New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Jonny Two Bags,
Jesse Dayton and Scott H. Biram are a trio of Americana luminaries whose hard-earned reputations have come from years of staying true to themselves and not following the crowd. Biram's explanation of his own sound — "the bastard child of punk, blues, country, hillbilly, bluegrass, chain gang, metal, and classic rock" — can also serve to describe what
Jesse Dayton and Jonny Two Bags do. All three draw upon the deep well of American music to create songs steeped in tradition yet reflecting modern life. Considering the common musical ground that they trample, it's no surprise that these guys aren't strangers. Biram and Dayton have toured together and both have opened for Social Distortion, the band Jonny Two Bags has played guitar in for over a dozen years. Now these kindred spirits have banded together to give audiences a night of untamed, uncompromised rock 'n' roll.
Jonny Two Bags (a.k.a. Jonny Wickersham) came up through the Southern California punk rock scene, playing in local legends
Cadillac Tramps, Youth Brigade and U.S. Bombs before joining the preeminent punkabilly group
Social Distortion in 2000. After being
Social Distortion guitarist and co-writing several songs on their acclaimed Sex, Love and Rock 'n' Roll and Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes CDs, Wickersham finally made his solo debut with 2014's Salvation Town (Isotone/Thirty Tigers).
Produced by
David Kalish (Rickie Lee Jones), Salvation Town featured guests like Jackson Browne,
David Hidalgo (Los Lobos), Pete
Thomas (Elvis Costello), Greg Leisz (Lucinda Williams) and Grammy winner Gaby Moreno. Despite this star power, Wickersham drew critics' attention with his gritty, blue-collar rock. Terry Roland, in NoDepression.com, raved that it was "easily one of the best Americana albums of 2014 … it's a record that should make Ry Cooder proud." Jambands.com's Brian Robbins described the CD as "a roots rock masterpiece" and Rolling Stone included it among the 26 Albums of 2014 You Probably Didn't But Really Should Hear.
Scott H. Biram also was a Best Outlaw Male nominee and deservedly so because he isn't a man to follow conventions. This son of the Lone Star
State operates as a one-man band, using his guitars, a stompboard, gizmos and amplifiers to create raw, incendiary music that the
Houston Press called "a twisted hybrid of gutbucket, hillbilly and godless metal," while
Texas Music proclaimed it as country music "marinated in the blues, metal, punk, boogie and maybe battery acid."
After self-releasing several records, Biram found a home in 2006 with Bloodshot Records, which has put out five of his albums. His CD Bad Ingredients won "Best Blues Record" honors at the 2012 Independent
Music Awards. Biram's live shows, which mix revival meeting fervor with barroom revelry, have earned him a hardcore following. He says his fans are members of "The First Church of The Ultimate Fanaticism" and Biram has earned this type of fanaticism too. In 2003, he was severely injured in a crash with a big-rig truck, but he was back on stage a month later performing with an I.V. still hooked up his arm.
Jesse Dayton has a resume that most musicians would envy. The Beaumont, Texas-born guitarist has played with country greats
Waylon Jennings, Glen Campbell,
Johnny Cash and Kris Kristofferson as well as wild rockers the Supersuckers. Most recently, he filled in for an ailing Billy Zoom in X. Shock rocker-turned-filmmaker
Rob Zombie not only had Dayton work on the soundtracks for his movies Devil's Rejects and Halloween 2, but also had him create two fictitious bands, Banjo & Sullivan (for Devil's Rejects) and
Captain Clegg and the Night Creatures (for Halloween 2).
Dayton's own albums, put out on his proudly independent label Stag Records, find him expertly mining a gamut of country styles, be it honky tonk,
Texas Dance Hall or classic Nashville. He has even done an entire CD of fellow country music maverick Kinky Friedman's tunes. England's Mojo magazine raved that "not since
Steve Earle and
Dwight Yoakam emerged (has) country music launched a new artist this powerful" and earlier this year the Ameripolitan Awards honored him as "Best Outlaw Male." All three of these rock 'n' roll lifers aren't afraid to put their blood and sweat into their music, making their shows together a showcase of Americana mayhem that might not be for the faint of heart.
Tour dates:
Thur., Nov 3 KANSAS CITY, MO Riot Room *
Fri., Nov 4 ST. LOUIS, MO Old Rock House
Sat., Nov 5 CHICAGO, IL
Double Door
Sun. Nov 6 DETROIT, MI Majestic Café
Mon. Nov 7 CLEVELAND, OH Grog Shop
Tues. Nov 8 BUFFALO, NY Mohawk Place *
Wed., Nov 9 PHILADELPHIA, PA World Café
Thurs., Nov 10 ALLSTON, MA Brighton
Music Hall
Fri., Nov 11 PAWTUCKET, RI The Met
Sat., Nov 12 HAMDEN, CT The Space *
Sun. Nov 13 ASBURY PARK, NJ Wonder Bar
Mon., Nov 14 NEW YORK, NY Mercury Lounge
Tues. Nov 15 MILLVALE, PA Mr. Smalls Theatre
Wed., Nov 16 BALTIMORE, MD Ottobar *
Thur., Nov 17 CHAPEL HILL, NC Local 506
Fri., Nov 18 ATLANTA, GA Masquerade
Sat., Nov 19 NASHVILLE, TN Exit/In
Sun. Nov 20 MEMPHIS, TN Hi-Tone Café
* Jonny Two Bags and
Jesse Dayton only
https://jessedayton.com
https://scottbiram.com
https://www.jonnytwobags.com
