Bands in the southeastern United States have caused a resurgence in regionalism during the past decade or so. Sweet Six Bullets, an up and coming rock sextet from the podunk town of Belton, South Carolina, feel they are up to the task of pushing the idea of regionalism to the limit. Culled from many years of living in a rural town that served as ground zero for field parties and bottles aimed directly at road signs, SSB take their big sound from the small front lines.
While other bands in upstate South Carolina may try to dodge the southern rock label, the guys behind SSB could care less. If southern rock means things get loud, dirty, and entertaining, then SSB happily fit that bill. They are southern and they play rock music. If their fans labeled their band dogshit and still listened and loved it, SSB would be happy to smear that label all over their drum kits and guitars.
That's three canine fesces-covered guitars to be exact. In the tradition of other famous rock acts from the south, SSB employs its own three axe attack, with Nathan Payne, Bradley Escoe, and Jon Bowser all showcasing their talents on guitar. Casey Cook and Adam Evatt provide the backbone of the band's sound on bass and drums, respectively, while Robbie Cox brings his vocals and the occasional banjo to the mix.
The band is not overly technical. When blunt force simplicity causes more of a reaction from the crowd than playing a guitar with a violin bow, SSB go that route. This is not to say the band happily, routinely screws up night-to-night. Each bandmate is willing to greet the other with a devastating throat punch backstage in the event of a missed solo or lyric. Escoe and Evatt don't sing for this very reason; weeks of consecutive throat punches have caused them to completely lose their voices.
Cook, Cox, Evatt, Escoe, Bowser, and Payne have a long history together, mostly playing sold out dates in Cox's own basement. Bookended by Natural Light can towers and born from a haze of smoke, the sound has evolved into something that now entertains not only the band members but everyone within earshot. SSB invites you to slap any label on them, so long as you come back to "have another round."
Michael Staton, Podunk Writer
twenty-five for five
