West.
“He really believed in us,” said Houston. “Without him, that wouldn’t
have happened at all.”
This is yet-to-be-released CD is the one they believe will take this
band over the top.
“This is the Hail Mary Pass,” said Zollo.
The last CD, “Johnny Drank Jack” had a great formula.
“We like to record in the studio like we do it live.” said Houston.
“Some people record their CDs to sound too robotic.”
Ron prides himself on being a great story teller. One of the songs on
the new CD is called “Sam Dupree.”
“I called it Sam Dupree because my dad’s name is Sam and Dupree
because it rhymes with misery, but it’s all fictional. You gotta play it
with a live feel and not be perfect,” said Ron.
*The story is loosely based on Ron’s cousin from Louisiana who
drowned in the bayou when he fell out of his boat*
Drew followed up with, “There’s a G chord, there’s a D chord and
there’s a C chord. Millions of musicians have played it - it’s how you
play it.”
He continued to tell about another new song called “Sounds Like
A Country Song.” He hated the song at first when Ron played it
for him. But when Drew’s brother Jimmy Zollo heard the song he
had the vision to see beyond the chords. They took the song into
the studio and let the others get into it and now Drew says it’s his
favorite.
“It’s the way you play it and the feeling that goes into it,” said Drew.
It’s the opening song on the new CD. Ron came up with it when he
threw up on a policeman’s boot during a drinking binge. “I may
never have gone to prison, but I went to jail that night,” he said.
Where the last CD mentions many of the band’s influences to gain
their fans’ favor, this new CD is on their own merit. “We got ‘em to
listen to who we are, now we’re going to show ‘em who we are,” said
Ron. “Although we sing about Popcorn Sutton, it’s all about us,” he
said.
Marc Desisto, who has worked with many well-known artists like
Roberta Flack, Glenn Fry, and Joe Cocker, is mixing and mastering
this CD. Also, Grammy- award winner Dennis Caplinger plays
fiddle and banjo on it.
Ron learned how he likes his mix from watching how it’s done on the
last recording. He was able to have more control on this latest studio
work.
“I already had the vision before going into the studio,” he said.
On the title track, guitarist Ben Zinn listened to the song on an mp4
that Ron gave him and came back to the studio with a slightly
different arrangement than Ron had planned.
“There’s a difference between playing it and arranging it,” said
Ron, “I thought this is going to sound like shit!”
After playing it as Zinn arranged it, the band was amazed
at how much better it was. Drummer Gavin Glen, the
introduced the song to the producers for the television
program “Moonshiners.” The show’s creative minds are
now considering the song as the new show opener.
Americans have celebrated outlaw culture since before
they were Americans. The Sickstring Outlaws embrace a
lifestyle and style of music indicative of that very mindset
- a mode of thinking that trances its ancestors from the
hills and hollers of Appalachia moonshine country to the
high desert plains and through the continuing narrative
line that connects Johnny Cash to Black Flag.
“If you wanna know exactly who Sickstring Outlaws are,
take a little bit of Merle Haggard, David Allen Coe, a little
bit of Black Flag, throw it in a blender, turn it on real high
for about five minutes and pour you a big ole ass glass of
Sickstring Outlaws”
www.thesickstringoutlaws.com
Boogie Magazine 5