Ray's Yamaha R5 Street Tracker

This bike is beyond clean and in great shape and rolls over with the slightest kick. Ray has this puppy tuned and ready to ride.

Hand Engraving In Metal

Got some ideas on metal work to be done to the Buell Street Fighter build and going for a true custom in the finish. Forget paint to let the bike come alive, lets go back in time and do what the true craftsmen did to make an object be enjoyed for a lifetime. Seeing his handiwork and knowing whats possible to be done with a hammer and chisel is what will set this build apart. Great thing about this build is that its in no time crunch and will be enjoyed throughout the build process. Working on engraving ideas for the primary cover and for the cam cover, along with a few other main components.

Dime City Cycles Grand Opening Party - May 14th

This is directly from the Dime City Cycles Blog about the upcoming party on May 14th. We will be there with a lot of friends and soon to be new compadres. If you are in the south east, this is one event to not miss.

Link to post on Dime City Cycles

What do you get when you combine one part infamous Smoke Out style chopper rally, one part Mods vs. Rockers right from London, and good ol’ fashion sweet-tea sipping Southern Hospitality? The grand opening of Dime City Cycles vintage speed shop in sunny Largo, FL! That’s what!

Presented by Preachers Motorcycle Promotions in partnership with Winters, Yonkers and Brothers Powdercoating- come join the crews from Dime City Cycles and Cafe Racer TV for the best and most unique grand opening celebration the South has seen! Enjoy live music by The Dive Bar Stalkers, get your vote in for the official Miss Dime City USA Pin Up pageant, and enter your awesome garage built and legit vintage speed machine in the ride-in bike show for a shot at $250 and tons of other prizes!

In addition, Dime City will have vendors on-site from the likes of Rusty Knuckles showing off their kick-ass southern clothing label, pinstriping onsite by Liza (aka: Von Dutchs’ Daughter) so bring your stuff, and The Ace Cafe right from London. Yep that’s right folks, the Ace Cafe is coming to Dime City, so all you Rockers better drag those old Norton’s and BSA’s out for some fresh air!  And if that isn’t enough for ton chasin’ mayhem havin’ self, the entire crew from the Lowside Syndicate out of Baltimore, MD will be here celebrating their issue #5 release party featuring the CB400F project bike Dime City will be building for season 2 of Cafe Racer on HD Theater.

New bikes, old bikes, choppers, bobbers, brats or cafes- they’re all welcome, so come partake in this rip riot, ground-pounding, two wheeled extravaganza that’s bringin’ vintage back and puttin’ Tampa Bay on the Map!

Go go Cafe Racer!

For more information and updates get plugged into Dime City Cycles on Facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=138537119547198

Fine Print:

Bike Show Rules – Harley Davidson’s must be pre-1985 and all Metric bikes MUST be air cooled, no discrimination on year.  Be at Dime City Cycles to register your bike beginning at 3PM.  $10 registration fee applies.

Pin Up Pageant – Models will NOT be accepted the day of the show.  If you wish to participate please submit a full body photo in Pin Up attire to preacherscycles@aol.com prior to May 1st.

Free Beer & Food – Is completely first come first served. Additional beer and food will be provided by onsite concessions for a nominal fee.

Sponsors & Partnership links:

Preachers Motorcycle Promotions – http://www.preachersmotorcyclepromotions.com

Winters & Yonkers – http://www.wintersandyonker.com

Brothers Powdercoating – http://www.brotherspowdercoating.com

Lowside Syndicate – http://www.lowsidesyn.com

Dive Bar Stalkers – http://www.myspace.com/divebarstalkers

Cafe Racer TV – http://www.caferacertv.com

Ace Cafe London – http://www.ace-cafe-london.com/

Rusty Knuckles – http://rustyknuckles.blogspot.com/

7 Imaging – http://www.7imaging.com/

*Do your kids a favor, pass this on and help save the world of motorcycling!

