10 Questions with Ryan Clackner and Lucy Cochran of Stump Tail Dolly, from First Order Historians

Read original post on First Order Historians

Ryan Clackner and Lucy Cochran (sometimes separately, sometimes together) have toured, performed or recorded with Bob Wayne, Fifth on the Floor, Shooter Jennings, JD Wilkes, The Legendary Shack Shakers, Sarah Gayle Meech, Red Simpson, Travis Harris and many others. They’ve opened for Social Distortion, Tiger Army, Hank III, George Thorogood, Unknown Hinson, Roger Clyne, JJ Grey, Scott Biram and more. Ryan has appeared in multiple music videos, including “Hush Hush” by The Pistol Annies. The purpose of Stump Tail Dolly is to mess your head up with an off-center mix of metal and country with other influences snuck in for good measure. We are thrilled to have Ryan Clackner and Lucy Cochran of Stump Tail Dolly as our guest today in 10 questions.

Husky Burnette Feature Write Up On Nooga.com For His Album Re-Release

Husky Burnette Feature Write Up On Nooga.com For His Album Re-Release

Link to original article on Nooga.com

"Chattanooga native Brian "Husky" Burnette creates music that has its roots wound deep around the sounds of blues and classic rock ‘n’ roll. His songs pitch and turn as each fiery rhythm is laid bare and every Southern detail is explored. His voice is steeped in the history of his native state, a melodic rebellion born of a desire to create and share a collection of personal experiences. His voice is deep and rumbling, like a storm front rolling in over the mountains, but his voice is surprisingly light and malleable—although you can be sure there’s still enough punch to knock the air from your lungs.

To go along with the deluxe rerelease of his previous record, "Tales from East End Blvd," Burnette and his label have shared a new video for album cut "That Liquor." It’s a ferocious stomper that pairs a series of sweltering guitar riffs with Burnette's inimitably brusque voice—it’s the perfect combination to convey this kind of bucolic, whiskey-soaked story. He seems born to sing this song, a rollicking, rough-around-the-edges burner that's determined to kick in your door and share some hard-earned wisdom. His raw melodies and even rougher voice take delight in the seedier moments of life and in their communal conveyance. The song introduces us to the late-night juke joint atmosphere that Burnette and his music inhabit. It's a place of smoky shadows and dangerous characters, and I can't wait to go back."

Come On In: An Interview With Husky Burnette On Real Deep Blues

Come On In: An Interview With Husky Burnette On Real Deep Blues

 

Check out the great interview with Husky Burnette On Real Deep Blues
 

"Husky Burnette's Tales From East End Blvd has been re-released with four new songs- two covers and two originals, each played with Husky's signature grinding stomp and holler. I asked Husky for a run down of the tracks:

Best I Can is a fictional tune about the age old subject in Blues about having big women, ugly women, etc. 

Butter My Cornbread is straight up about getting it on. Nothing more, nothing else. Just sweating it out! 

Skinny Woman is an RL Burnside tune I've been playing since I started this solo thing. 

So Doggone Lonesome is a Johnny Cash cover. We worked it up as one of our 3 songs to play at a Johnny Cash Birthday Bash one year and we dug it so much that we wanted it recorded."

Husky Burnette Is Receiving Great New Press For His Re-Issued Album, Tales From East End Blvd.

Husky Burnette Is Receiving Great New Press For His Re-Issued Album, Tales From East End Blvd.

Husky Burnette is receiving some great new press for his current re-release of his stellar album, Tales From East End Blvd. Listen to an interview with him on It Burns When I Pee

"We are pleased to have this guy on the show. Rusty Knuckles recording artist Husky Burnette comes on the show to talk about re-issuing his latest album, “Tales From East End Blvd” which will feature 4 bonus tracks. During the interview we chat about his song, “East End Blvd” as well as a new album he will be releasing later this year. We also talk about writing songs in the Blues genre, his songwriting process, and of course guitars. We also talk about how he got into playing guitar and his experiences in the recording studio with each album. Husky Burnette the real deal and if you are into blues or roots music he is a must to check out. - IBWIP.com"

Listen To Stevie Tombstone and Ralph White Interview On Marfa, Texas Public Radio 93.5

Listen To Stevie Tombstone and Ralph White Interview On Marfa, Texas Public Radio 93.5

"Austin-based troubadours Ralph White and Stevie Tombstone join us for a conversation and some live pickin’ and singin’ on this episode of West Texas Talk.

White, formerly of the punk-ish bluegrass band the Bad Livers, isn’t a pop star. But he’s highly regarded in underground music circles for his psychedelic and decidedly non-traditionalist take on traditional music. A tree trimmer by day, he’s made his music career by self-recording and releasing his material, or partnering with small-scale record labels.

Tombstone’s music occupies a similar realm of modern readings on old songs, though he’s quick to say he’s not one to dwell on the past – he prefers writing and performing his own material over relying on old standards.

Still, his songs are connected to the history of American roots music – by blood. Tombstone, a Georgia native, is a descendant of Clayton McMichen, a once-popular string band leader from the early 20th century.

