They were from Georgia, but they weren't R.E.M.

I ran an errand and did the dishes today while listening to the woefully underappreciated Guadalcanal Diary.
Does anyone remember them?
They had the misfortune of following R.E.M. out of Georgia in the early 1980s.
Because of their roots, people always compared them to Michael Stipe and the boys.
However, in Murray Attaway they possessed a distinctive vocalist who drew from a country music tradition far more heavily than R.E.M. ever did. I think that's why I really like Guadalcanal Diary: In the mid-80s, they were one of the few bands to include pedal steel guitar on their songs. Did they help spawn alt.country? Possibly.