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Worthless Son-in-Laws

All day every day.

About Me


"The Worthless Son-in-Laws fuse their laid-back roots sound with the jangle pop sounds of NC band the dB's and Chris Stamey, while also recalling Son Volt and possibly a hint of the Decemberists."--Shout Magazine
Basic description: Indie-rock/alt-country from the mountains of Western North Carolina. The Worthless Son-in-Laws blend truck-driving rockers with pastoral daydream soundtracks and meditative, melody-laden pop songs. Isn’t that nice?
Bio: The Worthless Son-in-Laws are a Boone, North Carolina-based band formed in the wee hours of 2004. You could call their music New South Underground, or say their long and diverse musical histories inform a mixture of acoustic indie rock, electric southern rock, American roots music, and 80's punk and 90's pop rhythms. But that might make you think they were Kansas. Really, it’s more like XTC sharing a VW mini-bus with Uncle Tupelo. Or early REM grafted onto Lynyrd Skynyrd. Or Joni Mitchell ghostwriting the autobiography of Little Feat.
The Worthless Son-in-Laws recently played at Merlefest 2007. Merlefest director Claire Armbruster wrote on the Merlefest discussion boards: “I think that the hot new bands for 2007 [include]...the Worthless Son-in-Laws....They’ve all just knocked my socks off.” There was no mention of the suitcase full of unmarked bills. The Son-in-Laws also play around the Carolinas and sometimes in Tennessee. They have a CD called “Sort of Back to Having a Life.”
Jimmy Davidson (acoustic guitar/vocals) and Rob Brown (electric guitar/vocals) write songs about working at a t-shirt shop and Mississippi highways and weddings and antique televisions. Jimmy writes about work, mostly, and flips through Bryan Garner’s Dictionary of Modern American Usage for inspiration, while Rob’s muse is his latent desire to be a truck driver (he is, in truth, a university professor). Rich Crepeau (bass guitar, PhD) plays bass and writes a sinister country-punk number his own self now and then. And, he’s on the Boone Board of Adjustment. Aaron Cummings (drums) plays drums and the Star Wars version of Trivial Pursuit. His dog’s name really is Wompa. As long as we’re talking drums and dropping names, Jimmy used to play drums and guitar with songwriter Vic Chesnutt. Toy drums. The Worthless Son-in-Laws like Gram Parsons a lot. They can’t agree on much else. Except that pretty much anytime is a good time to have dessert. But, duh.

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 11/8/2005
Band Website: soninlaws.com
Band Members: Rob Brown: Electric guitar, vocals
Rich Crepeau: Bass guitar, vocals
Aaron Cummings: Drums
Jimmy Davidson: Acoustic guitar, vocals
Influences: Rob listens to:
Ry Cooder; Buddy Miller; Lowell George; Dickey Betts; Duane Allman; John Hiatt; Son Volt; Louis Armstrong; Robert Johnson; Dave Desmelik; Muddy Waters; Howlin' Wolf; Mack Starks; Charley Patton; North Mississippi Allstars; Buck Owens; Drive By Truckers; Uncle Tupelo; Gram Parsons; Jelly Roll Morton; Dr. John; Wild Magnolias; Cary Hudson and Blue Mountain; D'Gary; James McMurtry; The Meters;
Rich listens to:
Sloan; Nick Lowe; The dBs; Mitch Easter; Robyn Hitchcock; The Kinks; Pavement; Del Amitri; The Waterboys; Dr. Feelgood; The Plimsouls; The Beat (both of them, dammit!); Television; TV on the Radio; Pere Ubu; The Carpenters; Iggy Pop; Cheezy 80s L.A. Surf Punk; Luna; Dave Edmunds; Kate Bush; Old School English Punk/New Wave; X; XTC;and death matches between himself and Anais Nin.
Aaron listens to:
Paul Simon: Ryan Adams; Marc Ribot; The Klazz Brothers.
Jimmy listens to:
Joanna Newsom; Mack Starks; Twinstar; Mark McAdam; Vic Chesnutt; Lambchop; the Clean; Danielle Howle; Tim Easton; Mark Eitzel; American Music Club; Lucinda Williams; the Sundays; Let's Active; Son Volt; Joni Mitchell; Cocteau Twins; Suddenly, Tammy; Kristin Hersh; Dominique A, Francoiz Breut; Victoria Williams; Creedence Clearwater Revival; Vivaldi; Blue Oyster Cult; Public Enemy; Jane Siberry; David Kilgour; Mull Historical Society; De La Soul; Digable Planets; Wilco; Elbow; Rain Parade; Chris Stamey; Coldplay; Beth Orton; R.E.M; Sparklehorse; Gillian Welch and David Rawlings; Tom Waits; Thornetta Davis; a fir-ju well; the Chameleons (UK); Bob Dylan; Matt Pond PA; our other myspace friends, except the ones who spammed us but whom we accepted as friends anyway because we weren't 100% sure; a million other things I can't think of at the moment, and all that same old new wave dreck that Rich likes.

