What happens when a couple of veteran LA-based musicians from Arkansas and Texas get together with some friends to play some of the Willie and Waylon music they grew up with? Throw in some Stones, Gram Parsons and a little ZZ Top and you’ve got the Sin City All Stars!
Who are they? Here’s the pocket guide to this collection of seasoned studio and touring musicians who came to be the core house band at Los Angeles' famed Sweethearts of the Rodeo events.
Spawning a resurgence of the So. Cal. Country-rock tradition, the six year Sweethearts of the Rodeo run culminated in the epic ‘Gram Parsons: Return To Sin City’ concert that saw the band opening for and backing up artists including Keith Richards, Norah Jones and Steve Earle.
From the opening thunder of ‘Six Days On The Road’ to the final chord of ‘Wild Horses,' the Sin City All Stars show runs the country gamut from outlaws such as Waylon Jennings to maverick traditionalists such as Johnny Cash, West Coast legends such as Buck Owens, pioneering genre-crossers such as Gram Parsons and of course the world's greatest country band, The Rolling Stones.
The ringmaster in this circus of mayhem is BRYSON JONES (The Snakehandlers), whose Southern wit, sarcasm and charm “give the night’s proceedings a profane rock edge†(Details, December 2002).
Denfather/bassist/producer/engineer DUSTY WAKEMAN (whose credits include Dwight Yoakam, Buck Owens, Lucinda Williams and Jim Lauderdale, among others) serves as musical director; his job is ‘to keep this thing from spinning completely out of control.'
Also featuring vocalist/acoustic guitarist JONNY KAPLAN (the outfit's SoCal country-rock and hippie-country specialist), the Sin City All Stars are rounded out by drummer DAVE RAVEN (who’s played on hundreds of records and toured with artists from Carlene Carter to Nancy Sinatra); pedal steel virtuoso CHRIS LAWRENCE (Mike Ness Band, Gary Allan); hot guitar slinger JOEL 'EASY PICKENS' SIGERSON (The Snakehandlers) and keyboardist/accordionist CARL 'KINGSNAKE' BYRON (Spencer Davis Group, Young Dubliners, Bo Diddley).
We also have some honorary All Stars — friends who’ve been known to show up on stage: Doug Pettibone (Lucinda Williams, Jewel, Tracy Chapman); Keith Gattis (who not only fronts his own band but lends his chops to Dwight Yoakam as well); Al Perkins (Flying Burrito Bros., Dolly Parton, Stephen Stills' Manassas); the legendary James Burton (Elvis, Ricky Nelson); Albert Lee (Emmylou Harris); Skip Edwards (Dwight Yoakam, Johnny Rivers) and Jesse Dayton.
Special Guest Artists have included Keith Richards, Dwight Yoakam, Lucinda Williams, Jim Lauderdale, Anne McCue, John Doe, Steve Earle, Michelle Shocked, Charlie Louvin, Kathleen Edwards, Raul Malo, Jay Farrar, Jim James (My Morning Jacket), Ryan Hedgecock (Lone Justice), Kasey Chambers, Rosie Flores, James Intveld, Jessi Colter, and Shooter Jennings, among other notables.
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