AMCA Southern Nationals May 12th - 15th

The show season for bikes is about to break wide open and numerous dates are already embedded into our calendars. This is a local show for us and one of the biggest in which amazingly high quality machines will be pulled out of every nook and cranny to be brought out for show. If old iron gets your blood racing this is indeed the show for you.

More info on the Antique Motorcycle Club of America Southern National Meet

Motorcycle Shock Lamps

Really stoked to see ideas put to use that are damn near perfect in design and are part of our motor head mindset. These really cool lamps from ClassifiedMoto.com would look bitchin' on our 70's style metal desk and be just the right amount of light needed. They have some great ideas cookin' over on their set so give it a look. Here is a description about the lamps:

"Retired components from up to three different vintage motorcycles make up these handsome, sturdy creations. The lamps are constructed using a spring, shock absorber, brake rotor and transmission gear — all welded together to add a bit of quirky moto flair to any room.

They average around 18 inches tall with a base measuring between 11 and 12 inches across.

Each lamp is handmade using available parts, so yours will differ somewhat from the photo. Scratches, dings and other imperfections are present on all the lamps due to the nature of recycled components. I love the story they tell, but I'm happy to answer questions before you order and snap pics before shipping to make sure you love it."

ANTiSEEN Referenced in Rolling Stone

When we see mention's such as this, it makes us smile with an ever so crooked grin. The Rolling Stone folks were talking about fellow North Carolinians Weedeater sportin' their beloved Antiseen shirts. We couldn't agree more, let the sludgy infused riffs keep rollin'.

Link To Rolling Stone Article

"North Carolina redneck stoner sludge, played outside in front of lots of people with skateboards, on a shack-like bar's outside patio several blocks east of I-35 and just a couple blocks east on 4^th Street past the Austin Metal & Tire Co: "We Recycle All Metals," the big red sign in front says. And Weedeater were recycling a few themselves, from their slow-burning downtuned riffs to their Antiseen T-shirts and camouflaged hunting caps to their growled, barely decipherable cover of Lynyrd Skynyrd's  potential N.R.A. anthem "Gimme Back My Bullets."

  - Chuck Eddy

Gettin' Ready For The Long Road To Vegas

Gettin' ready for the long road to Vegas coming up in a few weeks. Life is damn good on the road...

Hellbound Glory & Lone Wolf LIVE!

Here is a direct post from Triggerman over at SavingCountryMusic.com

Just announced, this Sunday night (3-27), Hellbound Glory will be broadcasting their performance at Will’s Pub in Orlando, FL on SCM LIVE! Tune in at 9 PM Eastern, 8 Central for opening act Lone Wolf OMB, who just released his debut album a few weeks ago.

I just had the fortune of seeing Hellbound Glory less than a week ago at South by Southwest. It’s a rarity to get such a great mix of top notch songwriting, with an energetic and fun live show. Leroy Virgil’s soul is like a fount of country music. He’s one of those rare birds where songs just burst out of him so quickly and so fluidly, a concerned observer might worry some or many of them would be lost down the drain. Hank Williams was like that. Many other professional songwriters like Roger Alan Wade are like that.

And usually those types live with their demons right up at the surface, and having spent a good amount of time around Leroy during SXSW, I can say he has that disposition as well. That’s how you know his songs are genuine. There is a fire in his eye, and a perennial sideways grin that hints of the no-good running through his brain. However with a kid to his name now, Leroy seemed to know his limitations and boundaries. He may be up until 5 AM, but it will be drinking beer and swapping licks on the guitar, not snorting coke and taking a ride in a police car.

Leroy told me right now he has two full albums of material to record with Hellbound Glory, and two more albums with a new project he’s put together called “The eXcavators”. He debuted a few new songs during the Rusty Knuckles Showcase at SXSW, and I had my camera ready to capture a couple of them, and one of their older, signature songs. Check out the wordsmithing at the beginning of the first video, and please join us Sunday night for this rare live broadcast.

Check Hellbound Glory Tour Dates! 

