Chicago Is The Place To Be For MoonRunners Music Fest This Weekend

Find out more on Moonruuners Music Fest at Reggies in Chicago

Friday April 25th 2014

Music Joint Stage:
2:00- Joey Henry's Dirty Sunshine Club
2:50- Lou Shields
4:05- Coondog and the Stumpjumpers
5:45- Lonewolf OMB
6:35- Adam Lee Band
7:25- Ten Foot Polecats
8:15- Molly Gene One Whoaman Band
9:15- Hellbound Glory

Rock Club Stage:
3:15- Joey Henry's Dirty Sunshine Club
3:45- Nellie Wilson
4:35- The Tosspints
5:15- Pearls Mahone
6:10- Highlonesome
7:00- The Hooten Hallers
7:55- The Calamity Cubes
8:50- Cletus Got Shot (One Time only Reunion Set)
10:00- Possessed by Paul James
11:15- The Goddamn Gallows

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Saturday April 26th 2014 

Music Joint Stage:
11:20am- The Ghost Bandits
11:35am- Tony French
12:15- Rickett Pass
2:00- Carmen Lee and the Tomorrow River Two
3:50- The Hangdog Hearts
4:50- Carrie Nation and the Speakeasy
6:05- Whiskey Dick
6:50- Black Eyed Vermillion
7:55- Rachel Kate
9:00- Joseph Huber

Rock Club Stage:  
11:50- Jeff Shephard and the Jailhouse Poets
12:45- Six Gun Britt
1:25- The Imperial Rooster
2:30- Matt Woods
3:15- Filthy Still
4:20- C.W. Ayon
5:30- Last False Hope
7:20- J.B. Beverley and the Wayward Drifters
8:25- Fifth on the Floor
9:50- Roger Alan Wade
11:15- Scott H. Biram

Lose Some Gear On The Road, Time To Improvise

Rory Kelly's new slide for his guitar riffing

What happens when a crucial part of your gear goes missing or stolen while on the road? Well, of course ya just have to improvise. This recently happened to ol' Rory Kelly while on tour with J.B. Beverley and instead of heading over to a Guitar Center or Sam Ash, a fan of the bands offered his expertise and got to grinding on a piece of steel pipe. The new slide was custom fit directly to Rory's pinky and now makes for one hell of a great road story. Huge thanks to Dennis Pardick for being a stand up dude and helping friends out on the road.

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J.B. Beverley Feature Review On American Roots UK

 Link to review on American Roots UK

Order your copy of the album


"Having previously made four albums that include one live limited edition and one demo recording, as well as touring relentlessly with his band ‘The Wayward Drifters’ it was perhaps inevitable that a change was due in the shape of a ‘solo’ album for the copiously talented J.B. Beverley. How often do we see the frontman of many a great band doing this only to find the finished product a disappointment. Not so in the case of JB! This album is a real triumph for an incredibly busy singer/songwriter who also runs his own recording studio, produces and engineers other peoples recordings, as well as being an author and screenwriter. Because ‘Drifters’ Johnny Lawless retired from the road and Dan Mazer moved out to the west coast, JB was forced into rethinking his musical career and fans old and new are fortunate that this new album not only matches the high quality of previous recordings but as a bonus offers more diversity whilst still firmly within the ‘roots music’ genre.     

His roots, as with friends James Hunnicutt and Hank Williams III, are in ‘punk’ music but that particular roots strain has gradually evolved into an edgy form of music that veers between a form of gothic country to southern rock to classic country, even a little blues and just about all points in between, all played and sung as if each of those strains was the only thing JB has ever played. He is a hugely talented singer songwriter who would probably have more success sticking to plain ‘commercial country,’ (as a vocalist he is more than capable of such a swing) but then we wouldn’t get treats such as this tremendous album! He really is a musician that ploughs his own furrow and one that is deep, diverse, heartfelt and full of commitment.

The fact that he can sing straight country in many ways proves his talent for diversity because that is only a small part of what this album contains, with him being equally at home on a ‘heavy’ rocker or front porch instrumental. I would have said it was virtually impossible for anyone to make an album such as this but JB, with the help of a few hugely talented friends, pulls it off. His extraordinarily gifted friend James Hunnicutt joins him on many of the songs sometimes adding vocals but always with his excellent guitar playing and the talented Buck Thrailkill plays banjo.  