Sounds Like: "The Worthless Son-in-Laws fuse their laid-back roots sound with the jangle pop sounds of NC band the dB's and Chris Stamey, while also recalling Son Volt and possibly a hint of the Decemberists."--Shout Magazine
One or more of us probably wish we sounded like:
Ry Cooder; Lowell George; Dickey Betts; Duane Allman; John Hiatt; Liberace; Sloan; Nick Lowe; The dBs; Robyn Hitchcock; The Kinks; Pavement; Del Amitri; The Waterboys; Dr. Feelgood; The Plimsouls; The Beat; Television; Pere Ubu; Iggy Pop; Cheezy 80s L.A. Surf Punk; Luna; Dave Edmunds; Kate Bush; Old School English Punk/New Wave; X; XTC; Paul Simon: Ryan Adams; Marc Ribot; The Klazz Brothers; Son Volt, Nick Drake, Rain Parade, the dB's, Chris Stamey, the Alt-country Chipmunks Christmas Album; Joanna Newsom; Mack Starks; Twinstar; Mark McAdam; Vic Chesnutt; Lambchop; the Clean; Danielle Howle; Tim Easton; Mark Eitzel; American Music Club; Lucinda Williams; the Sundays; Let's Active; Son Volt; Joni Mitchell; Cocteau Twins; Suddenly, Tammy; Kristin Hersh; Dominique A, Francoiz Breut; Victoria Williams; Creedence Clearwater Revival; Vivaldi; Blue Oyster Cult; Public Enemy; Jane Siberry; David Kilgour; Mull Historical Society; De La Soul; Digable Planets; Wilco; Elbow; Rain Parade; Chris Stamey; Coldplay; Beth Orton; R.E.M; Sparklehorse; Gillian Welch and David Rawlings; Tom Waits; Thornetta Davis; a fir-ju well; the Chameleons (UK); Bob Dylan; Matt Pond PA; and our other myspace friends, except the ones who spammed us but whom we accepted as friends anyway because we weren't 100% sure. On LSD.
Record Label: none
Type of Label: None

My Blog

Show at the French Broad this evening...

This show will be Rob and Jimmy playing as a duo. EARLY SHOW (5:30-8:00 PM) Please join us after work in Asheville at one of the coolest beer joints around. We will try to keep Rob focused on his gui...
Posted by Worthless Son-in-Laws on Wed, 26 Mar 2008 08:43:00 PST

WSiLs in Asheville Friday--Leap Day--Feb 29th--Root Bar

Greetings, Friends, Romans, Countrypeople: The Worthless Son-in-Laws will be playing some songs this Friday, February 29, 2008 at The World Famous Root Bar 1 in Asheville, NC. (1410 Tunnel Road (take...
Posted by Worthless Son-in-Laws on Thu, 28 Feb 2008 12:41:00 PST

WSL in Americana UK Radios top ten

For whatever it's worth, the Worthless Son-in-Laws made it into Americana UK Radio's top ten for the week of Oct 14-21, 2007.  "Linville Creek" was one of the number 1 songs for the week.&nb...
Posted by Worthless Son-in-Laws on Tue, 23 Oct 2007 08:06:00 PST

CD for sale--Sort of Back to Having a Life

Just so's you knows, our CD Sort of Back to Having a Life is available for sale at CDbaby.com and bandvillage.com.  It is also available at iTunes and several other digital download places.&...
Posted by Worthless Son-in-Laws on Mon, 22 Oct 2007 07:40:00 PST

Friend requests from bands

We do like to be friends with bands and musicians, because there are many cool bands and musicians on myspace, but if you are a musician or in a band, and you want to be added as our myspace...
Posted by Worthless Son-in-Laws on Tue, 16 Oct 2007 07:51:00 PST

WSGE

WSGE in Dallas, NC, has been playing our CD.  You can listen online at http://917fm.org/radio/.
Posted by Worthless Son-in-Laws on Fri, 05 Oct 2007 04:59:00 PST

e-mail list, summer shows, etc.

JOIN our e-mail list: If you would like to be reminded about upcoming shows, please sign up for our mailing list--send an e-mail to [email protected]. Summer is pretty much here, and we are doing som...
Posted by Worthless Son-in-Laws on Tue, 10 Jul 2007 11:43:00 PST

y'all tube

You've got nothing better to do, as evidenced by the fact you're reading our blog, so check out a few Worthless Son-in-Laws videos that are up on YouTube.  Click here....
Posted by Worthless Son-in-Laws on Wed, 27 Jun 2007 08:09:00 PST

WSL Merlefest Performances online

In case you couldn't be there, a couple of performances by the Worthless Son-in-Laws at Merlefest 2007 are online at mvyradio.com. Americana Stage Friday morning (with whole band) Songwriter's Co...
Posted by Worthless Son-in-Laws on Mon, 30 Apr 2007 07:12:00 PST

Mastered music

We've finally gotten our music mastered.  We don't know why it didn't happen sooner.  Oh -- wait -- yeah....  It cost a pretty penny.Rich
Posted by Worthless Son-in-Laws on Mon, 09 Apr 2007 08:53:00 PST