Two Dollar Pistols emerged in 1995 during the North Carolina alt-country explosion that gave the world Whiskeytown and the Backsliders, among others, though the band was more firmly rooted in honky tonk music. Formed by singer/songwriter John Howie Jr., the Pistols spent thirteen years traveling around the United States and Europe, making records for the Yep Roc label with an updated, soulful take on old-school country and honky-tonk sounds. Over the course of seven albums – including a series of duets with Grammy nominee Tift Merritt – Howie and the band developed a sizeable following, packing clubs on the East Coast and being flown to festivals in Europe, while the band's albums regularly appeared on the Americana chart. In that time, the Pistols shared the stage with a veritable who's-who of country music legends, including Merle Haggard, Billy Joe Shaver, Dale Watson, BR-549, the Derailers, and many more, and were invited to play at Opryland in 2003 and 2004. In 2008, when the Pistols went on hiatus, John Howie Jr. formed the Rosewood Bluff, and in 2014 he became a founding member of Sarah Shook & the Disarmers, drumming on their first two Bloodshot Records albums and co-writing the song, “Fuck Up.” Howie left the Disarmers in late 2017 to once again focus on his own music. In 2018 John Howie Jr. released his first solo album, “Not Tonight,” on Suah Sounds.