About Us
Origin & History:
WHITE BOY AND THE AVERAGE RAT BAND was formed in the unlikely small mountain town of Richlands, Virginia in late 1979 by guitarist and songwriter Michael Matney.
Fresh out of high school in 1979, Matney would venture over the mountain to neighboring Tennessee to try his luck in the music Mecca of Nashville. There Matney would join Kriss Famous’ longtime established local act Tabu, replacing Ron Keel as lead guitarist. There Matney would be christened the name “White Boy”.
His time with Tabu and in Nashville would be brief before returning back to Virginia. Once back home Matney would take a job with a local record store and recording studio owner who would give Matney recording time in exchange for employment. There Matney would helm his own project deemed WHITE BOY AND THE AVERAGE RAT BAND; writing, composing and producing the self-titled debut. All parts played by Matney in exception of two separate drummers used for the project.
Musicians were then assembled to complete the band in order to represent a band on the album and live performances.
Signing & onward into 2018:
Throughout the 2000s Matney would be playing several shows on the southern rock circuit playing festivals with classic acts such as Blackfoot and Black Oak Arkansas. This lineup would play under the name Matney and featured second WHITE BOY AND THE AVERAGE RAT BAND drummer Jerry Hogeston. On January 26th, 2012 the band played their first show at the world famous Whiskey-A-G- Go, in Los Angeles, California now once again under their original moniker WHITE BOY AND THE AVERAGE RAT BAND.
On July 27th, 2016 Matney was contacted out of the blue by Heaven and Hell Records CEO Jeremy Golden with an offer to re-master and re-issue the extremely rare and highly sought after 1980 WHITE BOY AND THE AVERAGE RAT BAND debut in a limited CD and vinyl release. That same day a deal was made and the project was underway.
The project was announced and as the press releases began to go out to the music media a buzz began to grow louder and louder both renewing and creating new interest in the band. This would also shed some light on a band that was once shrouded in a bit of mystery for decades. And with it too, the band would discover that their music was still finding new audiences due to their songs being used as radio show intros and in things such as a skateboarding DVD released by Boston skateboard company Fancy Lad.
In November of 2017, the much anticipated WHITE BOY AND THE AVERAGE RAT BAND debut reissue on CD was released and met with an overwhelming response. In January of 2018 a vinyl version would be released, half of the pressing selling out within a couple of weeks.
A string of live tour dates would be booked on the East Coast, then a short break followed by a second string of dates on the West Coast appearing at such famous venues as The Funhouse in Seattle, Washington and again at the Whiskey-A-G0-Go to a sold-out show alongside hard rock veterans Zebra.
Onward into the future:
Now in 2018 WHITE BOY AND THE AVERAGE RAT BAND are taking full advantage of the recent hype surrounding. The reissue of the debut album and their live shows has received much positive critical press and their audience only continues to grow.
On May 19th the band will be playing the annual Legions of Metal Festival in Chicago, IL. Additional dates are planned to follow. The band also will record and release a new studio album later this year.
Vocals, Guitar / Mike Matney
Dummer / Jerry "Hog" Hogeston
Bass / Darrell Gibson