There are fifteen tracks on the album, two of which are instrumentals, twelve were written by J.B and the three covers are Motorhead’s I Ain’t No Nice Guy, a duet with his equally talented old friend James Hunnicutt that veers between mellow folksiness and a raw powerful rocked up Motorhead feel and back again, putting the original in the shade! The traditional Hang Me, Oh Hang Me is an incredible live recording of the song with just JB's tremendous vocal and acoustic guitar propelling this classic song. The other cover is the late Gene Lee Wilcox  penned Time Will Tell, a simply stunning version of the darkest of all love songs that for good measure incorporates a murder ballad!

Thematically there is a dark atmosphere to many of the songs, hardly surprising considering several personal tragedies that were occurring in JB's life at the time of writing these songs. There is a deeply reflective thread that seems to bind many of the tales together despite the individual songs coming from musically diverse directions. The album opens with Appalachian Swamp Stomp an excellent instrumental that was recorded on JB's porch with him on cigar box guitar and Big Geo Ballentine on slide guitar. It has a deep dark atmosphere that could easily lure the casual listener into thinking this is going to be a ‘hillbilly’ album, but what follows certainly gives the lie to that premise! It is followed by Get The Wheels A Rollin’ a tremendously fiery hard driving ‘southern’ rocker that veers well away from any sort of country music. I described the album as diverse and so it is proven by the next song All The Little Devils, a terrific, quite dark, slow moody ballad with just acoustic guitar plus nice harmony vocals from Hunnicutt and co author Ronnie Hymes. Three entirely different strains of roots music but can he keep up the diversity? You bet he can, as proven on the next track. It is another instrumental but one entirely different to the album opener. This is called Bit Of Pickin’ a tune that is a tremendous jaunty banjo and acoustic guitar ‘old timey’ instrumental with Buck Thrailkill on banjo and Hunnicutt and Beverley on acoustic guitars. It would be easy to imagine this one being played on a front porch of the high Appalachians or conversely on a Mississippi river boat and has the quality that the late great John Hartford would have been proud of had he written it! An excellent co write by the three players. Disappear On Down The Line is an intensely dark, sad tale with a classic country vocal on what can almost be described as a classic country song, with excellent harmonies from Hunnicutt, acoustic guitars and cello and Beverley’s peerless heartfelt lead vocal on a gorgeous slow moody ballad. The title track Stripped To The Root is an incredible song and one that emphasises JB's raw evocative vocal with just sparse acoustic guitar for company. The song has an atmosphere that says the teller has lived this life and is now reflecting on the consequences as they leave him with no way to turn but knowing that somehow he must try to find a way back up. A story of such exceptional quality and raw heartrending emotion that had Guy Clark, Townes or Prine written it, the song would be hailed as one of the great pieces of generic writing!

As a measure of the man’s talent this open hearted album could not really have been surpassed. His writing is exceptional, the arrangements never overdone, there is huge diversity, he possesses vocals that can cope with most genres within roots music and there is a natural edginess that never gets in the way of the songs. Great album! "

J.B. Beverley feature write up on American Roots UK

 

Husky Burnette And His Electrified Resonator Guitar

AJ of Diamondback Stringworks with Husky Burnette's resonator preparing for surgery

Last year I scored a great endorsement deal with Diamondback Stringworks. They build anything from cigar boxes to mandolins to electric and acoustic guitars... even built a custom banjo/dobro hybrid. First, they built me a custom Telecaster-style guitar equipped with a vintage Epiphone humbucker pickup I gave them to make it right for my guitar tone. After really getting to know A.J. Hancock (owner) I've seen how great and on-point his work is. 

Not only have I made my Diamondback Tele-style my #1 guitar for standard tuning on stage, I've also taken almost every guitar I use on a regular basis to him for repair and/or for him to customize. This kid is 20 years old and one of the best luthiers I've ever ran across. Pretty crazy. If he's this good now, at 20 yrs old, who knows what the future may hold for him. 

He's built guitars for a few Rusty Knuckles artists already: Myself, Peewee Moore (Peewee and I got our endorsements/guitars at the same time) and J.B. Beverley. Other artists he's built for include the great Steve Earle, James Hunnicutt and more.

