Big Dad Ritch and John Exall met in Denison, Texas. Since Denison was a small town with a very limited number of musicians, rival bands were forced to go on road trips together to cities such as Dallas to do shows. Originally from rival bands, Ritch and John got together and started playing, writing and eventually recording together. Shortly thereafter, THC emerged from the Red River Valley bordering the North Texas and southern Oklahoma and began a tour promoting their independent album Pride of Texas. They toured from coast to coast, putting themselves in front of fans everywhere with their style of music called "red dirt metal".[2] Current touring members are Big Dad Ritch, John Exall, Timmy Braun, and Cord Pool