Blogaroo: Day 30: Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band

Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band is a country blues band from Brown County, Indiana, featuring J. Peyton on guitar, his wife, Breezy Peyton on washboard, and Aaron Persinger on drums.

While Rev. Peyton has played for the majority of his life, the band got its start once he graduated from high school. He played a party following the ceremony and awoke the next morning to an intense pain shooting through both hands. While doctors told Peyton that he’d never be able to hold his left hand in the fretting position again, years later a surgery at the Indiana Hand Center fixed him right up. Doctors removed a mass of scar tissue, Peyton met Breezy, and that was that.

Peyton’s love for the delta blues and Breezy’s passion for punk created a good ol’ boy, country sound that has remained popular among festival goers. While this is the band’s first Bonnaroo, in less than 10 years the group has played at Austin City Limits, Warped Tour and Telluride.

While the band has received offers from various blues labels, they remain independent, having found that they are able to sell more CDs at concerts than the companies have been able to market professionally.

Addam and I saw Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band at Allgood 2008 and Summer Camp 2010, but since we didn’t really get into them until our second show, we’re excited to see them again this year. They might not be as well-known as some of the festival’s headliners, (I think they may be one of the last bands listed in the line-up), but their shows are a good time. I encourage everyone lucky enough to have a ticket to make it out. (Have you bought one yet? They don’t sell tickets at the gate, and there’s only a few weeks left to get your wristbands!)

Take a look at Addam’s footage from Summer Camp last year and let me know what you think.

Maybe it’s my Virginia bias shining through, but can you imagine a better time? I’m telling you — you’re not living until you’ve seen the beautiful Breezy light her washboard on fire or sang with the booming voice of Rev. Peyton in a deep country twang. Yessir. I’ll take it.

Discography:

The Pork’n’Beans Collection (2004)
Voodoo Cook (2005)
Big Damn Nation (2006)
The Gospel Album (2007)
The Whole Fam Damnily (2008)
The Wages (2010)

Sounds Like:

Songs to Listen For:

Times at Roo: 0

Times I’ve Seen the Band: 2

“The hardware and the grocery have gone away, but they got low prices everyday. Three jobs go, they bring in two. What’s a working fella supposed to do?” — Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band, WalMart Killed the Country Store (2010).

Doc Hop

Dr. A.R. Hopkins