In 2005, Cullen “Slim” Brown, having moved back to Atlanta, formed the anarcho-punk outfit A las Barricadas with Paideia School students Matt Hatcher and Rob St. Louis. A las Barricadas played local shows, released a 4-song EP called The MLK Sessions, and got to know the older radicals in Atlanta and Athens. The band even became a 100% union band when all three members joined the Industrial Workers of the World. The old-time derogatory term for the union, “I Want Whiskeys”, is where Slim got the name, I Want Whisky, the following year.

After Hatcher and St. Louis moved for college, A las Barricadas went dormant, and Slim started a new solo folk music project, I Want Whisky, altering the spelling for his preference for scotch and old-time bourbon rebels. As a solo act, Slim would play accordion, auto-harp, harmonica, and guitar, switching instruments between songs.
I Want Whisky would open for punk shows and play radical political fundraisers. While Slim had been playing drums for nearly ten years at this point, this was his first venture to any other performance, and while the singing and musicianship was lacking, the crowd could easily sing-a-long to the selection of drinking and protest songs and it made for an ok opening act to get drunk to.
This went on for about a year and a half. In 2008, two friends of Slim joined. One was Daddy Kei, accordionist and guitarist; the other was Chris Hearn, who played guitar. All three sang, and sometimes it may have been only two. This was also the year I Want Whisky began to play shows out of town, visiting Athens, Greensboro, and Blue Ridge, GA. In the fall, the group released a four-song demo. But then Chris and Kei left the band; Hearn moved to New Orleans for love, and Daddy Kei was starting a family.

New Year's Eve of 2008 unveiled a new group. Joining I Want Whisky, and solidifying the sound and line-up they wanted, was Cole Grant on bass (later replaced by Collin Guy) Matt Hatcher, returned from school, on drums, Ryan Dale on banjo and vocals (later replaced by Jay Rudd), and Slim on lead vocals, guitar, accordion, and harmonica. He would later drop the guitar, when in 2009 local IWW and guitarist Martin Ghant joined the band.
The five-piece rehearsed extensively, played shows locally and in surrounding states, and in 2010 went in the studio with Slim's childhood friend Clint O'Neal at the boards. I Want Whisky was a real band. In January 2011, the group released the Colombia Rose/Lullaby of Ft. Benning 45rpm record, which included the songs “I Want Whisky” and “Lullaby of Ft. Benning.” It was released un-mastered and raw and while the record was overtly in-your-face political, the folk-punk style and entwined love tales made them fairly popular. Both “Colombia Rose” and “Lullaby of Ft. Benning” got good reviews and airtime.
Martin Ghant moved to New York just prior to the release of Colombia Rose/Lullaby of Ft. Benning, and local guitar aficionado, Danny Arana, joined forces with I Want Whisky and as the year came to a close, the band would go through another recharge. With Hatcher, Guy, and Rudd, leaving the band (and throwing a massive goodbye party), Danny and Slim were the only consistent members throughout 2012. Jeremy Ray joined on bass, later to be replaced by Doug Rolph; and Dean Maerhlein joined on drums, later to be replaced by Kelsey Wilson. Banjo player Steve D'Agostino also enjoyed a few months with the group, but time constraints and other projects eventually lead to his departure.

2013 brought more line-up changes to the group when violinist Mary Elaine Mahaffey joined. Shortly after Kelsey Wilson left to focus on a new project, and friend and neighbor Mike Paul joined on the skins. The tumult of line-up changes was limiting to the releasing of new material and booking tours, but the band continued to play local shows and sell their record and other merchandise.

In 2014, I Want Whisky came back from the funk with their first tour of the East Coast, playing in eleven cities as well as a notable slot in the first fundraiser for the Gram Pasrons' Derry Down. They were invited to play at the opening ceremony later that year in Gram's childhood town, Winter Haven, Florida. I Want Whisky was part of an ensemble of musicians, including Jim Lauderdale, John Corneal, and others from Gram's life in singing “Hickory Wind” as the highlight of the event. And to top it off, that winter they began pre-production on a new record. Sadly, Mike Paul had to leave the band, but like most departures, was in pursuit of new musical interests and amicable.

On New Year's Eve of 2014, Troy King joined on drums. Mary Elaine had to leave the group for graduate school in Boston, and Christopher Salmon joined shortly after on banjo, fiddle, and mandolin; filling out the five-piece once again. This line up remains together at the time of this release and as the ten-year birthday of I Want Whisky approaches.