Lightning Rod

About a year ago I had a Borders coupon burning a hole in my pocket. Naturally I felt the need to spend money to save money; the age old trap of capitalism. Those of you who know me understand that I consume music. I download hundreds of podcasts just to spend hours on the hunt for new quality music. That being the case this coupon didn’t mean a book, this meant music. As always I made a beeline for the blues section. I had planned to get some John Lee Hooker, Gary Davis or Taj if they had something I didn’t. Instead I saw something new: Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band. What a name.

I immediately looked it up on my phone and found this Youtube video and watched it in the store.

This CD was obviously going home with me. Within a few months I had 3 albums and kept the Reverend in heavy rotation on my iPod. Fast forward about a year. I’m standing at the V Club in a crowd including skinny jean hipsters and punk rockers shouting a gospel song. Surreal indeed. That’s when I realized this band I had discovered by accident was much much more than I had anticipated. It was a lightning rod. It attracts very diverse individuals.

I had come at the band from the country blues angle. Country blues takes up a large chunk of real estate on my iPod. I listen to a LOT of Taj Mahal, Reverend Gary Davis, Lead Belly, Big Bill Broonzy, Son House, John Lee Hooker, Alvin Youngblood Heart, Guy Davis, Levon Helm and various artists who blend American roots music in a meaningful way. Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band appeals to that in me.

But there’s so much more to the music that it draws from a diverse fan base. And that’s why I think it’s a lightning rod. As much as this music is blues it’s also rockabilly. It’s also punk. It’s also country. It’s also rock and roll. I was actually caught off guard by this because I simply don’t think in those terms anymore. Quality music is quality music. It suddenly dawned on me that this was an evolutionary step when the crowd screamed Mama’s Fried Potatoes in unison.

The energy on stage was like how I’d imagine a Howlin’ Wolf show would be in his prime. When he crawled on the stage, danced, licked his harp provocatively, howled and swung the mic from his crotch. That much energy packed on a small stage in a crowded bar. It was electric. The Reverend kicked cymbals off the drums and played slide with a harp while his wife Breezy set her washboard on fire. If the blues is to survive in a meaningful form it will be this one. While people like Guy Davis are performing fresh renditions of previous blues forms, it needs to change to appeal to an audience. Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band does this. It also brings blues into the 21st century with songs that talk about Wal Mart killing mom and pop shops and PVCs in catfish. The Wolf said, “any time you thinking evil you got the blues.”

I had said all this before but it became tangible last night. Like a physical realization of an idea I’ve felt. All it took was a room full of people with diverse backgrounds and musical tastes excitedly shouting along with their fists in the air to blues with teeth. My appreciation is great. I’ve been to too many blues concerts full of old white hippies sitting still in seats as the blues masters come out and perform for a crowd that taps their foot at best. This is a much needed shot in the arm of the genre but it also transcends it; infusing a variety of styles into something new with the soul of Lead Belly and the heart of Johnny Cash.

If you’d like to see the whole photo set from this show check out my Flickr.

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~ by Justin on February 19, 2011.