Two new guitars about to be customized

Here's some pictures I took at the Diamondback Stringworks shop in Tennessee this week. I took my National metal-body resonator guitar to him to electrify the thing. He wound a custom humbucker pickup for it and installed it so now I'm electrified, which opens new doors and possibilities for this guitar. This thing sounds amazing (it's a National, of course it does!) but, he wound the pickup to 1956 Les Paul specs so it's as thick and warm as it can get when plugged in to an amp. Perfection. 

 

Also, I've included a picture of my next two guitars he's customizing: the electric is a Zim-Gar (mid '60's Jap guitar) given to me by my uncle. My very first guitar. It's the guitar I learned my first chord on so it has some meaning. A.J. is making it playable again with all new electronics, a custom lipstick tube pickup and some cosmetic work; the acoustic is a Johnson and A.J. will be winding a custom pickup and mounting it. 

 

Don't take it from me, go check out Diamondback Stringworks' builds and quality products for yourself, like them on facebook, etc. They have a new line of acoustic guitar builds in the works right now so be on the lookout for those as well!

 

-Husky Burnette

 

Getting the pickup area ready for installation

The resonator with its heart ripped out in mid surgery

Husky Burnette and AJ of Diamondback Stringworks and the reconfigured resonator

 

Here Is How Getting Featured On Itunes Works...

Stevie Tombstone featured in Itunes New & Noteworthy Country for his single "Kevlar Heart"

Just in case any of yall were wondering about how we keep getting solid features in Itunes and other larger media outlets, here is how it works, plain and simple.

Itunes for example, chooses what it deems music (albums / singles / artists) that will sell, as they are in business to turn a profit. Being ranked in the top 10 of Fortune 500 companies worldwide proves they are already beyond successful and payoffs from PR companies, just won't work. This leaves the album placements as their choice for what to feature. Therefore, by the quality of Stevie Tombstone's new track Kevlar Heart he is hangin' right up at the top with the other acts in this screen shot, Stevie is being deemed "one to watch" that could go huge.

Being that we have gotten huge features quite a few times over the last 4 years as a label proves one thing. As an indie label putting out great music, we can deliver the soundtrack to your life on the same level as the majors. Mucho kudo's to Husky Burnette for being featured for 15 straight weeks now and JB Beverley for landing at No. 1 on Amazon's digital music charts.

As we finish up this year, folks we have some big things lined up for 2014 and this is just a preview of what is to come. Our pendulum is about to swing firmly back to the rougher side of the tracks. We will be making some big announcements in the coming weeks on new albums coming up and the great bands about to melt faces for 2014.

Stay tuned, drink up as we are about to Crank up the Marshall stacks.

Check out the brand new video we filmed for Stevie Tombstone with "Would You Die For Love"

J.B. Beverley Feature Interview On Saving Country Music

J.B. Beverley's album cover for "Stripped To The Root" illustrated by Kitty Barks

Check out original post on Saving Country Music

Purchase J.B. Beverley's new album - Stripped To The Root

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"There’s been some big news here lately. A good Outlaw country artist named Wayne Mills has passed away. Did you know Wayne very well, and if so what did his music mean to you?

I didn’t know Wayne very well in the big scheme of things, as far as for a long time. The joke we made when we were hanging out in Altamont [at the Outlaw and Legends tribute concert] was that we knew of each other a lot longer than we’ve known each other. But he impacted my life in a great way, both personally and musically. An amazing, from the heart and from the gut songwriter, very pure, very true to his personality and cultural roots. And as a man, he’s was as stand up of a guy as I’ve been around since I can remember. He was a really remarkable person that was taken out of this world too early, that’s for sure.

You’ve said about your new album Stripped to the Root that it’s not a country record; that there’s some country stuff included, but it’s not a Wayward Drifters record which is your country band. Explain to folks what the idea and inspiration is behind the album, and what they can expect.

The album was sort of a happy accident. It wasn’t something that I planned to do. I had the same band in the Wayward Drifters for a long time, and Johnny [Lawless] took a temporary retirement from the road, Dan Mazer my banjo player had moved to the West Coast, so for the first time in a decade I found myself without a band and some time to kill. And I was going through some really tumultuous personal stuff. My long-term girlfriend of several years and I had split up, a couple of my friends had passed away, my dad had taken ill, and I left Virginia and moved to North Carolina. But through all of this, what became Stripped to the Root basically was a collection of songs both that I had written, or either heroes or friends in some capacity had written that were helping me get through that time.

