LANCO

Country-rock band LANCO -- which stands for Lancaster & Company -- were formed in 2013 by namesake and frontman Brandon Lancaster. Hailing from Georgia, Tennessee, and Kentucky, the quintet members included drummer Tripp Howell, guitarist Eric Steedly, keyboardist Jared Hampton, and bassist Chandler Baldwin. Crafting feel-good country anthems tinged with classic rock and blues edges, LANCO got their start after a chance meeting between Lancaster and producer Jay Joyce (Eric Church, Little Big Town) at a Keith Urban concert. Joyce signed LANCO to his publishing company and produced their eponymous debut EP. The band signed with Sony Music Nashville imprint Arista Nashville in late 2015. Their second EP, Extended Play, was released in early 2016. It contained three of the same songs as their debut, exchanging "High" for newer track and lead single "Long Live Tonight," a pop-infused country song with a Kings of Leon undercurrent. In 2017, their song "Greatest Love Story" was also featured as the theme for the Netflix series The Ranch, and this placement helped break the band, with the single reaching Billboard's Hot Country Songs Top Ten. Hallelujah Nights, the band's long-awaited full-length debut, appeared in January 2018. They returned the following year with the single "Rival." ~ Neil Z. Yeung