Ralph White and Stevie Tombstone joined us in the studio for a few songs and some talk before departing back out on tour. Their latest records are available on Altco Recordings."

Listen to the full interview on Marfa Public Radio

Reverend Johnson Of Whiskeydick Has A Feature Interview Over On Epiphone.com Discussing His Guitar Playing Style And Acoustic Metal

Purchase Whiskeydick's latest album

Read the full interview below or on Epiphone.com with Reverend Johnson

"Imagine the look on country superstar Alan Jackson’s face when he went to the iTunes Alternative Country chart this summer to check out the progress of his latest and saw that his album had slipped to #2 three week in a row. His rival? The acoustic duo Whiskeydick—two of the shrewdest shredders in the land--and their latest, Bastard Sons of Texas, which held onto the #1 album position long enough to get the attention of a lot of people in the industry who had not been paying attention. Well, they are now. In fact, during the interview Reverend Johnson heard the band will play the legendar Speedfest Festival. Epiphone spoke with the Reverend about his new Masterbilt, the origins of the duo’s musical partnership, his searing chops, and life on the road in the fast-spinning music world. Listen and be amazed. 

Thanks for speaking with us Reverend. You’re about to head back on the road, right?
Yeah! We’ve been on tour for the last month on the Heavy Metal Honky Tonk tour –it’s a four and a half month tour. We’re about to do two months in Europe—20 countries. We’re flying to the Netherlands and then Belgium, France, and then we’re in Spain for two weeks. It’s our third time over there. And we just got booked to play Speedfest. 
 
How did you sound come together? 
Our first show was in 2005 but we were writing for fun together around 2003. I had never liked the clean sound of an electric. I always preferred an acoustic. And when I hit the distortion box playing on an acoustic for the first time, I was like that’s the sound I’ve been looking for. I had never thought about putting an acoustic through a Metal Pedal and that was pretty cool. At first I didn’t now how I was going to do leads. But I pretty much dug in and went for it. People think it’s a trick but I use 12 gauge strings and that’s what’s defined our sound for 10 years now. On electric, I used 11s and I already played hard as it is. With the acoustic, I found the tone I’ve always wanted and I’ve been using it ever since. And the Masterbilts are my favorite.

The new one I got the Epiphone Masterbilt EF-500RCCE has a C neck on it, which I’ve never played before. I play a bit unorthodox and because of that neck I’m playing smoother and tighter now. Epiphone is amazing. We have been told countless times: “Reverend Johnson, man you just blew my mind and changed everything I thought about the acoustic guitar. How do you shred on an acoustic guitar?” They have never seen anything like that and the tone of my distortion, they’re looking for a Les Paul up there on the stage and then see that I am playing an Epiphone Masterbilt.
 
They get even more shocked when they learn that I play on 12 gauge D'addario acoustic strings in standard tuning. I truly enjoy playing any Epiphone that has the e-Sonic2 pre-amp and Shadow Nanoflex under saddle pickup. I can rock them right out of the box. I would like to say that I am very excited to be a part of The Epiphone guitar family! I have always been a huge fan so it is a true honor for me.
 
We’re so glad to have you with us!  How has the audience been on the tour?
Oh, amazing. Totally amazing. Every time we play to new people, they’re just blown away. Most people’s mindset when they see an acoustic guitar is that it’s going to be laid back and soft. They just can’t believe the amount of energy we put into our live set and into our songs.
 
Are you able to write on the road?
We like staying busy so when touring we always have ideas rolling. I don’t know where it comes from but we keep writing songs. We bring a little recorder with us so when we get ideas, we record it so we can remember it. And then over the years of touring we’ve invested in building a studio at our house in Texas. So now we’re able to record all our records. We’ve been pretty much done everything DIY with this band from recording our first record, learning how to mix and master our stuff. And with this last one, it was completely done ourselves.
 
How did the album come about? 
We recorded the new album in our studio that we built at our home in Texas called YeeHaw Sound. This is our decade year and we wanted to take things to the next level. While we were on a 6-month U.S.A. and European Tour with no breaks, we were shopping this record around to labels. We connected with the Rusty Knuckles label. They believed in us and our hard work. So in joining forces, we knew that we would be a great alliance and help each other.
 
The Bastards Sons of Texas was released on Rusty Knuckles August 1.  The album got a new and noteworthy feature on the front page of iTunes Country New Releases right next to Alan Jackson. We have never been on the front page of anything, so this was a huge step for us. The Bastard Sons of Texas has been on the front page and has been the #1 iTunes Alternative Country Album Chart for 3 weeks running. For us to be breaking down some barriers, we feel there is hope for our music to be heard, and help get more DIY bands noticed and possibly even bring a whole new era of music to the world.
 
Has it been hard sometimes to find the right venue? A lot of club owners are tough characters—the margins are thin, and they don’t like to take chances. I can imagine they see a photo of you guys with acoustic guitars and might be skeptical. 
 
