Company History
Truck Drivin' Bastards, Us...
The Franklin County Trucking Company pays homage to the truck driving songs of the 60s, 70s, and 80s, while mixing in a dose of greasy rock'n'roll. "FcoTco" was the brainchild of Number 9 Blacktops guitarist "Skinny" Jim Rotramel, and kicked into gear by Supersuckers frontman Eddie Spaghetti. “I had written a few truck drivin’ songs in the Number 9 Blacktops, and wanted to do an album paying respect to the old trucker country artists,” says Rotramel. “In 2013, Eddie and I were recording our 'Cool on my Right' album in Indianapolis. I mentioned to Eddie that I wanted to start a trucker band, and he said let him know when it comes time.” Rotramel ran the idea by former Number 9 Blacktops drummer Taylor Sprehe, along with Dallas Alice bandmate Sean Hopkins, who was also on board from the start. “I asked Sean to write a few of the songs. He wrote half, and I wrote half. Throw in a couple of covers, that was it. We tried to see who could write them the fastest. Sean won, but not by much.”
The band recorded its first album, The Adventures of the Franklin County Trucking Company, in 2017. The album met great feedback, and the band followed it up in 2019 with The Further Adventures of the Franklin County Trucking Company, with Colonel J.D. Wilkes from the Legendary Shack Shakers joining in on harmonica. Radio play from SiriusXM's Outlaw Country, along with big support from the truck driving community, helped to make this album a success as well. The band's third album, The Latest Adventures of the Franklin County Trucking Company, was released in April 2022. It features J.D. Wilkes on harmonica again, along with Ben Schreiber on fiddle. In the Summer of 2024, the band recorded it's fourth album, The Death-Defying Adventures of the Franklin County Trucking Company at Sawhorse Recording Studios in St. Louis, Missouri. This album feautres Eric "Roscoe" Ambel on lead guitar for the track "Me & Mr. Pibb", and Kourtney Harris on vocals on "Got one Comin". Stay tuned for more news from the open road!
Hauling it all...
Sean comes from an Americana background. Taylor is a punk at heart. Jim is rockabilly through and through. And Eddie fronts the greatest rock'n'roll band in the world. Having musicians from different backgrounds helps to diversify the sound, and keep the tunes fresh with influences from every truckstop on the map.
The Log Books...
"So what you have here are four front men from four different bands and one punked-out rockabilly drummer who lives up to the “greasy” billing. All of whom, one day on a creative lark, formed trucking music’s first bona-fide super band." - Paul Marhoefer, Overdrive Magazine (Best album, 2019)
Customer Satisfaction...
"If your hat is mesh and your right foot heavy, and if you consider Red Sovine and Dave Dudley just as much country music Gods as Willie and Waylon, then the Franklin County Trucking Company is right for you. No, we’re not talking about a fulfillment business with a yard full of Peterbilt’s idling away ready to facilitate all your commercial freight needs, we’re talking about a country music outfit that specializes in delivering country trucking songs with a high-powered Benzedrine kick." - (8/10) www.savingcountrymusic.com