The best way to put it is that it’s not so much a record, or if it is a record, it’s a concept record. And to look beyond that, a good friend of mine named Cameron Romero who’s a filmmaker said it best, he said, “This is less an album in a conventional sense, and more a soundtrack to the last three years of your life, which is very bold and very naked.” There’s a certain vulnerability to this record. Every song is very personal. This album was very cathartic for me. It was something that I had to do, and something I don’t think I could ever do twice.

What made you decide to release Stripped to the Root through the Rusty Knuckles label?

I have a lot of love and respect for the folks at Farmageddon, but it wasn’t working out the way I wanted it to. I really wanted the album to come out, and the Rusty Knuckles folks offered me finishing funds and a means of really promoting the album and getting it properly distributed, and really just wanted to see it happen as bad as I did. At the time I’m sitting here with medical bills and legal bills, plus my fans have gone since 2009 without a Wayward Drifters record. I had to do something. I couldn’t wait another six months or a year. I really had to move on it. And so it really came down to just having to get it out, and doing what was best for the record and for the fans.


You say these songs are really personal to you, so let’s talk about a couple of them. The first one “Disappear On Down The Line” has been out there for a little while. It’s a song that has spoken to a lot of people. What was the inspiration behind that song?

That song, and the song “Stripped to the Root,” I kind of call them sister songs in a way. They were both written on the same night. And they were the two songs that led to my concept behind the record. So I can thank both of those songs for being the springboard. The actual story behind “Disappear On Down The Line” is pretty much transliterated through the lyrics. I was in my home, totally isolated and alone, my woman had left, I’d buried my friends, and all the proverbial voices of doubt and chaos, and all this negative stuff was fueling my mind at the time. I use the parable that the demons were dragging me down. Granted, there weren’t literally ghouls in the room tugging me through the floorboards, but as far as the emotional, spiritual, and mental direst and in some instances torment I was under, it was very real.

“Disappear On Down The Line” and “Stripped to the Root,” both those songs, I wrote those songs to avoid picking up my pistol and doing something real stupid. There’s no real other way to put it. I’ve never been a suicidal type, I’ve never tried it, I’ve never threatened it, I’ve never really entertained the idea. But at that point in my life, I was so down and out, I did find myself sitting there staring at my pistol. And the instant that I felt that way, I knew I had to get it out of my system or I was gonna die. So I penned those songs in an effort to get through that night and keep from doing something stupid. And the beautiful part is that I’ve been able to treat the execution of this record as a catharsis, as in the sense that you have all these negative feelings and all this stuff weighing on your ticker and spirit, and if you’re able somehow to leave it in the art work, leave it in the song, then it no longer haunts you.

J.B. Beverley strumming the night away

There’s another song “All The Little Devils” co-written by Ronnie Hymes…

Yeah, Ronnie is singing on it as well. I was working on that song, and Ronnie had just come by my studio to visit, and he made a couple of lyrical suggestions. And after his second or third suggestion that I actually liked better than what I had written, I just said, “Okay man, I’m going to use your words and you officially co-authored this song with me. So it kind of came about impromptu. It was really organic.

And what’s the message you’re trying to convey with “All The Little Devils”?

I’ve seen a transition in music in recent years. I’ll give you an example. I loved what Hank3 did with Straight to Hell. I felt in a very real way it was a concept record with a very honest depiction of where his heart was at the time. But what I saw in the aftermath of the popularity of that record has been a wide variety of bands that are basically trying to cash in on the whole “drinking, drugs, Satan, let’s raise hell.” There’s a time and place for all that. I like to have a good time. I’ve fucked up many things in my life. I’ve not always been a great person. But at the same time, I don’t understand why a lot of these people feel the need to celebrate being a degenerate, to celebrate having no honor. I just don’t get it.

Like I say in the song, I’m not saying I’m any better. I’ve made many of those same mistakes. The difference is I learned over the years, and I no longer celebrate it. It ain’t me trying to force feed my politics or spiritual beliefs on anybody. I’m not trying to put anybody down. I’m all for people trying to reflect their feelings, and their sentiments, and their dreams however they choose to. But the problem is that there’s got to be more to it. You can’t have all Saturday night without Sunday morning. You’ve got to have some inner reflection. You’ve got to have that honest look in the mirror and say, “Am I choosing to be a decent person, or am I choosing to serve that lower order? Am I choosing to corrupt and corrode?”