Green Lady Killers & Hellbound Glory Featured On The Hundreds

The folks over at The Hundreds enjoyed our showcase and snapped some images of the Green Lady Killers and Hellbound Glory.

Check out The Hundreds

ANTiSEEN's Sweet Blood Call Is Almost Here

We need to apologize and give an update as to why the new Antiseen 7" - Sweet Blood Call, featuring Joe Buck on Black Eyed Susie is running two weeks late. Got word from the folks over at the manufacturing plant we are using to press the vinyl and they have had a major hiccup due to SXSW. 

I know that everyone is ready for this to be in their hands and spinning with a fury on the record player but folks this one was out of our hands and we apologize. But in the spirit of turning lemonade into moonshine, we got them to print us a special edition of 50 which are on red vinyl. These are for the pre-order customers as they so gladly bought in advance and we cannot thank you enough. Each of the red vinyl are signed and numbered. The rest of the albums will be on blue vinyl.

Order them now, in the ANTiSEEN store before all are sold out and gone for good

Stay Safe On The Road With Hellbound Glory

Got word from the fellas in Hellbound Glory about safety and being responsible on the road. We all now that licker and poker tend to lead to things that might stick around for a minimum of 18 years, give or take. So on behalf of Hellbound's heart felt moral obligation to keep everyone ridin' in Rusted Up Ol' Pickup Trucks they have decided to spread cheer and goodwill to those who ride on over to their merch table at shows on their current tour. Stop in, say hello and remember safety first.

Sportster Street Tracker

This is one of those bikes that I can honestly say I just envy. Look at the lines, the stance and the overall get shit done attitude of this custom, its pure run what ya brung bravado and thanks to CyrilHuzeBlog.com for posting up the photos of it. Would dig seeing this on track and sliding through those turns with that ever torquey sporty motor. It was built by UK based Shaw Harley Davidson and looks as if they truly honed in on performance.

Hootenanny Line Up

If you are on the west coast or traveling to the west coast, no reason in hell to not try and make it out to this show. They got our attention at Swingin' Utters and the rest is just icing on the top. This just makes me miss those great nights at the old Covered Wagon Saloon on Thursday nights back in San Francisco. Cheap beer, back room burlesque dancing for a buck and great bands, that's what its all about.

Check out the Hootenanny

It's A Flat Tires Mystery

Stranger things have occurred in those Mystery Vans, but every now then a bit of truth can be derived from the mysterious villian. In this cold case at the oceanarium, who might be the dastardly Cave Man, who could have gotten away with it, if it hadn't of been for those pesky kids.

Pipeburn Video - Bonita

Thanks to our hombre's over at BikerMetric on the main site and on facebook for posting the link about this killer cafe bike called Bonita. The video says it all, and it makes us a wee bit jealous as we have some tinkering to do on our 79' to get some recent bugs worked out.

Check out Pipeburn on Vimeo

Pipeburn Video: Bonita from Pipeburn.com on Vimeo.

Vote For Jay Berndt As Providence's Best Album

Maybe you don't live in Providence, but that doesn't mean we can't sway the vote and get Jay Berndt voted as the Best Album. Click on the link below to vote for Jay Berndt's Sad Bastard Songs to become the Best Album. If you have yet to sample some of it's amazing depth, here is a shot in the arm.

Click here to vote for Jay Berndt

Jay Berndt - 67' Serenade by RustyKnuckles

More SXSW Photos

Just in case you didn't see what we had cookin' over on our flickr page, have a look at some of the photos from the action yall missed at SXSW.

Green lady Killers

She Rides

Hellbound Glory

Cigar Box Guitars and Delta Blues

The more I got thinkin' on cigar box guitars and the link sent over by cigarboxradio.com I had to sit back, dig in and pull up some old gems. Knowing how much the blues has influenced punk, metal and the entire American musical landscape, we need to take a step back and truly appreciate where it all came from. From those broken or scrapped guitars, old cigar boxes and lengths of wire came a sound that would forever change our landscape and we can never forget them. Here are three greats to start with...

