As a well-known musician around Oxford, Mississippi, you play in a couple of bands. What are they? Well my main band is Gunboat, second would be Jay Lang & The Devil’s Due, third is Dickey Do & The Don’ts, fourth would be First Blood Part II.
Who introduced you to the guitar? Who were some friends you grew up playing with? My father introduced me to the guitar. He played so there were always guitars lying around the house. He gave me my first guitar and my main guitar I play now was one of his. I grew up playing guitar with Bubba McCabe who is the bass player for Gunboat and the original bass player for Dickey Do & The Don’ts. We started playing at the exact same time. Ever since we were 12 and 13 we had plans to start a band together. I started playing with Harrison Smith when we were in High School. He was a freshman and I was a senior. Harrison is the Drummer for Gunboat. So really the friends I grew up with playing are in a band with me now. We all grew into performing live music together.
Gunboat appears to be more of a serious musical project. Is this so? We have been playing for almost ten years. We have never recorded an album and our performances are always loose, but that is the way we like it. I think the people who come to see Gunboat like it that way as well. Gunboat always has the potential to be serious. I think as we get older we have taken a new interest into seeing what we can do with it. There was always something getting in the way of Gunboat recording or touring. The band has finally decided to record and everyone does a much better job of clearing their schedule to play shows. I think when the album is done we will look into branching out of the South and spend a few weeks on the road.
I would deem Dickey Do one of Oxford’s favorite local bands. There’s more to your show than your music. Ya’ll put on an entire performance. Can you tell a little bit about the ‘get up’? Dickey Do has done WAY more than I thought it would ever do. It started with Austin Marshall, Jake Curtis, and I joking around about playing 90s country music. They happened to have a show that night with a band called Slim Chance & The Odd Beaters, so we said what the hell and learned three or four country songs.
We had so much fun doing that that we decided to go ahead and start a band as a joke. We knew we had to do it 100% so we all went out and bought full cowboy attire. It’s really funny to see six cowboy hats on stage.
How important is your stage presence when playing in both Gunboat and Dickey Do? It’s really crazy how different it feels on stage playing with Dickey Do as opposed to Gunboat. The energy level is crazy. Every time we play the bar is packed with people that know the songs you are playing. They all sing every song at the top of their lungs. With Dickey Do stage presence is very important but it is automatic. We always have such a good time playing and that affects the way we act on stage, can’t help but to give off the feeling that there is a party on stage. Gunboat is a whole other feeling. Gunboat has been playing for so long and we are so comfortable playing together that stage presence is not even worried about. One night you could see us almost have a meltdown from the tension we have on stage and other nights you may wait a couple of minutes between songs while we are all joking with each other on stage. Gunboat is a band not really worried about looking or acting too cool or even professional at times. We are really just four guys that are all really glad that we are still playing together after all these years.
How did Dickey Do & The Don’ts, The 4th Best Country Band in North Mississippi, come to that title? You will just have to come to a show to see why.
You were recently named one of Oxford’s Favorite Local Guitarists. Do you consider yourself among Oxford’s greats? I am glad it says favorite and not best, haha. I am honored to be recognized as an Oxford guitar player on any level. There are so so many guitar players in Oxford and they are all great in their own right. The local Oxford players are all unique and diversified. We are fortunate that we live in a town where on any given night you can go see a local guitar player add his or her flavor to the scene. I don’t consider myself as one of Oxford’s greatest but I will say I am one of the sloppiest, haha.
What would you say to new musicians in Oxford about booking gigs? I would say make friends with other bands. If it were not for other, more established bands, Gunboat would have had a much harder time getting into the scene. Oxford music scene is not the easiest to get into.
With Dickey Do & The Don’ts playing on Friday of Double Decker, what would you tell people who’ve never seen your show? What can they expect? Dickey Do is just an all-around good time. Just because it is 90s country music doesn’t mean you will have a bad time. You can expect solid gold country hits played by people that are having more fun than the crowd.
Explain to those who don’t know, what is a “cold gold”? 😉 Cold gold is an awful slang term for Miller Highlife. Please do not use it around me because I hate it, haha.
This article was published in The Local Voice #154 (April 19-May 3, 2012)…Click here to download the PDF of issue #154.
