“I’d rather be a medium size fish in every town than a big fish in a small town,” says lead singer Jameson Tankersley, the spokesperson for the band. Out of Athens, Georgia, high energy rock band “Jameson Tank” rocks the south. The group formed during October 2020, the height of the COVID-19 Pandemic. In one year, the band has played a whopping 50 shows while some of the members are still pursuing their education at The University of Georgia and The University of North Georgia. Currently the group is traveling on the “Too Hot To Hold” Tour throughout the Southeast. 

“My voice is beat down, My ankles hurt, but it’s a lot of fun, we are living the dream” says Tankersley, as they drove to Tuscaloosa in the middle of the night from Clemson, SC for a gig at Lambda Chi Alpha this past weekend. 

 They plan on releasing an album soon, at this point they have produced the “Too Hot To Hold” EP. They draw inspiration from classic rock bands like The Police, Led Zeppelin, and Rush and this is evident on their EP. They are moving away from covers as they develop their own sound. “Give us a few years” Jameson says, as the band takes over the southeast one venue at a time.

Jameson Tank is a rock and roll band full of energy and spunk, ready to take over the music scene. The four boys all share a deep passion for music and are “ready to take over the southeast venue by venue. The band has been together for one year and has already achieved success and has started on their “Too Hot to Hold” Tour.” 

The band has a wide variety of musical inspirations that they draw from. 

“I got inspired by The Police, Talking Heads, and Rush. All that made me want to play the drums,” said drummer Connor Ankerich.

College towns, fraternities, and darties are the main areas that the boys are frequenting during this time and are loving the environment that it garners. 

“We play anywhere, bars and college towns.The audience is already sort of built in,” said bass player Javier Solorzano.

Although the band is set and started in Athens, they are exceedingly driven by the music scene here in Tuscaloosa and ready to establish themselves. 

“I have seen a lot of bands hammer in their hometown. You can be a very big fish [in your hometown] and a very little fish everywhere else. I would rather be a medium fish everywhere I go. So that is what we are trying to do and Tuscaloosa is very high on our to do list. It is a very fun town and people seem to really enjoy the music, especially rock music down here.” said lead singer Jameson Tankersley. 

Although the boys play rock music, they do not want any of their female fans to feel isolated and would like to cater more to a female based audience. 

“We do a lot of songs for girls. We know “Good for You” by Olivia Rodrigo and “Party in the USA” by Miley Cyrus. I wanna learn “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.” Let’s learn the songs for the girls. We put that forward,” said Tankersley. 

The boys find it important to change it up and practice versatility within their music. 

“We are trying our best to be versatile. I think not a lot of bands can do that. We can play Margaritaville with the Seven Nation Army, which I think is kind of rare. A lot of bands find that one thing and just hammer it.” said Tankersley.

Interacting with audiences is also an important aspect of the experience with Jameson Tank. 

“I see a lot of bands not even acknowledging the crowd. Eye contact is important, I think that is very important. We like to bring people up on stage to sing. I don’t care if you’re not a singer, we don’t care. If you wanna sing a song, come sing it.” said Tankersley.  

The band encourages their fans to interact with them and welcomes encounters of all kinds. Jameson Tank’s main objective is to keep their audience members engaged and entertained during their shows. 

“A lot of bands are a lot more worried about playing perfectly than entertaining. I am the complete opposite,” said Tankersley. 

This kind of over the top when it comes to entertaining their audiences does not come without appreciation from their fans. 

“I’m a big classic rock fan and I think their music really shines through with that. What I really like about Jameson Tank is their music and performance. I love his voice. He has a very distinct voice and I would also say one thing I love about them is how they perform,” said Tuscaloosa manager Danny Francis. 

The men know how to entertain and keep their audience engaged, making sure that everyone is having a good time is all that Jameson tank truly wants. 

 “He is an entertainer. He knows how to make everyone have fun. Some bands have good music but they don’t understand how to add that extra spark into it. It has been amazing to see them grow in the Tuscaloosa area. I think it is really cool to see them grow like that,” said Francis. 

Jameson Tank remains third most popular on Spotify in the Tuscaloosa area and continues to grow their fanbase at the University of Alabama and Tuscaloosa area in general. 

The band truly is following their aspirations and watching their dreams come to their fruition before their eyes. Jameson Tankersley knows in his heart that this is exactly what he is supposed to be doing and enjoying the ride and road to success.

“I always knew this is what I wanted to do. I still know,” said Tankersley.