GG Allin & Antiseen Are Taking Over Best Buy

GG Allin & Antiseen are taking over Best Buy? Or should we say, that GG Allin & ANTiSEEN got Best Buy's attention as they need to sell the picture disc to beef up their punk rock vinyl presence and street cred as a retailer. In a time when music is just about free, due to it being downloadable from all sorts of random sites, having our entire catalog slowly being picked up by Best Buy is killer. With more and more independent music stores being shuttered and most music sales heading towards live shows and online sales exclusively, we are stoked to have our releases more widely available in such a manner.

But hey, you can still always get those releases directly from us in our store. Click the artist drop down menu in the top right corner and click on Antiseen. How easy was that?

Homemade Guitar From Piece of 600 Year Old Tree

If you had recently found a really cool old piece of wood in the Mississippi River what would you do with it? Well, as it turns out a buddy of Leroy from Hellbound Glory decided to let his brother, who is a custom furniture builder, have a crack at it. He shaped the piece of wood and smoothed it all down to make a custom guitar. After adding a few more low budget modifications, tuning devices and "pickups" a new three string guitar was complete.

You don't have to spend loads of money to create the perfect noise machine. Get creative and find new ways to build yourself whatever custom item that comes to mind, whether it be guitar, car or bike. Enough with thinking in a period correct mindset, make it cool and make it your own, as that is being truly non conformist and DIY.

Rumble Fest Coming To San Diego And Raleigh

Later this week we will be announcing one of our major headliners for the Rumble Fest. These new events are growing out of the Rumble in Ramona due to the demand of the fans asking for it to be open to the public. Rusty Knuckles Music will be crucial in establishing the musical elements to the showcases and once the headliners are announced we know its going to be a game changer. All ticketing will go on sale through etix.com around mid May.

We will keep the updates coming via this blog and rumblefest.blogspot.com The photo below should be a solid clue as to what we have cookin'.

GG Allin Halloween Mask

Everyone's favorite holiday may be a ways off but why not get prepared well in advance. If you don the mask surely you have to go ape shit and start singin' your personal favorite GG song. For me its "I Love Nothing". Check out this mask makers work as its top notch and at the same time dig into the Vice Magazine blog as that is where I found the link.

Buy the GG Allin - Antiseen picture disc

Chico From Hellbound Glory = Best Country Drummer

There is a great write up over on SavingCountryMusic.com about some of the shows Triggerman got out to during SXSW. We were stoked to finally meet up with those folks as they continue to give Hellbound Glory a much needed press outlet. Hey fellas, can ya give a review of the Jay Berndt cd, Sad Bastard Songs? 

Best part about the entire write up though is an amazing paragraph from Triggerman: "Then it was on to the madness of downtown and Hellbound Glory at the Rusty Knuckles showcase. Hellbound was as spectacular as I could expect. Excellent energy, amazing songs, and they played a lot of new ones as well (video coming). I can’t emphasize enough that Hellbound Glory deserves top billing. They should be huge. Leroy Virgil is a genius country songwriter, and Chico is the best full-on drummer in country music right now."

We couldn't say it any better and damn proud of how the entire showcase turned out.

Read the full article over on SavingCountryMusic.com

Leroy Virgil & The Excavators - New Song

Nothing better than 3am jam sessions on the road. Leroy Virgil of Hellbound Glory and the new project The Excavators keeping the neighbors up all night in Austin, TX during SXSW.

Flat Tires Influencing Hip Hop, What?

The fellas in Flat Tires are blazing trails and burning down the stages on all sorts of juke joints to get their name carved into the minds of those who need converting. Funny enough, it seems like the name "Flat Tires" has seeped over into the hip hop realm. Found this little nugget of underground hip hop with an emcee aptly titled "Michelin" that is using the name "Flat Tires". Thankfully its quite awful, but damn, next thing ya know they might be covering Freeborn as well. Maybe the Michelin Man giving the finger could be a new shirt design?

