Album Review – Silverada’s “Living Proof”

Southern Rock (#562), Country Rock (#560) on the Country DDS.

No need to sit back and pontificate from behind your phone or computer. It’s irrefutable at this point that Silverada’s big name change from Mike & The Moonpies didn’t result in some revolutionary breakthrough for the band, and in hindsight feels either unnecessary or even a distraction, even if you want to give them credit for trying to do something, anything to try and change their fate.

After all, no matter what their name is or where they reside in the pecking order now, Silverada released arguably the greatest run of records in modern country history with Mockingbird (2015) – Steak Night at the Prairie Rose (2018) – Cheap Silver & Solid Country Gold (2019) – and One to Grow On (2021), while also serving as perhaps the best live band that country music had to offer. Their self-titled Silverada (2024) was really solid too, despite some naysayers’ claims.

There’s no better evidence for the lack of a meritocracy in American music than the continued struggles of Silverada. Let’s get it straight though, some bands would kill to be able to draw like Silverada does, or to have as many skins on the wall as they have amassed, not to mention the continued rabidness of their fan base that can pack out clubs on weeknights coast to coast. We need to stop discounting the success of bands just because they’re not playing areas.

But just like that sportsball player who hits his 30s and is still playing 3rd string, the chances for a big breakout moment for Silverada become more slim by the day. In many respects, that’s what their new album Living Proof is all about. They’re not really swinging for the fences like they did with Cheap Silver or One To Grow On. This album finds Mike Harmeier and the boys embracing their underdog status and their identity as road dogs, while understanding that the fortunes of some of the greatest country artists didn’t always pay off for them in the present tense.

One of Silverada’s heroes Gary Stewart was never the biggest thing in his day. He took his victories where he could, but was always overlooked and undervalued. But there are a lot of artists that were bigger in country that never had beloved biographer Jimmy McDonough write a 550-page biography about them like Gary Stewart just did. There also wouldn’t be as many fervent fans around to want to read it like Gary Stewart has.

The next chapter in the book of Silverada is written after the departure of steel guitar player Zachary Moulton, who left in March of 2025. As the ever-present naysayers love to say, Zach left a steel guitar-sized hole in this band they’ve yet to fill. That’s certainly not an unfair assessment, especially from a country music fan. But filling the shoes of Zach Moulton—who might be the best steel guitar on this planet or any other—is easier said that done. Without the right person, any fill-in would have still seemed inferior, and the boo birds would still be cawing.

It happens to be that a keyboard is about the size of a steel guitar, if not bigger when they’re doubled up on a rack. So it’s been Parker Twomey who’s filled that void. And for some Silverada long-timers, they remember the nearly decade long era when keys player John Carbone was also part of the band. So that sound is a significant part of the Silverada legacy.

But instead of trying to re-create the past and try to meet the lofty, if unattainable expectations some fans and Silverada’s own discography in country music has set for them, on Living Proof, Mike Harmeier and the boys simply focus in on being the best version of themselves they can be with the lineup of the band as it’s presently constructed. If Harmeier tried to write and record another One To Grow On, it never would have worked, and they wouldn’t be able to render it live anyway.

So Living Proof moves forward more like a Southern rock, or maybe an ’80s California country rock album, with Harmeier smartly creating compositions that can lean on the strengths of lead guitarist Catlin Rutherford, and prove Parker Twomey’s value as a permanent member. In this pursuit to optimize the experience with the personnel they have, Silverada succeeds. This album might not be very twangy at all. But it definitely comes with that lived-in feel, dripping with sweat and grease. It’s Silverada’s classic rock record.

For the most part, the first half of this album is about their hardscrabble lives out there on the road as blue collar working musicians. Along with the sense of freedom that comes with to the open road in “Highway Man” and “Silver Eagle,” there’s a sense of resignation and a dash of forlornness, but also an underlying gratefulness that comes from knowing that no matter what level you’re at, if you can making a living traveling and playing music, you beat the system.

The second half of Living Proof tells stories of heartbreak. “Second Hand” tells a rather timeless story, though it’s hard to not wonder if instead of it being about a lover, it’s about a former band member. “Jack” really shows off the best of Mike Harmeier writing with the way the specificity of some lyrics really allow you to live the experience through the characters in his songs. “24-7-365” speaks to that survival mode most all of us feel like we’re in during these thin and uncertain times.

Harmeier’s writing has always found its genius through embracing clichés, but finding fresh places to take them. He flaunts this skill on Living Proof once more, though sometimes the lines feel a little undercooked. If nothing else, Living Proof needed to be released to have an album to tour behind without steel guitar. But even if some of the writing was rushed, none of the recordings were. Cut at the Sonic Ranch in West Texas, this album feels very alive and impassioned, with Mike himself stepping up as producer after Adam Odor filled that role for their last many records. Odor does still appear though in the writing credits.

Even though Living Proof strongly accomplishes what it sets out to do, it’s just not going to be enough for certain country audiences. In some respects, Silverada has become a victim of the expectations they set for themselves with their previous run of albums. Maybe at some point, Silverada will add back a steel guitar. Maybe at some point bass player Omar Oyoque will fill that position since he’s proven to be at least proficient with the instrument. Maybe Silverada will make another Texas honky tonk record.

But the season they’re in right now is what is captured on Living Proof, and it’s captured quite well, and compellingly. That’s all that is fair to judge them by.

8.1/10

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Purchase Living Proof from Silverada