- The Dirt Daubers
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bio: As a harmonica player, “Colonel” J.D. Wilkes has recorded his raw, country-blues style for everyone from Merle Haggard to Mike Patton, Hank Williams III to John Carter Cash. His blues harp can even be heard howling on the Grammy-nominated True Blood soundtrack, featuring his own Legendary Shack Shakers. However, J.D. has recently decided to unplug and get back to the bare bones of his proud, musical passion by forming a group that history books will forever emblazon as The Dirt Daubers! Mixing acoustic rockabilly, blues, jazz and country into a thrilling Frankenstein hybrid, J.D. and the Dirt Daubers (named after the southern slang term for a stingless wasp that builds mud-clumps in the corners of old barns) are even prouder to debut their new album, Wake Up, Sinners, a collection of raw originals and covers, recorded together in real time… in a big, live, open room… “The Real Man way!” Along the way, J.D., wife Jessica, and bassist Mark Robertson musically alternate between the sounds of a steady-rollin’ porch jam and a parading Salvation Army band… all while maintaining a cool cohesion that sidesteps the pretensions that “folk music” has gathered along the way. No, you won’t find the blasé strains of ennui here. This is ornery, full-throated American music sung from the gut and shot from the hip. From the crooked, Gothic hymn of “Wayfaring Stranger” to the Coney Island dream of “She and Us Pets,” the band knits together a patchwork of vivid American imagery… topping it off with a none-toosubtle, acoustic-sonic sucker punch. On their rollicking homage to working-class heroes, “Trucks, Tractors and Trains,” the sounds of J.D.’s harmonica buzz in the breaks between his old school clawhammer banjo. But Jessica holds her ground, belting out fiery lyrics over the Hot Jazz jangle of “Get Outta My Way.” And the wooden thump of Mark’s “bull fiddle” takes a wild turn in the Gospel rave-up “The Devil Gets His Due.” Altogether it’s a spanky, good time mess! Other songs, such as “Can’t Go to Heaven” recount real stories of real people. From the opening sound of distant thunder, you are instantly swept into the dramatic, TRUE tale of the mysterious John Akin, a misunderstood bogeyman from the deep woods of Kentucky. And the ghostly polka of Jessica’s original “Be Not Afraid” is a tribute to her grandmother, whose memories of a bygone time are hauntingly recounted to bittersweet effect. With their first ever performance having taken place at London’s Raindance Film Festival, (after J.D. premiered his critically acclaimed southern-music documentary Seven Signs…featuring the aforementioned Akin), The Dirt Daubers have proven themselves to be multi-media moguls. Add to that the tag of “radio darlings,” since they have graced the stages of such fine programs as the Red Barn Radio Show, The Blue Plate Special and Music City Roots, broadcast over Nashville’s legendary WSM-AM, “The Air Castle of the South!” Beyond that, the Dirt Daubers have gained the encouragement and approval of such varied stars as Les Claypool, the late Charlie Louvin, and Jello Biafra! With friends like these in their corner, the Daubers are off to set the world on fire with their brand new record: Wake Up, Sinners! A song, an album, an ORDER! Release Date: 9/13/11
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