See it to believe it - Michelin Flat Tires

Jonathan McPhail Photography

We were lucky enough to have Jonathan McPhail at our showcase party during the madness of SXSW to get some great new band press photos. Needless to say Jonathan has quite the extensive music portfolio so have a look. With great shots of Motorhead, Valient Thorr, AFI, Crank County Daredevils and many many more, this dude has quite the eye. Hoping to work with him more in the future and also when our bands are touring through New York.

Jonathan McPhail Photography

Green Lady Killers

She Rides

Reno Divorce

Rory Kelly

Hellbound Glory

Green Lady Killers Review on Indie Buzz Magazine

We got word on a new review after a blazin SXSW set over at the Texas Rock Fest for the Green Lady Killers. 2011 is going to be a big year for the ladies and Rusty Knuckles Music as a whole, we have quite a few announcements coming up, stay tuned.

Link to article on Indie Buzz Magazine

"Is that a gun in your skirt?"

Let’s hear it for blood ‘n guts ‘n beauty ‘n brains ‘n beer ‘n bangs! There’s nothing like the sight, sound and, dare we say it, smell of rock chicks dressed in form-fitting black in 100-degree heat to get sweat pouring and hormones racing, not necessarily in that order. The Green Lady Killers, a female punk/psychobilly power trio from the sun-baked environs of Phoenix, come on like the stars of a high-def camcorder update of “Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!” Their mix of Runaways attitude, Cramps horror-Goth fashion ethos and metallic punk riffs equal three chords and a cloud of tail pipe exhaust. Singer/guitarist Lady Van Buren is a hellacious frontwoman, with fire-breathing, no-nonsense vocals and more than a touch of menace behind that dark eye shadow, combined with some gut-punching garage rock riffage. Bassist/vocalist Annie Venom ably sports an “I Love Zombies” sticker on her axe that suggests she’d probably bring an Uzi to a knife fight; and drummer Cherrybomb manages a propulsive backbeat while wearing stilettos leopard skin heels, no mean trick.

The Green Lady Killers debuted with a self-titled EP in 2007 that included their calling card, “Psycho Ellen” GLK music, a frenzied rocker in the finest crazy-bitch-from-hell tradition (“something’s wrong with her brain”) featuring a short but satisfyingly spastic and yes, psycho, guitar solo. That was followed in 2009 with their debut album, “Just Fine,” also released on the Rusty Knuckles label. They offer plenty of three-minute blasts of loud, fast, dangerous, sexy fun and games. “Snake Eyes” features a slinky and cool come-hither growl, backed with churning guitars and power riffs. “Whips Chains” is a leather come-on that asserts “you need it more than you know.” “Dance Floor” combines GLK’s signature sounds with catchy pop elements in a dialed-down fashion that demonstrates the ability to avoid pigeonholing (okay, maybe more like raven-holing in their case).

The video for “My .45″ is a slick showcase for GLK’s talents. The hot playing and dangerous goings-on deliver the oh-so-tender message “don’t mess with us or you’ll wind up dead in the desert.” Speaking of forty-fives, the gals in Green Lady Killers seem to have a real fascination with weaponry, posing with various gats and guns in their publicity photos. Maybe they’re just looking for men with real…um…firepower. Either way, we wouldn’t suggest challenging them to any duels. Not with a group whose DNA samples probably spell out “Take No Prisoners.”

  - DredScott

Jay Berndt Interview on For Lack Of A Better Title

Here is a killer link and repost to an interview with Jay Berndt over on For Lack Of A Better Title. The photo was taken by Heidi Finn Photography.

Link to article over at For Lack Of A Better Title

Just about two weeks ago I reviewed a really great solo record called Sad Bastard Songs by Jay Berndt. I knew a little about him through some mutual friends and he has a very unique story. Hopefully, you'll get to learn about Jay and his music through our interview together.

How did you get started in music? When did you know you could sing? How did you develop your voice?

