Omaha’s LIGHTNING STILLS Finds Outlaw Creativity in Sobriety Debuts New Single “Gas Me Up” Out Now

Self-titled Album out Feb. 20, 2026 via Max Trax Records
Record Release show set for Feb. 20th at Omaha’s Slowdown

“Sneaking out to the car seemed to be a recurring activity over the years… but for various reasons,” laughs vocalist/guitarist Craig Fort of Omaha’s reigning outlaw country band Lightning Stills about their new single “Gas Me Up” which is released today, November 21, 2025.

Taken from their upcoming self-titled debut out February 20, 2026 via Max Trax Records, the song carries an autobiographical narrative of his decade spent at a dive bar and all of his “trips to the car” with fellow patrons. “Sometimes you go out and burn one with your friends to stay positive,” he reminisces. “Other times, it was as innocent as someone having a new mix of a song they were really proud of and wanted to lay some ears on it. Unless drama was involved, those trips usually ended with tossing your butts in a can and making your way back to your stool for another round, with a little more drive than when you left.”

For a recovering alcoholic who has been sober for six years now, his years as a bartender served as a well of inspiration for his songs – both as an eager listening ear and a cautionary tale not to return to a life well over a B.A.C. of over 0.08%. “The night is young / And so are we / I’m gonna go / Until I can’t see,” he sings at the start of “Gas Me Up.” That journey from sober to drunkenness is a road well-traveled and a path he doesn’t plan to traverse again.

Rife with songs of excess, Lightning Stills though isn’t an album detailing the evils of alcohol. Instead, it’s life stories while still in the moment. “I started this project as a way to keep me occupied and help me through getting sober,” Craig explains.

Aside from the obvious health benefits of quitting the sauce, his reason for quitting was far more personal. “Ultimately, I got sober for my family,” he confesses. “Once I had my first son, I started trying to stay away from the bar except for playing shows. My drinking stuck with me though and eventually took over. I realized I needed to get some help or my boys weren’t gonna have a father anymore.”

Having Oliver Bates Craven (renowned fiddle player and founding member of revered Americana band The Stray Birds) on the album doesn’t hurt. When a fiddle player was needed for some tracks, album producer Ian Aeillo suggested Craven. “I knew who Oliver was and thought he was joking,” Craig laughs. “Oliver was in town on tour and we picked him up and took him to the studio.” The chemistry was so fluid that Craven played on a number of tracks on the album.

Though he has sworn off alcohol, the offending substance flows freely figuratively throughout the band’s makeup. “The band name ‘Lightning Stills’ is a character I created – a reference to white lightning moonshine stills,” Craig explains, about the eponymously named alter-ego, a rhinestone cowboy in the vein of Waylon Jennings and Johnny Paycheck. “Lightning Stills” alludes to the clear high proof, unaged corn whiskey that is made in a ‘moonshine’ still. “When I first started, the ‘Lightning Stills’ character was a bootlegger. I have some history of that in my family and that lifestyle appealed to me I guess. Even off the sauce I feel like I’m still trying to find the right potency for my brew,” he laughs.

Lightning Stills is a venerated cast of Omaha musicians – a who’s who of local artists of varying genres, all unified in a love for pure and unadulterated Outlaw Country. Originating in 2020, Craig (a hardcore, metal, and garage mainstay whose leads the post-rock mainstays Leafblower) first formulated the band with Omaha music icon and multi-instrumentalist Mike Friedman who had been playing country for decades. Pulling into their magnetic orbit a “good-timing odd bunch” that features guitarist Tom May, bassist Dan Maxwell, and drummer Javid Thunders, Lightning Stills was born. “We’re a real sundry assortment,” he says. “Dan and I have been playing together in various projects for 15 years. The other fellas have played in folk, indie, garage, metal, etc. That’s one thing that’s always been nice in my experience about Omaha. You can have a bill with hip hop/metal/country, and everyone that comes out are friends and possibly play in other projects with each other as well.”

Deciding it was time to record a full record after releasing a handful of tracks in 2020 and 2021, the self-titled debut started taking shape, and a caboodle of punk-infused Outlaw Country was born. “Coming from a small town, I grew up with the outlaws and ‘90s popular country that I couldn’t escape,” he concludes. “My grandpa played in a country band. So in a sense, Lightning Stills is still just me playing music with my buds. We just aren’t playing as loud.”

Lightning Stills is Craig Fort (vocals, guitar), Mike Friedman (steel guitar, guitars, keys, vocals), Tom May (guitars), Dan Maxwell (bass), Matt Baum (drums) with Oliver Bates Craven guesting on fiddle (NOTE: Javid Thunders played drums on the album).

An album release show is set for the evening of February 20th at Slowdown (729 N 14th St, Omaha, NE 68102) with support from FACE and Mike Schlesinger.

Their first single “Gas Me Up” is released today. The debut album Lightning Stills will be released on February 20, 2026 via Max Trax Records.

1. Gas Me Up
2. He’s Not Heavy, He’s My Dealer
3. Drunker Than Me
4. Rambled Out
5. My Mama Wants a Love Song
6. Spirits
7. Willie and the Ghost
8. Closed Down the Bar