Yeah, there’s that. When we did our first five shows, we didn’t have a band name (laughs). But we’ve not had a whole lot of trouble--but yeah, quite a bit trouble with people not talking you seriously or not putting your name on the marque. But we just keep pushing it and doing it. Our whole success has always been word of mouth. We figure if the music is good enough, people will share it and it will get around on its own.

Epiphone Masterbilt EF-500RCCE

Promotion these days is pretty cut-throat. 
Big time. What our fans love about us is that we’re regular guys. We hate backstages. When bands play, we’re right up front watching them play. We’re so grateful that people want to hear our music and a lot of that support inspires us, too.
 
What have you been listening to on tour? 
We’re really diggin’ that underground scene. Most really good bands are people no one knows who they are. They’re playing those small dive bars for people who know and love music. One of the best guitar players out there now is Dylan Rose of Archer who is with Epiphone. Dylan is a hell of a guitar player—he’s got it.  He just wants to play music.
 
Do you find any difference in the audience reaction in—say—Europe as opposed to the U.S.?
We had been trying to get over there to Europe for awhile because our merchandise has been selling. It’s a little bit scarier in Europe because if you break down, you’re not just short drive away like you are in the States for someone to come help you (laughs). So we’ve been trying to find the right people to work with. But we got really lucky. We found a management company that was really gung ho to make an investment to see what would happen with us. We book all the U.S.A. dates ourselves and have a great management company Red Rumour in Europe that books all of our overseas shows. They really believe in us and feel that we are paving the way for the acoustic music scene, changing folks’ mindset of relaxed and mellow, showing the world that the acoustic sound can be heartfelt and beautiful. And then we stomp the Metal Pedal and blow the roof off! 
 
When was your first trip overseas?
We went over there to put out foot in the door last year. At first, he was having trouble booking the tour because people were thinking “it’s just acoustic.” We played the first show and the owner of the club, who had kind of lost faith in music, he did a complete article on us in the local paper about how were bringing back good music. That first show we played in the Netherlands, we heard that people drove 6 hours from Germany to see us play. So the reaction has been amazing. Our last tour we were there for two months last spring. We did 44 shows and got 44 encores. Our management was in tears on our last show. 
 
Tours can be long and punishing—even for just two people.  
It’s what we do, we love it. When we started building this thing, it took off on it’s own. Our first live performance was in 2005. The first 5 years, we played 250 shows annually around the Fort Worth, Texas area and the surrounding states as well. We wanted to tour for a long time but trying to figure out how to successfully book a tour in the U.S.A. was intimidating. In 2010, we had reached the point to where the only way to get further in our career and get our name out there was to book a tour and just go! In being a completely DIY band, our 1st tour was two months long and in that time period we sure learned a lot. It was a rough tour. You realize quickly when nobody knows who you are 1,000 miles away from home and if you love the touring life or if you don’t. Well we loved it!
 
There are not many nights with hotels for DIY bands, if you’re lucky a fan will offer you a place to stay the night and let you sleep on their floor and shower in the morning before you roll to the next town. For the last 5 years, we have toured 8 months out of the year. Our friends and peers tell us that we’re the hardest working band and they call us “Road Dogs.” We call it the relentless pursuit. The style of our songs and the way we play has been called “Metal Neck,” “Acoustic Hillbilly Country Metal,” and some say “Outlaw,” but we like to call it “Heavy Metal Honky Tonk!” Myself and Fritz have always felt that we’re searching for something and hopefully we’ll find it."

Motobunny Interview On Artist Direct

Motobunny photo - nie-dravnos.deviantart.com

Check out the original post on Artist Direct

 

"Who are Motobunny? We are glad you asked. You will find out everything you need to know about the band via this Take Aim feature.

Strap yourselves in and get acquainted with Motobunny.

Twitter-size your bio.

After years of touring together in different bands, four longtime friends from Los Angeles and Phoenix sketched out an idea for a co-female-fronted band built on glossy glitter pop harmonies, vicious rock riffs, slick bass grooves and Bonham-esque drums. We recorded 12 original tracks in Detroit with Jim Diamond (White Stripes, Dirtbombs). The result was electric, the songs infectious. Our debut album, Motobunny, is now blasting into earbuds and airwaves around the world. We are four friends who love sharing on-stage and off-stage time together more than ever before and have set our sights on a future world tour.

If you were not doing music, you would be...

Michael: An artist of some sort…
Rik: A priest.
Nicole: On a champagne tour of France or designing shoes.
Christa: Dead.

Any non-music hobbies, talents or skills?

Nicole: Writing children's books, professional-grade napping.
Michael: Graphic design, cappuccino-making.
Rik: Hobbies: Metal detecting; Skills: Speaking in tongues.
Christa: I love cooking, I sew, make jewelry, dabble in millinery, paint, pretty much anything working with my hands! I have a store on Etsy (Bandit Boutique) where I sell some of my creations. www.Etsy/shop/BanditBoutique.com

Pick ONE song on your record and share a writing or recording story. Something intimate, that you haven't told anyone else (or at least a bunch of writers or journalists) and that which puts us in the moment with you. Let's get intimate, shall we?