I got my start playing drums when I was about twelve. I was living in California and I joined my junior high school marching band back in ‘83/84. My instructor didn’t just teach me how to play drums but taught everything about the ensemble. I learned about saxophone reeds, tuba mouthpieces, clarinet finger pads… Everything about how the ensemble works together as a unit. I think that was what inspired me to experiment with other instruments. I didn’t have any fear about “I don’t know how to play that”; I’d just pick it up and try. My family moved back to Rhode Island in ‘86 and my drum set was in storage. My dad had this ‘58 Kay Archtop guitar around and I tuned it to an open E and learned how to play some Ramones songs. From there I learned how to actually tune a guitar from some books and began to play full chords. I think I started fiddling around with bass guitar around that time too.

I guess I started singing along to Black Flag, the Misfits and Bad Brains records in the late 80’s and I thought I did a decent imitation. So when Brian McKenzie was putting together Kilgore in 1990, he had asked Bill Southerland to play drums and I bluffed my way into singing. I had never even sung into a microphone but I just went for it and it sounded pretty good at our first practice. I got better from scrutinizing Beatle records and obsessively learned all of the harmonies on “Rubber Soul” and “Revolver”. Bill’s father was also a great hard rock singer and he gave me lots of great tips on stage presence, and dynamics. I felt like I started to develop my own sound once we started playing regular shows around ‘93. Once we started recording our first album, I had to see a vocal coach because I kept blowing out my voice on the road. That really taught me what I was doing right and wrong with my voice and how I could preserve it. I haven’t taken any vocal lessons since ‘94 but I learned a lot in just those few lessons. These days, I feel that my voice is really the strongest it’s even been. I don’t smoke anymore, I eat healthy and I try to stick to singing baritone.

Talk a little about the Kilgore (Smudge) days…I know you guys toured and recorded with some big names in the business. What were the pros and cons of being in a working band for you? When did you know it was over for you? Or rather, when did you know you wanted a change?

I guess the biggest pro’s were being able to travel some of the world, meeting some of my idols, and playing with awesome bands… But the best feeling was watching the band get good. We were a decent band but I remember coming home after our second tour, and we were this well oiled machine. All of us; we just got so much better as musicians. These were guys I went to high school with and they were all damn good musicians, but the road made us stronger.

But the road also tested our nervous systems. It really zapped our heads. I always called it the Kurtz Syndrome… “Every day I was in the shit, I couldn’t wait to get back home and every day I was back home, I couldn’t wait to get back in the shit.” It wasn’t easy. We had some casualties along the way. I remember one tour where we all ate salami sandwiches for three weeks straight. I think we lost our bass player after that tour and then our founding member and main songwriter, Brian McKenzie left about a year later. I knew we were in trouble after he left. We banded together and worked hard to trudge on but some of the magic was gone. I remember being on Ozzfest in ‘98 and just feeling miserable. We didn’t feel like we were playing well, we were fighting a lot… We should have been on top of the world, but it just felt like a drag. Plus playing the same songs night after night, year after year… It just felt like, lather, rinse, and repeat. We lost the reasons of why we had written the songs and feelings we were trying to convey. It’s why to this day; I really don’t like playing many shows. I really knew it was over when we started writing songs for our third album and I just couldn’t come up with a single melody for anything. It was quite an eye opener…

Why did you leave the music industry? What happened during the “lost years” (1999-2003) of Jay Berndt?

Well I had grown weary of the major label treatment. Throughout our time with Warner Bros, they were always trying to make us something that we weren’t. Punk got big in ‘94, so they were suggesting we sound like that. The whole Korn sound got big and they suggested we start wearing Addias… The last straw was a radio DJ telling me he was really excited to hear the industrial remixes of our latest album… I fucking lost it. It wasn’t just the label; our manager, our lawyers… they were all giving us advice on how we should change what we sound like or what we look like, how we could sell more records, be more marketable towards a certain target demographic… I just began distrusting everyone.