J.B. Beverley at a moment of introspection

You’re also a renegade studio owner now. What are some of the projects you have done, or may have coming up with Rebel Roots Studio?

The first thing I ever did was the last Wayward Drifters album Watch America Roll By in 2009. I did Jayke Orvis’s first record It’s All Been Said, and I did Owen Mays’ first record. Matt Kellie and the Idle Americans. Husky Burnette’s album I engineered, produced, and played bass on. Carolina Still’s album. Man, there’s been a bunch. Me and Buck (Thrailkill) have been staying pretty busy since I’ve been down here. It was sort of a default thing. I had to reconfigure my lineup, I had to take care of some family stuff, I couldn’t tour like the way I had been, so I figured the logical thing was if I can’t do what I’ve been doing for the next year or so, at least not full time, and there’s no work to be had here, you might as well use one of your other skills. And I had been doing recording before I moved to North Carolina, but Buck and I stepped up the workload once I got here because I wasn’t touring as much. So I sort of defaulted into it."

J.B Beverley Conquers Amazon On The Digital Download Charts

J.B. Beverley sticking at the No. 1 Spot for Hot New Releases on Amazon

2014 is going to be bring in a new level of game play to Rusty Knuckles Music. As many of the bands are starting to hit the charts normally only seen by the major labels, we have been gaining ground in a vast amount of areas. Proud to announce that we also just landed a new distribution partner through Universal for Australia, which also opens up Japan and other Asian markets for touring. Time for that big push across the Pacific Ocean. 

Waking up and checking the reports finds customers going to Amazon and Itunes in droves. Thanks to everyone for the continued support and its great to see J.B. Beverley and Possessed By Paul James and labels such as ours and Hillgrass Bluebilly hitting such a vast audience. This is what hard work is all about.

Order your copy from our store on CD

Download from Amazon

J.B. Beverley Debuts At #1 On Amazon Alt. Country & Americana MP3 Charts

J.B Beverley debuts at #1 on the Amazon Alt. Country & Americana charts for the week of 11.12.13

We have to apologize to our pals over at Hillgrass Bluebilly and Possessed by Paul James for unseating them at the #1 spot on the Amazon MP3 best seller list for Alt. Country & Americana, with J.B. Beverley's new album. The first round is on us, next time we cross paths, but then again, yall are Texans and I am guessing we better, load up the artillery, hahhaha!

Damn cool to know that two indie labels are conquering spots on the digital charts and showing that you can do it with a DIY attitude and purely through great music.

Order your copy now from Amazon

Get a copy on CD

And The Winner Of The Custom Knife Is...

J.B. Beverley is poised to release Stripped To The Root with a custom knife give away

Folks, it's been a long time in the making and definitely well worth the wait. J.B. Beverley's brand new collection of songs that were recorded over the period of a couple of years, is now ready to be unleashed. The album will be available world wide through our vast distribution network on November 12th hitting six continents.

Yes, it was said that in quite a few media outlets the album was going to be released on September 24th, but we opted to push it back one month. J.B. wanted to make a few extra edits and add a secret bonus track to fully complete the collection of songs that make up "Stripped To The Root." Once you hear this menagerie of songs, you will start to understand why just a bit more time was needed to corral all the pieces together.

Huge thanks to Kitty Barks for knocking out the new cover art illustration over a weekend. It is some fantastic line work in the graphite she put on archival paper. After we got that scanned in and ready to roll, I cranked out all the lettering and got the album layed out in photoshop and added some washed out color and more line work.

With the added time frame, we could also up the ante on an awesome giveaway prize, that is truly fitting to the album. I proposed the idea to JB about making some custom railroad spike knives for the time that he spent hopping trains. Needless to say, the thumbs up was given. Now it was my task to do what I had had never done before. Building a forge from scratch took some research and a month of chasing down Craigslist leads to find an old anvil within our budget. Finding the right tools for blacksmithing set us down a new road of wrenching out ideas and now we can fully appreciate the many thousands of years that iron ore and heat have been shaping the world we live in.

