Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies in the 1990s
Guitarist Rick White never expected his old band the Screamin’ Cheetah Wheelies to perform again. After all, their last show was nearly two decades ago. But that didn’t stop him from quickly saying yes when lead singer Mike Farris called and suggested they reunite for some shows, one of which will be Saturday at The Caverns.
“Mike was the one that instigated all this, and I do have to admit I was a bit surprised when he called,” White says. “But I was like, ‘Yeah, man, I can’t pass it up, a chance to play the songs again with you guys. It’ll be a lot of fun.’ ”
White was surprised to hear from Farris because it had been the singer’s decision to leave the band and pursue a solo career that brought about the Wheelies’ demise. His departure ended a successful run in the ’90s for the group, a stretch highlighted by a trio of hard-hitting blues-rock albums for Atlantic and Capricorn, and a series of electrifying performances while on tour with headlining rock acts such as Meatloaf, Joan Osborne and the Allman Brothers.
“The Southern rock revival — that’s what they were calling it, you know, with us and Brother Cane and Cry of Love, and there was a band called Copperhead,” Farris says, recalling the band’s heyday.
Farris never looked back after leaving the band, whose name was inspired by a Far Side cartoon of cheetahs in the wild poppin’ wheelies. He soon began a long and successful solo career that has won him a Grammy, a Dove and an Americana Music Association award for his soulful vocal performances and his heartfelt songwriting.
“We just never got to the top of the mountain — we never got to the point where even financially it made any sense,” Farris says of the Wheelies. “And I had a young family I was starting, so there were a lot of factors that made me decide, ‘This is not working, creatively and money-wise, and I got to do something different.’ ”
Like White, Farris didn’t think the Screamin’ Cheetah Wheelies would ever perform again. But something happened that made him change his mind and reach out to White and the other members of the band, guitarist Bobby Watkins, bassist Steve Burgess and drummer Terry Thomas.
“Around the pandemic, we lost several key members of our fan base,” Farris explains. “We had built a hardcore following, and part of that was a credit to our manager Rose McGathy, who had cultivated our fans in a way that they all felt like they were really part of this family. And they were.
“So there were several key members of that family who had gotten ill, and I was in contact with them right up to their death,” he continues, pausing to get his emotions under control. “And it started to really affect me, because these people had connected with our music. It meant so much to them. And one of the things that they really wanted was for us to get back together and play. And finally I just decided, ‘We got to do this. We got to get together, and we got to play some shows. To really have a proper end to this thing.’ ”
They initially booked two shows in July — one at 3rd and Lindsley in Nashville on Saturday, July 16, and one at the Gramercy Theater in New York on Saturday, July 30 — and in case the shows sold out, they had the Fridays before each on hold.
Then two nights before the tickets went on sale, Farris had an epiphany. “I jumped straight up out of bed at 3 in the morning, and I woke [my wife] Julie up and said, ‘We have to open up ticket sales on both nights, because if people do respond to it, they’re going to want to do both nights and make travel plans and all of that.’ So we did, and they all sold out in less than two minutes. Everybody was shocked.”
“I was like, ‘You got to be kidding me, man,’ ” White says. “It’s been a long time, two decades, you know? I thought some of our friends will show up and whatever — and then that happens. It’s unbelievable, man. We were all blown away by that.”
After the four shows sold out, the band added one show in New York aboard The Liberty Belle cruise ship on Sunday, July 31, and two more shows in Tennessee — one at The Caverns on Saturday, July 9, and a third show in the 3rd and Lindsley run on Sunday, July 17. All but the show at The Caverns are sold out.
“It’s a testament to our fans who have stuck with us,” Farris says of the overwhelming response to the shows they’ve christened “The Long Goodbye.” “It’s not a huge fan base by any means, but it is a strong, loyal fan base that supported us, man — through thick and thin, all these years. And, you know, all we ever were, were just five guys from Nashville who wanted to go out and make a difference.”
