Funny, you’d never peg Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band as a Midwestern group. With its sparse, blues-rooted compositions of washboard, acoustic guitar, drums and vocals, the band’s music seems more at home in juke joints of the Mississippi Delta or the streets of Memphis.
And Reverend Peyton and his family band — wife Breezy on washboard and brother Jayme on a pared-down drum kit — have been there. The bluesy, percussive trio has recorded in Clarksdale, Miss., and it has played in Memphis. But its home — so to speak, as it’s rumored that the band lives in a van — is Indiana.
The Peyton brothers grew up in rural Indiana, where they inherited a love of music, booze and good times from their father, a construction worker. Of course that developed into a rock ‘n’ roll habit. And over the years, the band has developed an impressive following among fans and peers.
Its current tour, which has it at the Bluebird Theatre in Denver tonight, the Fox Theatre in Boulder on Saturday and the Belly Up in Aspen on Sunday, pairs the band with accordion man Jason Webley, a regular collaborator. It’s an exciting bill, and it’s only the warm-up to the seven weeks the Reverend will spend on the road with Flogging Molly in February and March.
The Post talked with the Reverend about his love of wine, friends and family.
Q: You guys are touring with Jason Webley, which makes for a truly unique bill of music. How exactly did you meet Jason and first hear his music?A: Greg Brenner, the promoter of Punk Rock Night in Indiana (at the Melody Inn in Indianapolis), introduced us. He wanted us to do a show with Jason, but we couldn’t swing it because we had a big festival gig that day. He said he would put us on the bill as a secret performer and not advertise our name so as to not upset the festival promoters. He wanted us to meet Jason and for Jason to meet us that bad. He knew we would hit it off, and he was right.
Q:You guys have played together before, but this is your first tour with Webley?A: This is actually our second. The first was when the record we made together sold out.
Q: You guys are road warriors. How many dates did you play in ’07?A: I am not exactly sure, but I know it was more than 200. I think this year it will be more than 250.
Q:And what’s this news of a Flogging Molly opening slot? How many dates and when? And how did that come about?A: Flogging Molly saw us play in Milwaukee at Summerfest when a promoter there put us on the bill with them. We ended up friends, and they invited us out to do a few shows earlier this year. They went so well that now we are going to be doing seven weeks with them! They are such great people and great musicians. We really look up to them and admire their work ethic and the way they treat other people.
Q:Tell me the story behind “Two Bottles of Wine,” the song you guys play with Webley. Did wine have anything to do with the creation of the song?
A: The first verse is about my brother. He told Jason a story about how he took a girl on a picnic, and before he knew it, she had drunk two bottles of wine, and started speaking Afrikaans. He didn’t even know she spoke Afrikaans. Jason said, “Hey man, you told me that story before, only it was German,” and Jayme said, “No, that was a different girl.” True story, and both of them actually happened. The second verse is about a guy we met on tour in Italy. It seems that wine is kind of a universal language!
Q:You play in a band with your wife and your brother. What days are the best for you all — a modern family band — and what days are the hardest?
A: I don’t know. I mean, like everyone else, I guess it is easiest when things are going well and everything works. It is hard when it doesn’t! We argue like anyone does, but I think being a family makes it a lot easier to tour. I couldn’t imagine being stuck in a van for eight hours a day with anyone else.
Q:It’s the beginning of a new year. What are your goals? Your resolutions? Your hopes?A: I want to do everything we did last year, but more and better. Our new record is better, and I can’t wait for its release. We are gonna play more shows, play in front of more people and spread the Big Damn word farther.
Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band.
Punk-blues. Bluebird Theatre. Tonight with Jason Webley and Get Three Coffins Ready. 8:30 p.m. $10-$12; Fox Theatre, Boulder. Saturday with Webley. 9 p.m. $10; The Belly Up, Aspen. Sunday with Webley. 10 p.m. $5-$7. .
Ricardo Baca: 303-954-1394 or rbaca@denverpost.com
3 More Concerts
Kingdom of Magic. It’s rare that demos crack critics’ year-end top 10 lists, but this Denver metal band’s mighty two-song sampler landed on quite a few in the last month. Catch the Magic tonight (with To Be Eaten, Hexen, the Swindlers and Malfeur) at the 3 Kings Tavern.
Roger Green. His new half-covers, full-length “Clear Running Water” is a triumph. (Read The Denver Post’s profile on Green at .) And the singer-songwriter will celebrate its release tonight at the Hi-Dive. Others playing: Bad Weather California, Joseph Childress and Wymond & the Brethren of the Free Spirit.
Mark Darling. People are still talking about Mark Darling’s sets at 2007’s Denver Post Underground Music Showcase, and for good reason. His sets were the rage, and as he put out his literate pop-folk music, a loud, obnoxious bar became something of a sanctuary. Darling’s local shows are few and far between, so catch this excellent, sometimes-local songwriter while you can — Saturday at the Lion’s Lair with Bela Karoli and Birds & Batteries.
Ricardo Baca
