The Rattlesnake
Rattlers
T
by Benjamin Nunnally
he eight members of the Rattlesnake Rattlers are
practicing, gathered around in a big sort of circle
— or as close as you can get in a small room with
eight musicians — hollering out “Jerry the Junker,” one of
their blue-collar covers from the early 1900s. Like much of
the music the band plays, the song has a laugh at misery
and the blues.
The band is releasing a music video for their song “What a
Shame” on Oct. 29 at the Peerless in Anniston, and it continues their tradition of having fun with trouble, even though
the song itself has a serious sound.
“It’s basically about the end of the world. It’s about struggle
and trying to have faith and believing — and then the world
comes to a fiery end,” said guitarist and singer Jody Wood,
who wrote the song. The assembled band members — Wood,
guitarist and singer Micah Dempsey, bassist Trevor Stewart,
banjoist Kevin Brown, mandolinist Ian Nelson, washboard
30
October 2016
INSIGHT