'The Other Side' might be the most intimate song on the album. Michael wrote it from the perspective of his uncle, trying to imagine what he went through during his final days in hospice care.

Christa: My favorite song is 'I Warned You.' It has just the right amount of pain and angst. It's threatening while at the same time you can't help but surrender to it. It's a universal theme I think everyone has experienced at one point in their lives. This whole album was basically written in our pajamas at Michael and Nicole's place over the course of two weekends. We then headed to Detroit to record it, and run through the snow like 5-year-olds. We all shared a studio motel room. The fireplace worked but as we discovered the hard way one night, was to be used at your own risk. We did a lot of cooking to try and cut the expense of eating out while we were there. It was a blast! Nicole and I recorded vocals together in a little closet-like booth that we draped in material and found objects to set the mood. We had a bunch of weird props which we found at the dollar store down the street and masks were involved. The ambience put us in the right headspace for maximum rocking, and well theatrics are just Fun!

Finish this sentence: Motobunny is the band that...

...will guarantee you a good time and will put bunny masks, keytars and Lonnie Mack Flying V guitars on everyone's wishlists."

Motobunny Interview On Artist Direct

Husky Burnette Feature Interview In Rat Rod Magazine

Husky Burnette feature interview in RatRod Magazine

Huge congrats to Husky Butnette for his feature interview in Rat Rod Magazine. If you are a fan of DIY vintage rides and built not bought hot rods, this is a magazine for you. Congrats hombre on the huge feature and for kickin' ass day in and day out.

Check out Rat Rod Magazine

Follow Rat Rod Magazine on Facebook

Hank 3 On Earning Respect In Doing What He Loves, From Examiner.com

Hank 3 dishing out quite the great interview with Jessica Blankenship

Read the original post on Examiner.com

"Tuesday night at the Mercury Ballroom in Louisville, Hank 3 will bring his own blend of country and rock music to the stage. We got the chance to speak with Hank 3 in regards to his spring tour, new music, life on the farm, family, and more. Be sure to get to tonight's show before 8:00 p.m. as it will start promptly at that time with no opener. Bring a little bit of extra cash to spend on merchandise and music directly from Hank 3.

That Time When Billy Don Burns and Billy Joe Shaver Sat Down For A Conversation

Billy Don Burns and Billy Joe Shaver talking for the BDB documentary currently being filmed

A few weeks back we were able to sit down with Billy Don Burns and Billy Joe Shaver for a quick chat for the BDB documentary. Can't tell yall how thrilled we are with the amount of folks asking to go on record and sing praises about Billy Don Burns. True character will always shine through and watching these two chat was akin to watching a great novel unfold. 

Billy Don Burns on Facebook

WUKY Feature Interview With Justin Wells of Fifth On The Floor

Fifth On The Floor ready to conquer any stage they encounter

Link to post over on WUKY

"In 2006 Justin Wells moved from Richmond, Kentucky to Lexington with one goal; start a band. In July of 2006 Wells found what he was searching for in the creation of Fifth on the Floor. Since then, the band has amassed a dedicated following not just in Lexington, but across the country as well. Wells attributes the dedication of the local fan base and the approach of trying to stay locally connected to a success he says not a lot of other touring bands have.

“Not everybody is successful with having a good draw in their hometown which seems kind of strange, but I think a part of that is that we didn’t start out as a touring band, we kind of learned how to be a band and learned how to be in a bar first unfortunately and the first couple years we just kind of played the area.”

The success of the band has continued to grow. Fifth on the Floor is currently signed to Entertainment Music One which is the largest music label in Nashville. The band released their latest album Ashes and Angels in March of 2013. The album itself was produced by Shooter Jennings, the son of the legendary Waylon and it charted number 63 on the Billboard country charts. While the band has gone through some personnel changes Wells believes there is a new fire in the band and that their success will continue as long as the band works for it.

“For all the people who complain about the music business and how ‘oh it’s so hard and it’s just a matter of luck’ I just kind of disagree, I think it’s like any other business in that if you work hard and you push and you go after those opportunities rather than wait on them to fall in your lap, you’re going to get some measure of success.”

Fifth on the Floor will be performing at Busters on December 14th. Fifth on the Floor’s album Ashes and Angels is available in stores and online. More information about the band can be found at Fifth on the floor dot com."

Fifth On The Floor hits the road with George Thorogood in 2014

Come On In :: An Interview With Husky Burnette, From Real Deep Blues

Husky Burnette's stellar album, Tales From East End Blvd.

Purchase your copy of Tales From East End Blvd.

Link to original post on Real Deep Blues

"Husky holds the blues tight in his calloused fists, his fingers and heart hold the strings of his guitar where they are strangled, stroked, loved, and bent into his blues. Tough and tortured at times, thoughtful and barefooted at others, Husky Burnette's roots run deep through his music, and plays what he means. No posturing. No fedora, no ponytail. Just flat out rough, rollin' and tumblin' blues.

