High energy California Country - John Surge & the Haymakers weave together classic country, rock ’n’ roll, blues and folk styles into a spirited feel good blend, a great fit for any venue from main stage to bar room, listening room to coffee house.
"With 'Almost Time,' Surge has made an album that fits like a pair of well worn jeans and feels the right side of retro country but also has an eye to the future and perfects his own personal vision of the music that came from the likes of the Palomino Club in its heyday in L.A. Seems like it’s almost time to listen again and make some hay in its audio sunshine." - Lonesome Highway
"With exuberance and enthusiasm, Surge and company come across as the ultimate California country rock combo. Hooks, harmonies, joy and jangle are imbued in each entry, resulting in songs that ring with the honesty and independence culled from California West Coast tradition.” - Goldmine
"The hooks evoke Tom Petty in places, while others may echo Dwight Yoakam. While the album mostly rocks and bounces, Surge proves capable of ballad singing on the lush closer 'Long Enough’" - Country Standard Time
"The LP is filled with weathered personalities, pounding the pavement or just trying to get further down the highway to the next luncheonette. Surge explores this environment of California that Tom Waits ignores.” - Americana Highways
“'On Your Wonderful Life,' John Surge blends heady old-school country twang and modern country-rock relishes into delectable sonic concoctions full of infectious washes of color, crowned by polished vocals." - Randall Radic
The New Album "Almost Time"
The new album reached No. 32 on the Americana Music Association charts and the single "You're So Right" landed at No. 35.
Bandcamp named it one of the top country albums in the month of it's release and said, "Surge and his band are fluent in the gleaming, dance-floor-friendly brand of California twang-pop made famous by Buck Owens and Dwight Yoakam, among others. To make their new album, however, they traveled to Floresville, Texas and worked with a gang of heavy hitters (Brennen Leigh, Floyd Domino) to make an album that seems to jump out of the speakers and into your ears. Surge is a master of melodic country, and Almost Time is like a full dish of ear candy."