Putting all the elements together is one thing, but making it work and being able to get tooled steel up to a melting temperature was a great lesson in patience. Breaking new ground with a DIY budget and letting our ideas blaze our trail is the kind of fun we enjoy. There will be quite a bit more video posted on the process of these knives coming together, but for now check out the screen shots.

November 12th will be a great day as the album will be shipping out for all pre-orders and hitting digital media outlets. We will also be giving away the custom knife in a drawing on that day and here is how it works. For anyone that purchases the brand new album from J.B. Beverley - Stripped To The Root, your name and order number will then be placed into a jar for the chance to win the custom knife. The only way to win the knife is to pre-purchase the cd from Rusty Knuckles Music. Sorry, we know that early versions of this album were to come out on another label, but that does not qualify, as we had nothing to do with the previous project.

Order your copy of Stripped To The Root on cd

Album packaging for J.B. Beverley's - Stripped To The Root

Album packaging for J.B. Beverley's - Stripped To The Root

Full album art for the poster that will be part of the pre-sale

Check out some of the process photos of the railroad spike knives coming together:

Custom railroad spike knife and sheath for a giveaway with purchase of "Stripped To The Root"

Checking the temperature of the forge, yep we are there

Railroad spikes lined up and ready for the oven

Luckily we had some some prison colony labor for the forge with the Aussie Posse

A hot forge required some cold refreshing beer

Sean thoroughly enjoyed being in harms way

Pounding out the hot steel into custom knives

Pulling a railroad spike out of the forge, created from cinder blocks bought from Lowes with scrap steel

Knives are cooled off and ready for first round of shaping

Putting together custom leather sheath for the knife giveaway

Several of the knives are prepped and ready to roll, just need final sharpening

J.B. Beverley Feature Review On MoonRunners

J.B. Beverley feature write up on MoonRunners by Owen Mays

Check out the write up on MoonRunners


"In less than a week, on Tuesday, November 12, one of the longest anticipated albums of the last couple of years will finally become available to the public. J.B. Beverley's debut solo album, 'Stripped To The Root'. J.B. Was kind enough to pass a copy along to me as soon as it was completed. You will not find a bigger fan of J.B. Beverley & The Wayward Drifters than me. I've shared stages, vans, and studios with J.B., Dan, and Johnny over the years, and wouldn't be the man I am today without the two Wayward Drifters records. Needless to say, the idea of J.B. Going in a different direction, and doing things that he, “can't do on a Wayward Drifters record”, had me curious, excited, and honestly, a little frightened of what I was going to hear.

To call 'Stripped' eclectic, would be one hell of an understatement. You have everything from interludes, to banjos, to distorted electric guitars, to rock songs, to folk songs. If you're coming into this album as a fan of the Wayward Drifters, believe me, come into it with an open mind, and you'll love what you're hearing. It's still J.B., but it's by no means a Wayward Drifters record.

J.B. Is joined on 'Stripped' by the Guitar Jedi himself, James Hunnicutt, and Banjoist extraordinare, mustache enthusiast(please don't kick my ass for that one, Buck), and all around badass at anything you can think of, Buck Thrailkill. A beautiful display of all three men's instrumental talents can be heard on the track, 'Bit Of Pickin'', which I'm guessing is titled as a nod to the Black Sabbath track, 'Bit of Finger'.

As far as the songs themselves go, I'm sure this will come as no surprise to most of you, but there are some beautiful, epic tracks on here. 'When I Can Make You Mine', 'Disappear on Down The Line', and the title track, 'Stripped To The Root', are all stripped down, well written songs dealing with the ups and downs of love. 'All the Little Devils' is a well delivered slab of brilliance, that takes a well needed jab at an irritating, and downright stupid trend(you'll have to hear the track for yourself to get what I'm saying). My personal favorite on the album has to be, 'Queen of the Scene'. The line, “I'll be the king of these heartbroken songs girl...you be the queen of the scene”, could not possibly be put any better. One more I have to point out, is the cover of 'Time Will Tell', written by the criminally underrated, Gene Lee Wilcox of Blue Balls Deluxe. Good to see J.B. Paying respects to him on 'Stripped'.

I have no doubt that a lot of people will be shocked by the direction this record goes in, but I'll be shocked if anyone finds the need to complain after giving it a few listens. As far as albums released in 2013 go, this is hands down my favorite, and there have been a few good ones released already.