Now, full disclosure, I had the honor of being his drummer for two nights and it was a total thrill and challenge. We didn't rehearse, we just sat down and rocked out some blues, and had a ball. T he next day at my house, we jammed out on a fast rockabilly drum beat, and that beat became a song on this album (with the great Dave Dowda on the skins,) called Rick's Late For Work. Because I was.

If you get the chance to see Husky Burnette live, you should go out of your way to do so. He usually works as a two-piece. I've seen him with a  great drummer, a lacking drummer, and i've seen him solo. Regardless of the situation Burnett always rises above to reveal a terrific (in the true sense of the word) performer, a prodigiously skilled guitarist, and a powerful showman. 



This interview took place over part of a morning in November via fB chat ::

Rick Saunders::
It seems like you've been busier than ever this year. Touring pretty much constantly, working the new album. Looks like the tough years of slugging it out are paying off.

Husky Burnette::
They seem to be I suppose. It's been a damn good year that's for sure. I try not to treat it like that, though. As long as I slug it out, day after day, maybe the good stuff will keep happening!

RS::
Speaking of touring, a friend of mine used to roadie for the Melvins and once commented that it's twenty-two hours of bullshit for two hours of bliss. How do you keep the road grinding drudgery from killing you?

(HB) :: 

Your roadie friend is right! That's a good question, and I really don't know how to answer that one. I think the best way to describe it is I go on knowing I have a job to do. And if I don't do it then its all shot to hell. So I have to do it, whether its killing me or my band or not. If I don't do the tours then nobody knows right? So when you do start getting brought down a bit you just shut your eyes, shut your mouth and keep going no matter what cause it's all for the cause.

RS::
It's nation-wide heavy lifting, man. I respect any touring band, but don't envy them. How'd you hook up with the guys from your new label Rusty Knuckles?

(HB) :: 
We made contact through mutual friends and Ralph, owner of Rusty Knuckles, made a point to watch my set at Muddy Roots 2012. From then until the end of the year we stayed in contact, talking about what I wanted and needed as an artist and what he wanted and needed as a label. All was well and right on both ends so I signed the contract at the end of February 2013 and here we are. Its been a busy year and it's been more than worth it. The label as a whole is more than family. I'm very content where I'm at right now. It's been a huge learning process too.

RS::
Judging from their roster it looks like a good fit for you. In fact, I gotta ask, when are you and label mate Kara Clark gonna start doin' a bunch of George and Tammy, Loretta and Conway-like duets? I'd buy an album of that.
(HB) :: 
We've actually talked about doing something. We've played a few shows together now, and when I slow down in December I can start thinking on cool ideas like this one.

RS::
I'm curious about the process of recording this album, and who you did it with. Your drummer on these sessions, Dave Dowda, tells me it took about five hours to record the whole thing. It was recorded by the nearly legendary J.B. Beverly...and you've got a bass player! Didn't you get the memo? No bass players allowed? I know we've talked about the importance to the boogie of that bottom end. I was glad to hear that lowdown sound. Who else helped out on Tales From East End Blvd?

(HB) :: 
Well, it took about a week to record. Drum tracks were done very quickly for sure, thanks to Dave "Burma Shave" Dowda. J.B. and Buck Thrailkill did the album at Rebel Roots Studio. J.B. is responsible for the bass! Damn him. He actually laid all the bass tracks down except for "Rick's Late For Work", I did that one. I love the tone and runs he put down on bass too. It made me smile hearing killer bottom end on my tunes...especially the older tunes I'd played for so long without bass! J.B. and Buck were so easy and cool to work with. Other than those two, the only other help was on a brand new track I just finished writing before getting there. So at 4am with moonshine running in our veins very strong, me, J.B., Buck, Billy Don Burns, Shooter Jennings and Aaron Rodgers laid down the track "Come On Carolina" on a whim, and we ended up using it for the album. It was gonna be a bonus track/campfire version kind of thing but never got labeled that way. Tracking the album instead of doing it all live was something I wasn't used to and hadn't done in a long while. But hearing the end result I'm more than happy we did it that way. Big thanks to Rebel Roots Studio on that one.

RS::
Rebel Roots is JB's studio? And where is it located?

(HB) :: 
J.B. and Buck own it together. It's located in Fayetteville, NC. Great little spot. Secluded, quiet, rather perfect environment for doing what they do.

RS::
Come On, Carolina is such a stand-out track. It's different

from anything i've heard from you before. I think one of the things I like best about this album is the variety. You've got the hard blues stompers and low-down ass kickers that we expect from you, but there's also Come On' Carolina which is kinda country/bluegrassy, an instrumental track, the gospel country blues of On My Way, and the menacing blues of That Liquor. Come on, Carolina is a new sound for you with the addition of banjo. It's old timey but straight from today. Tell 'em about that song.



What's the story behind that one?

