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December 1, 2023

Nashville, TN

"Magnolia" by the Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies

The Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies is a band from Nashville, Tennessee, US, which was formed in April 1991. The band features a heavy southern bluesy jam oriented style which led to comparisons with groups such as Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Allman Brothers Band, The Black Crowes, Brother Cane and Cry of Love.
The band chose their name from a "The Far Side" illustration by artist Gary Larson captioned "Cheetah Wheelies".
Preface: Sometime last week I was browsing around social media and found out that one of my favorite Tennessee childhood bands has been doing a reunion tour that seems to be wrapping up in Spain this week.
I was a little bummed when I read one of the first shows of the tour was at The Caverns (Also in Tennessee) which is a GORGEOUS concert venue in an actual cave! I have been to it a few times in my youth and not too long ago with my family but had never actually seen a show there. The Wheelies would have been one of those shows I would have considered buying a plane ticket to go see.
Anywoo ... I decided last weekend to have my own "Wheelie Fest" at home and dusted off the old CD's.
While jamming this tune in the car last week, I thought to myself ... "Wouldn't it be cool to re-create their album artworks and turn them into animations, coupled with some then and now concert footage?" I had the bulk of the outline and visuals in my head during the car ride home so I jumped right into it that night with gathering all the assets.
This was a fun exorcize in 2-D animation mixed in with some alpha channel keying and overlays. I read this song is a personal favorite for most of the Wheelie fans ... so about 12 hours later ... Ta-Da!