'Stripped To The Root' will be released world wide on Rusty Knuckles on Tuesday, November 12th, and can currently be pre-ordered at Rusty Knuckles Music.

Rusty Knuckles, Van Sessions Interview Series No. 1 - Featuring J.B. Beverley

Van Sessions - Interview Series no. 1 featuring J.B. Beverley, Darren Waters and Merritt Robertson

One of the great things in life that will out last all of us is a good story. With constant travel and meeting many folks far and wide, we decided that an in house interview series is just what the doctor called for. 

Knowing that we may not have the perfect location at all times for the interviews, we deduced that one item would allow for consistency. Commercial and passenger vans are a constant way of travel for bands and will allow for a unique way of filming the interviews. These short flicks aren't meant to be overly edited or too far in depth, but rather focus on a series of questions and to be able to show the plethora of individuals that come across our path. Van Sessions no. 1 will be uploaded to youtube this Friday and will feature J.B. Beverley.

Pre-order your copy of J.B. Beverley's new album, Stripped To The Root

 

J.B. Beverley Is Poised To Release New Album, With Awesome Custom Knife Giveaway

J.B. Beverley is poised to release Stripped To The Root with a custom knife give away

Folks, it's been a long time in the making and definitely well worth the wait. J.B. Beverley's brand new collection of songs that were recorded over the period of a couple of years, is now ready to be unleashed. The album will be available world wide through our vast distribution network on November 12th hitting six continents.

Yes, it was said that in quite a few media outlets the album was going to be released on September 24th, but we opted to push it back one month. J.B. wanted to make a few extra edits and add a secret bonus track to fully complete the collection of songs that make up "Stripped To The Root." Once you hear this menagerie of songs, you will start to understand why just a bit more time was needed to corral all the pieces together.

Huge thanks to Kitty Barks for knocking out the new cover art illustration over a weekend. It is some fantastic line work in the graphite she put on archival paper. After we got that scanned in and ready to roll, I cranked out all the lettering and got the album layed out in photoshop and added some washed out color and more line work.

With the added time frame, we could also up the ante on an awesome giveaway prize, that is truly fitting to the album. I proposed the idea to JB about making some custom railroad spike knives for the time that he spent hopping trains. Needless to say, the thumbs up was given. Now it was my task to do what I had had never done before. Building a forge from scratch took some research and a month of chasing down Craigslist leads to find an old anvil within our budget. Finding the right tools for blacksmithing set us down a new road of wrenching out ideas and now we can fully appreciate the many thousands of years that iron ore and heat have been shaping the world we live in.

Putting all the elements together is one thing, but making it work and being able to get tooled steel up to a melting temperature was a great lesson in patience. Breaking new ground with a DIY budget and letting our ideas blaze our trail is the kind of fun we enjoy. There will be quite a bit more video posted on the process of these knives coming together, but for now check out the screen shots.

November 12th will be a great day as the album will be shipping out for all pre-orders and hitting digital media outlets. We will also be giving away the custom knife in a drawing on that day and here is how it works. For anyone that purchases the brand new album from J.B. Beverley - Stripped To The Root, your name and order number will then be placed into a jar for the chance to win the custom knife. The only way to win the knife is to pre-purchase the cd from Rusty Knuckles Music. Sorry, we know that early versions of this album were to come out on another label, but that does not qualify, as we had nothing to do with the previous project.

Pre-order  your copy of Stripped To The Root on cd, shipping November 12th

Album packaging for J.B. Beverley's - Stripped To The Root

Album packaging for J.B. Beverley's - Stripped To The Root

Full album art for the poster that will be part of the pre-sale

Check out some of the process photos of the railroad spike knives coming together:

Custom railroad spike knife and sheath for a giveaway with purchase of "Stripped To The Root"

Checking the temperature of the forge, yep we are there

Railroad spikes lined up and ready for the oven

Luckily we had some some prison colony labor for the forge with the Aussie Posse

A hot forge required some cold refreshing beer

Sean thoroughly enjoyed being in harms way

Pounding out the hot steel into custom knives

Pulling a railroad spike out of the forge, created from cinder blocks bought from Lowes with scrap steel

Knives are cooled off and ready for first round of shaping

Putting together custom leather sheath for the knife giveaway

Several of the knives are prepped and ready to roll, just need final sharpening