They sent an eight-song demo to Mercury, and soon after, the label signed the group. From these 90-minute performances, the Headhunters built up a following.

The Headhunters started playing twice monthly on The Chitlin’ Show, a program on Munfordville, Kentucky radio station WLOC. Besides Martin and Phelps, the band also included the Young brothers and Doug’s brother Ricky Lee Phelps.

When Kenney declined to rejoin the group, Martin remembered Doug Phelps, whom he had met while on tour with McDowell. Phelps joined the new project, which was named the Kentucky Headhunters. In 1985, Martin decided to reassemble the Itchy Brothers. After about 13 years, the band members began launching separate careers: Richard Young went off to write songs for Acuff-Rose, while Fred Young began touring with country beauty Sylvia. Martin became a member of Ronnie McDowell’s band, while Kenney dropped out of music. The first incarnation of the band was called the Itchy Brothers, and the group played together informally for over a decade. The origins of the Kentucky Headhunters lie in 1968, when Fred and Richard Young began playing together with their cousins Greg Martin and Anthony Kenney at the Youngs’ grandmother’s house. Mark Orr also later joined them.

It’s by no coincidence that his latest label-wide collaborative project was named Dominion – Tech N9ne will not stop until he and Strange Music have completely dominated the world of hip-hop and beyond.The Kentucky Headhunters created a hybrid of honky tonk, blues, and Southern rock that appealed to fans of both rock and country music. Everyone from Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson to Elton John has been spotted bumping Tech N9ne records, a testament to constant reinvention and inarguable excellence that has become standard of Tech’s work. Tech’s multi-faceted skillset has not gone unrecognized by artists of all genres, exemplified by collaborations with such diverse artists as The Doors, Slipknot’s Corey Taylor, Eminem, and Boyz II Men, to name just a few. In less than two decades, Tech himself has earned three gold records, sold over two million albums, and made multiple appearances on Forbes’s “Hip-Hop Cash Kings” list. Tech’s unparalleled tour schedule and signature rapid-fire “chopper” style combined with the business acumen of Strange Music CEO Travis O’Guin have molded Strange Music into the number one independent hip-hop label in the world. The independent underground would not be what it is today without pioneers like Strange Music cofounder Tech N9ne.

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