An Evening With Reverend Peyton

Finally. Thursday night at the Sellersville Theater I got to see Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band. We’ve done several posts on them, first back around 2010 when ‘The Wages’ album came out. It’s been a long wait for a live show that I could get to. Summation of the show: great music, great performance, non-stop energy, absolutely worth the wait and I’d go see them again if they were back tomorrow. Crazy full live sound for a band with only one melodic instrument. This is the type of music I’ve really fallen in love with. Rev Peyton’s set up is simple – a guitar goes to an amp. No pedals, or extra electronics added. He plays mostly vintage guitars. Then you add Breezy Peyton on the washboard and Max Senteney on a small drum kit and make an amazingly full sound. They added a little more at the end of the show by having opening act J.D. Wilkes join them on butt kicking harmonica.

And they’re the kind of act you have to see live, especially at a more intimate venue. Loads of fun and personality. Audience participation requested and required. Non stop energy throughout the show. A good time is had by all. Stripping away instrumentation and effects makes it feel raw. It’s the total opposite of computer perfect songs and for me that makes the music feel alive. Blues you can head bang to. The Rev goes though multiple guitars from vintage resonators to three string cigar box, often switching guitars during songs.

Some photos:

I don’t really do phone videos when I’m at shows. I’m adding a couple of live videos that have much better quality than I would get. They’re two songs I really like, ‘Clap Your Hands’ and ‘Front Porch Trained’.

If you ever have the opportunity to see Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band live, grab a ticket when you can. You won’t be disappointed. I’d also say if you find a band you love, support them. Go to the shows, buy some CDs and merch (the Rev has some cool T-shirts). This band plays about 250 shows a year without a big label record contract. And puts out total energy each show. This is the kind of band that deserves support.

November Grapevine

I’m finding that sometimes the monthly grapevine songs fall in to a similar theme or style. I don’t know if it’s due to the mood I’m in, the weather, or just sheer luck. That seems to have happened this month. Or it could be my imagination………..or the voices……….ummmmmmm…… sorry got off track there (feel free to comment on similarities you see). Anyway, off we go…

First Up:

Saron Van Etten – ‘Memorial Day’

Nothing cheers me up more on a cold, rainy day than a good drone. Yes, I’m serious. I like the simple drums. The drone buzz here is carried by the fuzzed out bass. The keyboards have their own repeating rifts with a nice piece of droning noise in the background. The vocals play off of this, floating on top. And you get to see how it’s generated live. Always cool to visually see how parts go together. Putting all the relatively simple pieces together in their own little orbits makes the sound mesmerizing.

Next up:

The Willows – ‘False Light’

I liked the mix of sounds on this one. It’s built on a ‘folk’ feel. But it has the electric guitar layering in the background with a lot of sustain and reverb as well as a more standard drum kit. Although not truly a ‘live’ video, you do get shots of matched performance footage so you can see what/how people are playing. I like the banjo player playing it more like a guitar with a regular guitar pick style. Banjo is often thought of only in terms of bluegrass and it’s interesting seeing it put to different use.

Finally:

Baskery – ‘Wanna Tattoo’

So we have another video of what I call ‘matched performance’ playing along to the recorded song. I really liked the song when I first heard it. I’ve been in to good ol’ swampy blues music from Creedence Clearwater Revival, though The Gun Club and The Immortal Lee County Killers. So this simple, buzzy thump caught my ear. Then I saw this video. Now it’s even more fun. Fuzz on the double bass! Floor pedaled kick and snare! A six string banjo with distortion and slide (while playing the foot drums)! Recording wise, just enough reverb on the vocals and all the instruments are crystal clear. Now that’s a party.

Adding some retro:

Echo And The Bunnymen – ‘All That Jazz’

Sometimes I’m listening to an album I’ve heard a million times before and I have that little flashback of why I loved it in the first place and why it still sounds great. This song is from Echo And The Bunnymen’s first album ‘Crocodiles’. Starting with simple riffed bass and drums with vocals, it explodes in to heavily trebled guitar, drops back down and starts all over again. The vocals match the intensity of the parts being played. I did a lot of recording where I was working for that whip crack snare sound. Even the bass has a good amount of attack on it. All the components have their own clear space in the mix. This album will never grow old for me.

Messin’ With The Music Part 4 – Ballroom Blitz

So it’s time to throw another tune on the fire. We kept the same setup for this endeavor: same mic through the same pre-amp and compressor right in to the board – do the tracks straight through. To do what we wanted to with this song, we did add a few more tracks. So as you listen you’ll hear: 12 string guitar, 2 mandolin tracks, six string banjo (‘banjitar’ if you must), 5 string banjo, bass, washboard, tambourine, and cajon. We wanted to keep the fun feel so we tracked a bunch of vocals.

Soooooo………what does that give you? Our version of ‘Ballroom Blitz’ by The Sweet. I always thought the idea of Glam was over the top fun. Absolutely, wonderfully ridiculous. (If by some weird space/time issue you haven’t heard the original you must check it out). Hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we enjoyed making it.

You can listen here on SoundCloud too:

In the Studio – Episode 7

Currently, in the studio, we are “messin’ with the music”… essentially taking songs we know, like, or think we can do in a unique way and most of all, having fun. While we do write originals, and have several in the pipeline, we like doing this as a source of creativity with a little less pressure (at least in our minds). We have some songs that we have messed with and are looking to get those up soon. Well, we won’t waste your time outlining what is in the video, take a look, and as usual, if you like it give it a thumbs up and subscribe. Drop us a line if you want to see more!