(HB) :: 
I never expected to put this on any album (and definitely
never expected these guys playing/singing on it). Maybe something like my acoustic EP from 2012 but definitely not my full length cause it's so different. I get bored when writing sometimes and think "this one sounds too much like the last one" etc. or "man, I wanna do a song like THAT one". So after a long two weeks of listening to singer-songwriter folk/blues/country type artists. It kinda just started itself with the guitar riff. It was going to be a Tennessee influenced tune about my home state. I started realizing I had more going on in the Carolinas at the time and how nice North Carolina had been to me as of recent so it was going to be easy to write. The lyrics flowed out pretty quick and easy for that one. Easier than they would have had it been about Tennessee.

RS::
I dig the nod to Hendrix on the song Work It. I hear him as an influence but also a lot of ZZ Top, tone wise. Who else would you call influences?

(HB) :: 
Lyrically, a lot of my influences are folk-country singer-songwriters. Roger Alan Wade is one my biggest influences. It's funny cause I can never seem to write as deep and heavy as those guys like Roger, Kristofferson, Guy Clark and Gram Parsons, (in most situations it wouldn't fit the tunes or style that I play), but, it's still a huge influence to write period. I'm a big lyric guy when it comes to being a listener/fan. As far as soul and blues go, it's Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Jr Walker & the Allstars and Leon Russell. I listen to them, and all I hear is dirty, nasty grooves and boogie, in one way or the other. So in a lot of my songs I try to go for that feeling and groove. It's got to have a groove.

RS::
You're known for an intense live show. You play as if your life depended on it, like if you just dropped dead on stage you'd be cool with that. Talk a little about that.

(HB) :: 
I'm an old school rock n roll guy so maybe that's where the intensity comes from? I'm not real sure but, if I had to guess I'd say that's it. I played in metal and rock bands growing up and always loved the intensity of it so I guess I just haven't lost that feeling for music, listening and playing both.

RS:: Your also known for an interesting array of guitars. What are you using these days?

(HB)::

My current guitar roster for live shows is an Epiphone Dot Studio hollow body for my electric slide tunes, a Diamondback Stringworks custom telecaster-copy build for all my electric standard tuning songs and a Cigar City CBG's 3-string cigar box guitar for a few tunes. For acoustic stuff I'm still using my trusty National metal-body resonator. I have backup electrics I like to bring such as an Epiphone SG and Epiphone Les Paul Standard.

RS::
I'm wondering if you'd mind giving a little rundown or back story on each of the songs from East End Blvd.?

(HB) :: 
Ok. Here's the back stories::

1. East End Blvd. - This was written about a real bad area in Chattanooga, TN. I had my troubles down in this low place and got sucked into it for a period of my life so I figured I'd write about it. Jill Scott put it best in one of her songs, "Your background, it ain't squeaky clean. Shit, sometimes we all got to swim upstream". There's plenty to write about from those days!

2. Highway 41 - Highway 41 runs right down the road from where I grew up and also where I live now. Lyrically, it was just intended to be one of those good ol' hometown/highway/woman cheating tunes we know so well. I wrote the main riff on accident (at 2am in a tattoo shop after a show with the Pine Box Boys) during an instrumental blues jam session with Dodds (drummer) and Lester (vocals/guitar) of the Pine Box Boys. I love that tune

3. Work It - This one I've had for quite a while. There's no frills to the backstory on this one. It's about gettin' it on, sexual relations, doin' the do, bumpin' uglies. Nothing more, nothing less.

4. Beat & Lowdown - I wrote this one in a trailer park. Haha. My old drummer and I were out back at his place trying and trying to come up with a new tune. While fooling around on break I came up with the riff and here we are. It's another favorite of mine on this album. I wrote it around the time I was having what we'll call "woman problems" so it kind of speaks for itself there.

5. That Liquor - When I wrote this one I was dying for a slow, creepy, groove-blues tune. It's written, very loosely, on some crazy shit from my rebellious younger days. I'm very thankful I had J.B. Beverley as a producer on this one.

6. See-Saw - This one is kinda like "Work It"....strictly about getting it on. I've always loved those blues tunes that are a bit comedic yet about real life happenings, such as sex, jail, partying or anything else percieved as bad things. So I figured i needed me one of them songs.

7. On My Way - This one is special to me. I wrote it in the van on the way home from tour. I tried to incorporate everything I like in a folky song like this: good lyrics, meaning, feeling and little concentration on your instrument to bring the folks in with the words. I'm a big lyric guy so I tried to make something I would want to hear. It's coming from the eyes of an old Mississippi farm hand in the days of slaves and cotton fields but it's pretty much universal to the working man of any kind in any area.

8. Dazed Away - I wrote this about those days where being a road dog isn't your concern, playing tonight can't physically happen or "I'm sorry but I just don't wanna do it today". You can't help but have those kinds of attitudes and feelings running through your blood on some days after being on the road for a while. I think everyone gets tired of traveling at some point. It may take a few years for those of us who have to do it every week, every year to keep a roof and food but, we still get tired at some point. This song is about when you just can't "go in today" and the batteries have to be recharged. Musically, I just thought it was time i had some kind of rock n roll in a song again.

