Sickstring Outlaws
But Seriously Folks
by Eli J. Medellin
Photography by Nick Abadilla
T
hey’ve been described as rootin’ tootin’, knee slapin’,
super fun, rugged, dope smokin’, beer drinkin’, ass kickin’
hellraisers.
They’re professional musicians with years of experience in
each and every member, yet, they have the look of drunken,
disorderly conductors of country chaos.
Their music is a mixture of country with a rock n’ roll edge. Their
last CD, “Johnny Drank Jack,” is a tribute to all of the band’s
influences such as Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, and Willie Nelson.
Their upcoming release, “Electric Moonshine,” is a tribute to Popcorn
Sutton, an American Appalachian moonshiner who wrote a selfpublished autobiographical guide to moonshine production, and
self-produced a home video depicting his moonshining activities. He
was later the subject of a documentary that won a Regional Emmy
Award. He committed suicide in 2009 rather than reporting to
Federal prison after being convicted of offenses related to moonshine
production.
I met with members of the Sickstring Outlaws at their favorite hole
in the wall near Vista, California. As we sat down to start their very
first interview, my first question for them was, “have you guys ever
performed at a tractor-pull?”
“No,” said Sick founder Ron Houston, “but we did play inside a pit
bull dog’s chain-link pen once.” No strangers to unusual requests, the
band once played a funeral.
“We drove all the way to Bakersfield to do this funeral reception,”
said Sick bass player Drew Zollo. “Ron tried to work in songs like ‘I
More on Marvin “Popcorn” Sutton
It’s called “likker” in the hills and hollers of Appalachia, and for years Marvin “Popcorn” Sutton bootlegged his likker, his Tennessee white liquor
before committing suicide following his conviction for distilling spirits and possession of a firearm in federal court. The Scots-Irishman descended
from a long line of moonshiners and considered moonshiner part of his cultural heritage. Though that defense