They even offered me a solo artist contract if I would stay with the band. But I didn’t even know what I wanted to do with music. I knew I didn’t want to play metal anymore. I felt that it was too constricting and I wanted to try different styles. Plus, I didn’t trust anyone, except my wife Jessica. So I just dropped out… I spent most of that time trying to figure out what I wanted to say and how to say it. I just holed up in my basement with 4-Track recorder and kept writing and recording songs until I found something that got me excited. But that wasn’t really until I tried country music in 2003.

Were the bands; The Revival Preachers and The Brimstone Assembly test runs for what you’re doing now?

I suppose in retrospect, yes… I never had any plans of doing anything as a solo artist. At the time, those were serious projects for me. I learned more in the two years I played with Damian Puerini (guitarist for the Revival Preachers) than in the ten plus years I had been playing guitar prior. I mean I had barely played guitar in a band, never mind playing guitar and singing at the same time. It was also the first time I fronted a band where I wrote all the songs, produced our records, booked the shows… So I had some growing pains, and there were some frustrating times. But overall I’m really proud of those bands. The music was good and we had a lot of fun. Plus, each of those bands had really amazing musicians and they’re all great people as well.

How do you feel your music and songwriting has progressed over the 20 years you’ve been doing it? Besides, the obvious of going from metal to country/bluesy rock.

I think in the last four or five years, I’ve really come into my own with my songs. I never really wrote any of the music with Kilgore. I wrote all of the vocal melodies, lyrics and I'd make suggestions to arrangements or key changes, but I just couldn’t write metal songs. I always felt that great metal songs were based on the guitarist being able to write a great riff, like Tony Iommi or Ritchie Blackmore. I tried to write some songs for the band on the second album and one of them almost made the cut but they were just bad Soundgarden rip-offs and didn’t really fit with the rest of the album.

After I left the band, I was stumbling around trying to find my voice in my songwriting. Somewhere around 2001/2002, I got inspired by the European acts The Hellacopters, The Hives, and Turbonegro. They were just making cool rock-n-roll records. All that stuff made me break out my Chuck Berry, Little Richard and Carl Perkins records. Just a simple verse, chorus, bridge structure with a catchy melody. So that’s the thing I spend the most time on, trying to find a good melody. I tend to write most of my songs when things are quiet; like when I’m walking the dogs, ironing cloths, doing dishes… I just start singing. Once the melody is there, I pretty much completely hear the rest of the song in my head. Drums, bass, guitar, piano… It’s all there. The lyrics always come last. The melody sets the tone of the song and lets me think of ideas or stories I’d like to convey in the lyrics. And it really doesn’t matter to me if it’s gospel, country, blues, rock or a metal song. As long as you have a good melody and something interesting to say, you have the makings of a great song.

Talk about your latest album, Sad Bastard Songs. I really enjoyed it. My review was no BS. Was it difficult to write such personal songs? You played many of the instruments yourself. What’s your secret for being able to learn so many instruments?

Well thank you. You really hit the nail on the head with describing these songs as my children. I’m really proud of them and the album as a whole. I think it’s some of the best work I’ve done. It was challenging to write such honest songs. I’ve always written about myself, but I always felt that I didn’t want to give up too much, so I hid behind allusions, flowery language or humorous stories. With these songs, I felt I needed to purge some demons I had been wrestling with. I had written and recorded about half of the album when my wife really helped me realize that the strongest songs were my most honest ones. So I actually scrapped a few of the songs I had already recorded and I started over. Even as the album was ready to be submitted to the label, I had 11 songs that were heartfelt, honest and raw and 1 song that had absolutely nothing to do with the rest of them. To replace it, I actually wrote, recorded and mixed “Running Blues” in a day or two before handing in the masters.

Handling most of the instruments was a challenge. Mostly because I record to analog tape and you can’t copy and paste like you can in digital recording. You hit a bum note while recording and you gotta do it again. Seeing as I’m not much of a solo player, I felt I needed to bring in experienced players to add that missing something to some of the songs. The foundation was there but it was the piano, guitar solos, and pedal steel that pulled it all together.