9. Coonie Hill - Coonie Hill is just a fictional story about an actual place. While on tour in upstate NY last year my friend Maryrose and I were driving past some very wealthy neighborhoods on an off-day. One of the streets was Coonie Hill Drive. We laughed at how it didn't fit and should be the name of a street in a dark neighborhood street on the bad side of town. So, really, it just started out as a joke but with a title like "Coonie Hill" I felt it was my duty as a citizen to write this tune!

10. So Far From Home - This tune was written out of pure anger and disappointment. Sometimes there are shows that suck, sometimes there are shows where you wish someone would stab you in the face to put you out of your misery. This was written about the latter, after a show in Daytona, FL. I wrote it the next morning around 8am in Titusville, FL at my boy Lone Wolf's house. I tried to describe the discomfort me and the band felt that night. It was definitely song-worthy.

11. Rick's Late For Work - This was written along with the handsome fellow doing this interview, the almighty Mr. Rick Saunders while we were jamming for the fun of it. We stopped by Rick's house the morning after a show in his town, St. Augustine, FL. We sat around geeking out on music, talking jazz, blues and biographies, when all of a sudden jamming in his back room sounded like a better idea than him going to work in a few minutes. This rebel called in to work and told them he's gonna be late just so we could jam together. The rest is history and track #11 on the new album.

12. Come On Carolina - This one is completely different than any other tune I've written or recorded. Six musicians, all acoustic, recorded live sitting around one microphone (only a couple days after I finished writing it). A killer line-up on this one: Me on vocals/rhythm guitar, Billy Don Burns on rhythm guitar/backing vocals, Buck Thrailkill on banjo/backing vocals, J.B. Beverley on snare drum/backing vocals, Shooter Jennings on backing vocals and Aaron Rodgers on slide guitar/backing vocals. It was actually never intended to be on the new album but once it was done we felt it needed to be. We were in Fayetteville, NC at Rebel Roots Studio for a few days hanging out, playing shows and drinking moonshine when miraculously on the last night we got something recorded. I just got lucky that it was my tune honestly. I'd been having a lot of good things happen for me in NC at the time (the studio, the label, great gigs, newfound family, etc). It's almost like a nod to those times and those people believing in me and bringing me in to give me a shot. It was very easy to write.

Thanks for taking the time, Husky! See you down the road. Y'all can buy Tales From East End Blvd via the links up top."

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

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"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."

Van Sessions - Billy Don Burns and Another 8 Ball Story

Billy Don Burns tells it like it is in the first episode of Van Sessions

Billy Don Burns decided to divulge one of his many interesting stories on a warm summer day while driving around in the shop van. This Van Sessions has Billy Don speaking about the trials and tribulations of having a fatal attraction and not losing an 8 ball of cocaine.

Pick up Billy Don Burns newest album

4 Questions With Husky Burnette

A short time ago Husky Burnette stopped by the compound and we wanted to get a few answers to some lingering questions we had. Watch a short clip of Husky Burnette and find out more about the dude that is conquering on the Itunes charts.

Pick up a copy of the album in our store

Go to Itunes and download it 

Husky Burnette has been featured on Itunes New & Noteworthy for ten straight weeks

Reno Divorce Interview On Flocked Media

Reno Divorce feature interview with Brent Loveday

Check out the review over on Flocked Media

"Reno Divorce, Denver’s premier OC-style punk rock band, is coming to the end of their Northeastern “Lover’s Leap” Tour this week in Witchita, KS. I tried so hard to try to catch one of their Midwestern Mile High Punk shows as they cruised through Illinois, Michigan, and Ohio earlier this month, but was unable to make the hookup with the guys. I was so bummed! When I spent over a decade in Denver, CO, I rarely missed one of their shows. I’ve been following Reno Divorce since the early 2000’s, when I did my very first interview with them for Annex22.com, Flocked Media’s predecessor. I fell in love with their sound and style and no-nonsense lyrics and haven’t looked back.

Since I wasn’t able to see Reno when they passed through my new neck of the woods, I opted to catch up with Brent [Loveday]to find out what he and the band have been up to. Reno Divorce is one of the hardest working bands I think I have the pleasure of knowing. In my opinion, RD’s music just keeps getting better, like a perfectly aged oak barrel whiskey ­— the minute they start playing, you feel that warmness in your chest, and you can’t help but smile and want more. And no, I am not encouraging binge drinking, readers; if you listen to them, you’ll know exactly what I mean. It’s like RD knows what is going on in your mind, your heart. What you’re feeling right now, they’re singing about.

