and satisfaction from it that I do an old-school tube amp,” Mitchell said. “And Scott will bring all those guitars because you want those flavors. You want a Les Paul for a song if they played a Les Paul on the original recording.”
This comment draws a round of overlapping chatter from the band about tone and matching the original sound as much as possible. This leads to Evans using the word “authentism,” leading to his bandmates giving him a hard time. And here you see the true beauty of what these four men have brought together.
Because as dedicated as they are to the less-famous tunes you love, and as much care as they take in replicating the tone and atmosphere of those classic songs, this is a band built around fun. Of the four, Bruner is the only career musician. Evans owns John’s Music, Mitchell owns New River Pool and Spa, and Harley owns Hitts AutoSound.
“We’re just a bunch of working guys who love to play,” Evans said.
Heavy Equipment is a side hustle for four guys who share a love of music and the type of fraternal bond that expresses itself through mutual smack talk. At one point, Mitchell points out that a band is only as good as their drummer, prompting Bruner to say, “And you can put that in the story that they’re still looking for that drummer.” (Keep in mind, he is the drummer.) And, as Harley quickly reminded him, “At least you’re one of the top three drummers onstage.”
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