The Legendary Shack Shakers’ hell-for-leather roadshow has earned quite a name for itself with its unique brand of Southern Gothic that is all-at-once irreverent, revisionist, dangerous, and fun. Led by their charismatic, rail-thin frontman and blues-harpist JD Wilkes, the Shack Shakers are a four-man wrecking crew from the South whose explosive interpretations of the blues, punk, rock and country have made fans, critics and legions of potential converts into true believers.
After taking more than a year off to work on other projects (including JD Wilkes's book "Barn Dances & Jamborees Across Kentucky"), the band is re-mobilizing in the fall of 2014 much to the excitement of many a Shack Shaker fanatic. Despite the group’s time off, their reputation for intensity has stuck with them.
On stage, JD has been compared to the likes of Iggy Pop, David Byrne, and Jerry Lee Lewis. The Nashville Scene named Wilkes “the best frontman in Nashville” in 2002, while former Dead Kennedys frontman Jello Biafra has called JD “the last great Rock and Roll frontman.” Having joined the band in early 2012, garage blues guitar player Rod Hamdallah--who also lends his prowess to Wilkes's side project ‘JD Wilkes and the Dirt Daubers'--is back in the Shack Shakers’ lineup. The rhythm section is rounded out with Brett Whitacre on drums and Mark Robertson thumping out the upright bass.
From Denver, Colorado comes Slim Cessna's Auto Club. Led by Slim Cessna himself, he and his band of old traditionalists have been around in one form or another since 1993. Performing in area dives and opening up shows for Johnny Cash, Cracker, and Kristen Hersh. The sound is classic country there's no doubt about it. Elements of rock and bluegrass seep through in the performance but this ain't no ya'll-ternative act--this music will have meaning for years to come. Slim delivers his lyrics with the fervor of a gospel choir. He explains, "I don't know if the Bible is true or not, but Jesus and Satan have becomes like family." SCAC just released their third recording "Always Say Please and Thank You" on Alternative Tentacles Records. So how does a country band find a home in a record company that is the starting place of the Butthole Surfers, Alice Donut and The Dead Kennedy's? Former Dead Kennedy front-man and Alternative Tentacles leader sums it up like this: "This is the country band that plays at the bar at the end of the world."
Quite simply, Dana Sipos' songs on Roll Up the Night Sky don't just touch upon the surface and fade away; they work their way into the fertile soil of one's heart and soul like the mighty roots of an ancient tree.
- No Depression
www.muddyrootsrecords.com
Get tickets: http://ticketf.ly/1CijunJ
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