The Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band

The Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band is actually not all that big -- just three Indiana folks who've been updating Great Depression-era Delta blues and yodel-country hardship hokum since the mid '00s. For a while, they all had the same last name: Kentucky Colonel guitarist Josh Peyton, his wife "Washboard" Breezy Peyton and Josh's brother Jayme Peyton banging the beat. Their current drummer (and bucketer) Aaron Persinger is merely a distant cousin, but the concept's the same: primal guitar and rhythmically insistent hoedowns, primarily concerning rural cuisine and poverty. Some typical song titles, from 2008's The Whole Fam Damnily: "Wal-Mart Killed the Country Store," "Why Is Everybody Getting Paid But Me," "Worn Out Shoe" (melodically based on that Reagan-era recession anthem "Born in the U.S.A."), "Can't Pay the Bill" (partially about not being able to afford medical insurance), "Mama's Fried Potatoes" and "Persimmon Song," the latter of which was supplemented by a pudding recipe on the CD cover. They play Rib Fests as well as the Warped Tour. And they stay on the road so much that they list their hometown as their van.