A FACEBOOK FIRESIDE CHAT WITH BRENT LOVEDAY (lead singer, lead guitar)

Q. How was your summer? Brent, how was Germany?

A. This summer has been incredibly busy. For the first time in my career, I’m starting to spend more time on the road than at home. Reno Divorce spent three weeks on the road at the beginning, and when I got home, I was right back out playing Sturgis with the solo project. I did some off dates in California with The Young Dubliners, too. Then sure enough, it was off to Europe with the solo stuff and then home for nine days. Reno Divorce is finishing up our three week US tour, which started September 27. My European tour was awesome. It started as just playing my friend’s wedding in Germany, and it ended up being a full fledged mini tour for hardcore Reno fans. It was so cool for them to see that side of what I do. It’s really stripped down to the bone, but that’s the way I write the songs anyway, with an acoustic guitar and my voice. It was like they were in my living room with me. I had my good friend, Doug Turner, playing the cojone and my wife was selling my merch. It was much more like a vacation than a tour, for sure. And my wife and I capped it off with three days on the French Rivieria, so you’ll get no complaints from me…

Q. What was it like to make videos for “Lovers Leap” and “Sunsets and Corvettes”. Have you tried the video thing before, or was this the first official foray into video-dom? I’ve already seen the other amateur videos on YouTube.


 
A. Well, the first “real” video we ever made was in 2009 for “How Long’s It Been?”. If you watch that one and then watch the other ones, I think you can definitely see that we’re more comfortable in front of the camera. When I was a kid, all I wanted to be was a rock star. I’m from the MTV generation. It seems like choosing this line of work has fewer perks and advantages than you’d think, so a chance to star in a music video is one you take advantage of. The idea I had for “Lovers Leap” would’ve cost about $200,000 to make, so considering we had a budget of about a $1000, obviously some compromises were made. But I’m very happy with the result. The songs on this record are so lyrically driven that the first reaction is to simply let them act like a script for the video. For “Sunsets and Corvettes”, I had the same feeling, but it was made in one day of shooting in Hollywood while we were on tour. I had to surrender that to Dillon Novak, the director. And I’m glad I did. He totally captured the essence of Los Angeles. I wish we would’ve had one more day of shooting, but for flying by the seat of our pants, I’d say it was one hell of a landing.


Q. On this Midwest tour, are there any cities you’ve never been to? What cities are you most excited to play?

A. We’ve never been to New England, so that’s where I’m most excited to play. Tye lived there for a while, so he can attest to how great the people are that live there. We are revisiting a few places where we haven’t been in a few years, so it’s always interesting to see if anyone will remember who the hell we are. This will be our first time in Baltimore and I’m excited for that. Some places we’ve hit just a few months ago, so it’ll be great to see our friends there, too. I’m also stoked that we’ll have the new record with us, on vinyl and CD. I can’t tell you what an achievement that record is. It’s the best thing we’ve done.

Q. I know Lover’s Leap isn’t quite a year old yet, are you already planning the next album; do you think you might make another video for this album?

A. We are planning a video for the song “You’ve Created a Monster”. The song is about the over diagnosis and pharmaceutical treatment of ADD in kids. As a recovering drug addict, I’ve seen first hand how easy it is to manipulate the doctor/patient relationship and I think the American mentality of taking a pill just to make it through the day is an epidemic in itself. I’ve personally dealt with the frustration of having a child and having doctors throw different medications at him, essentially turning him into a Guinea pig. It’s also a very short song, kind of on purpose, to correlate with how short our attention spans have evolved into as a society. It’s gonna be challenging to tell the story visual in a minute and 22 seconds!

Q. Do you like the fact your music is on iTunes; has it increased your audience or just made your solid and extremely loyal fan base download individual songs instead of buying the whole album?

A. I love the fact that we are on iTunes, and all the digital media outlets, for that matter. It makes what we do accessible to millions of people all over the world. The odd thing about Reno Divorce is that we’ve never had any real record labels or booking agents or media machines behind us. It’s always been word of mouth or touring. People who see us walk away fans, and the fans that I’ve talked to always buy the entire discography because the records are consistent. We don’t have filler. I won’t allow it. If a song isn’t up to our standard, if it doesn’t have a hook and meaning, then we don’t force it. So many bands release records just to have something to sell at the expense of their fans, and I’m just not into that. If you buy a Reno record, you can rest assured that it wasn’t thrown together to meet a contractual obligation or “just because”. You’ll be hearing our latest and greatest and peering into to where we are at in our lives.

Last Question: What band or singer or musician has been your “go to tunes” this summer?

A. I’m making a solo record, so honestly I’ve been pouring over the tracks I’ve recorded and arranging and adding layers to it. There’s not a lot of time to delve into much else, unfortunately. As far as what’s popular in punk rock for the past few years, I hate to admit that not a lot of it is very exciting. It seems like I always revert to the stuff I was listening to when I was 13. OFF! is pretty interesting, but there again, it sounds like lost Black Flag recordings. I listen to a lot of Hank Williams, Johnny Horton, old timers like that. James Hunter is very talented and almost makes we want to stop singing because he’s perfected it. JD Macpherson and his band are very talented, as well.
THANK YOU BRENT!

I wish everyone that reads this can check out Reno Divorce live, but if you’re not currently in the Northeast for the last leg of their fall tour, and you don’t live in Colorado (they’re heading back to Denver to gear up for their annual Halloween show, which is INCREDIBLE, I don’t want to spoil any surprises), then check the guys out at renodivorceband.com and ‘Like’ them on Facebook. I’d ‘Love’ them on Facebook if that were an option. *images provided by renodivorceband.com"