What is Moto Destructo Studio? How did it come about? Are they open for other bands to record there? Do you need a helper, because I need a job?

Hahaha!! Moto Destructo is the name for my home recording studio. It’s really just a one man operation. It’s a fully analog recording studio, with a Tascam 16 track, one inch tape machine, 24 track Soundcraft board and numerous external pre-amps, compressors and effects. I learned over the years by recording onto tape and invested the time and money into the equipment, so I never really had much desire to “upgrade” to digital recording. Plus, I just can’t get past having to use a mouse instead of faders and knobs on a board. And people can argue endlessly about which is better, but I still like the sound of tape. I’ve recorded all of my projects at the studio and I do take in other clients, but it’s mostly singer/songwriters or bands that I know I would enjoy working with. I’ve done a number of albums with local artists such as; Joe Fletcher & the Wrong Reasons, Brian McKenzie, Chris Fullerton, and Villainer.

What are the Broadside Basement Sessions that I’ve seen on You Tube? Will they continue?

The Broadside Basement Sessions is a video performance series with me and some of my friends working on some original music and some covers. All of it is very raw; we only rehearse the day of the shoot and have only played the songs a few times. It’s an opportunity to throw a few musicians together that really haven’t worked together and see if we can create some magic. We have done two sessions already with a new one launching in early April. And I’m definitely planning on releasing more… You can find some of the videos here:

http://www.youtube.com/user/rustyknucklesmusic

Who are your 5 all-time favorite bands/performers? Are there any guilty music pleasures?

I’d say the artists that are always in rotation for me would be: The Beatles, Hank Williams, Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, and Howlin’ Wolf. They are always a source of inspiration. There’s so many more, and don’t get me started on a “Top Ten...” list!

I wouldn’t say it’s a guilty pleasure but for decades I’ve been saying that I don’t like Bruce Springsteen and I have recently fallen in love with the Darkness on The Edge of Town album. I don’t have that punk rock integrity thing where you’re not supposed to like something. To paraphrase Smokey Robinson; “If the song makes you tap your toes, it’s a good song and it’s OK to like it.”

Is there anything or anyone that you’d like to plug? Take this space to talk about anything you like.

I’d love for everyone to listen to Sad Bastard Songs, of course. And I’d love to have everyone come down to the German Club show on Sat 3/26. This will be the first show I’ll be performing songs from SBS with a full band, so I’m really excited. Also there’s the Tom Waits Tribute/Benefit for Amos House on Fri 4/1 at the 201 in Providence. Lots of great acts coming together for a great cause…

Flat Tires - St. Paddy's Day Raleigh Invasion

Not sure what else could be more of a beer slammin' punk rock of a good time tomorrow than catching the Flat Tires invasion of St. Paddy's Day in Raleigh. Get off your ass and move it to some real juke joint rock n' roll from the purveyors of beer soaked mayhem.

Rusty Knuckles Music - FREE SXSW Showcase - 3.19.11

We have a showcase during SXSW but its not part of the official showcases, so guess what, our event is FREE! Yes, you heard it right, FREE. It will take place on Saturday March 19th at the Dirty Dog Saloon in the heart of Austin's music venues. With Hellbound Glory, She Rides, Green Lady Killers, Reno Divorce, Rory Kelly's Triple Threat and Vagabond Swing taking the stage its sure to be one rip roaring good time.

Spread the word and let anyone you know about the showcase that will be in the area. We have some special guests showing up along with having local magazine Rank And Revue and Metal Freaktress Productions helping to create one hell of a good time. We will also keep doing updates on the event and let everyone know of the other showcases the bands are playing such as Texas Rock Fest.

Check out the bands playing, click on poster to make full size version to download and repost.

Green Lady Killers - Austin Shows During SXSW

Here are a few shows the Green Lady Killers will be hitting up during the residency in Austin this week. Are you ready for these Femme Fatales on the big stage? Yep, so are we...

The Green Lady Killers - Linger On by RustyKnuckles

The Green Lady Killers - My 45 by RustyKnuckles