It’s hardly a surprise that “Where there’s a will, there’s a way” would be the credo of a group whose discography includes a single as jubilantly persuasive as “Just Say Yes.” Yet none of that begins to cover the extent of the can-do spirit Nashville’s house-shaking Goldy lockS Band embody on the song and in the highly resourceful way they live their lives.
“I’ll stop at nothing ‘til I reach the top. I’ll keep on moving and I’ll never stop,” lead singer Goldy Locks vows on the track, a dancefloor-filling statement of intent that’s every bit as invigorating as “I Will Survive.” Strings saw away melodramatically and guitar power chords crash and churn while Locks applies her powerful voice to a musical promise to “start a motion where the money’s free” and “make it happen where we all agree.”
She sure walks it like she belts it. A recognized expert in making the most of what life hands you, Locks has been seen on TLC’s Extreme Cheapskates explaining how she uses her own feces as garden compost, collects stray socks from the laundromat to use as sanitary napkins and cuts down on her bar tab by finishing strangers’ discards. (Yes, really.) She’s preached her gospel of better living through frugality on her own TLC show, Call in the Cheapskates, and a podcast, Goldy’s Closet (a sub-cast of ex-WWE writer Vince Russo’s The Brand). Along the way, she’s also parlayed her innate industriousness into stints as a commentator/manager/wrestler for TNA Impact Wrestling and a pop chanteuse who got to open shows for Pink and others.
But it’s as the frontwoman of The Goldy lockS Band that she’s found her truest calling—and some stellar bandmates who landed on her radar by following their own creative approach to cutting corners and carpe-ing the crap out of that proverbial diem.
Consider drummer Rod Saylor, who turned an innocuous wardrobe choice into a career opportunity. At age 15, Saylor wore a Zildjian cymbals jacket to a Metallica concert—and caught the approving eye of a writer for Modern Drummer magazine, who slapped a backstage pass on him in appreciation. The result was that Saylor got to meet the band’s Lars Ulrich after the show, which in turn led to a pen-pal relationship that lasted for many years. Hipped to the blind happenstance on which the music industry turns, Saylor was primed to make his own luck when he later found himself occupying the drum stool for Orlando, Florida, act Bongwater Taffy. In an effort to stand out from a local scene that was at the time still shaking off its infatuation with cover bands, the group teamed up with Robin Quivers of The Howard Stern Show to concoct a prank story about kids overdosing after ingesting taffy made with actual bong water. Once Stern had been good and punked, Quivers played the band’s original track “Junk Food” for him, and he liked it so much that he not only invited them to perform on his show but ended up using the song as his on-air intro music for months.
Not to be outdone, Goldy lockS Band guitarist Johnny Oro likewise found a way to set himself apart from the Orlando pack—in his case, by wrapping himself in the American flag. Along with a second guitarist, Oro recorded an electrifying video version of the National Anthem that won the two of them a slot on iHeartRadio’s big "Earth Day Birthday” festival, opening for metal giants Trivium. Their performance was nothing short of legendary, igniting a series of high-profile opening slots at major shows and solidifying Oro’s reputation as a guitar virtuoso on the rise.
All of that accrued savvy comes together on “Just Say Yes,” a simply undeniable instant anthem to the philosophy that the glass is always half full—but that you have to grab it with both hands to find out first.
Just say yes
Don’t put me to the test, oh baby
Don’t say no
Just how far can we go
If you would just say yes
The uplifting vibe carries over into the accompanying music video, a genuine hoot and a half in which Locks and her band wield vacuum cleaners and other household totems rescued from the trash while wearing kitsch-Americana costumes found in either thrift/second-hand stores or the nearest dumpster. There’s nothing cheap, though, about the bang-for-your-buck reputation the group has carved out: Their 300+-song repertoire of originals and covers has made them a top draw throughout their region, and an in-demand opener for everyone from Saliva, Sevendust and Nickelback to Stevie Nicks, The Bret Michaels Band and Maroon 5. On record, their mastery of rock, pop and beyond has shifted thousands of albums, CDs, and EPs since 2008. Their 2019 collaboration with Smith & Hay x King Tech on a cover of Pearl Jam’s “Black” was the first single from an album that hit Number Two in Billboard—and on the Jazz chart, no less!
Listen on Spotify here:
open.spotify.com/album/6w5oQUynNcVNuJz8mkosIc
When it comes to charitable causes, this bunch are anything but stingy. Their 2021 single/video “All to You” aided suicide-prevention efforts, “Black” did the same for child abuse, and previous hit “Today I Won’t Be Afraid” has helped raise thousands of dollars for organizations like the YWCA and Soles4Souls, which helps get new shoes and clothing to people in crisis situations.
And really, how fitting. Because once a band has figured out how to pull themselves up by their bootstraps, all that’s left is to make sure the rest of us can stand tall too.
