Sodajerk profile picture

Sodajerk

The Replacements and Hank Williams meet at a bar..

About Me

Sodajerk is a band formed on one guiding principle: despite what may be coming out of the current Nashville scene, country music doesnt have to suck!
Sodajerk began in Pittsburgh with longtime friends Bucky Goldstein and Poppa John Tucker as an outlet for their shared love of 50's rockabilly, 60's country, 70's classic rock, 80's metal and early 90's college rock. They found that when they mashed the booze filled swagger of The Replacements with the tear-in-my-beer twang of Johnny Cash, something special happened....the Sodajerk sound was born.
The first record (1999's Can't Put You Down ) was almost entirely recorded by just the duo, and was greeted with warm reviews and high critical praise in their hometown, ultimately winning a spot on the Top Five Releases of 1999 by local press.
They followed with 2001's Unhappy Hour which continued the tradition, ending up on yet another Top 10 Releases of the Year list in Pittsburgh's press and leading to the bands involvement with festivals such as the Nashville New Music Conference and North By Northeast in Toronto. The end of 2001 brought them the honor of being chosen by Jim Beam as one of their 5 finalists in the Jim Beam National Backroom Band Search held in Nashville, of which Sodajerk ultimately placed second (not bad for some yanks!)
The winning streak continued in early 2002, as Sodajerk took top honors in the Grafitti Rock Challenge in Pittsburgh, a long running, yearly band competition, that in the past has seen the participation of such bands as Pittsburghs own Rusted Root and The Clarks. This led to the recording of the bands third record (2003's Brand New Low ) which landed the band in regular rotation on such AAA stations as 91.3 WYEP. It even found its way onto celebrated singer songwriter Jesse Malins website under the heading Fine Art: Top 25 Albums, alongside legends such as Wilco and Neil Young (were blushing now!)
The constant gigging in Pittsburgh and other cities on the east coast (Nashville, Toronto, Raleigh, Ocean City, Harrisburg) plus the opportunities they've had to share the stage with bands as diverse as The Jayhawks, Charlie Daniels, The Drive By Truckers, Reverend Horton Heat, Scott Miller, John Mellencamp, Wayne "The Train" Hancock, Bobby Bare Jr., Robbie Fulks, The Red Elvises, The Tarbox Ramblers, Montgomery Gentry, and even heavy hitters such as Nashville Pussy and Static X led to Bucky and Poppa Johns desire to capture more of their live sound on the next record, which ended up being simply titled Sodajerk , released in 2005. It's a raw rock n roll blast that immediately has found its way into regular rotation again on 91.3 WYEP (garnering 15 spins a week) and to the top of critics lists.
In 2005, the duo relocated to Atlanta with the intention of heavier gigging and touring. After rounding out the band with Ben Drankin on guitar and Blake Parris on bass, Sodajerk finished up work on their next record, "Sodajerk 2" for early 2007 release. With renewed vigor, the band intends to let everyone in the south and elsewhere know who Sodajerk is.
Whether its the country rock blast of "I Know You Will", the rootsy hook laden "Another Town" or the trip hop country masterpiece "Cow Hop", Sodajerk is a band that lives to challenge the stereotypes of all music. one Pittsburgh writer put it best, Its all you need for a night on the town.....or the end of the world!..

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My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 10/6/2004
Band Website: sodajerkcountry.com
Band Members: The Jerks:
Bucky Goldstein: Vocals, Guitar
"Poppa" John Tucker: Drums, Percussion, Vocals
Blake Parris: Bass
and Ben Drankin: Geetar
Influences: Johnny Cash, The Replacements, The Supersuckers, The Stones, 80's Metal, The Old 97's, Uncle Tupelo/Son Volt/Wilco, Tom Petty, Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly, Hank Williams.............
Sounds Like: The Replacements meets Hank Williams at a seedy dive bar
Record Label: Indie
Type of Label: None

My Blog

A Big Jerk Thank You!

Whew!  Three weeks, and two cities, and the Jerk is tired......but we couldn't be happier!  "Sodajerk 2" is officially out! We've got to raise our glasses to all the talented folks who helpe...
Posted by Sodajerk on Mon, 09 Apr 2007 01:44:00 PST

A proper "Hello"

Well, last night was the first official Atlanta debut of the new lineup of Sodajerk and all in all I gotta say it was a success!  Thanks to all who came out and supported and to Stovall and Ameri...
Posted by Sodajerk on Mon, 24 Jul 2006 04:51:00 PST

The Power of 2

So, a few years ago we had a show booked in Nashville......it was our then guitarist's second show with the band.  We broke down about 9 miles from Nashville......the van took a total dump on the...
Posted by Sodajerk on Tue, 04 Jul 2006 02:13:00 PST

1000 and counting!

Well, we surpassed the 1000 friends mark here on the old myspace, Whooooo!  Break out the party hats! Sodajerk has finally got it's act back together after the move south.  Unfortunately, Di...
Posted by Sodajerk on Sun, 25 Jun 2006 05:20:00 PST

The Jerk Update

hey folks......just ol' PJT here to let everyone know that the shows this weekend in atlanta and nashvegas went great......thanks to everyone involved and all those who came out and helped us rock the...
Posted by Sodajerk on Tue, 24 Jan 2006 08:55:00 PST

Alrighty then......

Well, it was a successful CD release, and thanks to all who attended! Bucky and I are not ready to rest on our laurels yet, so we've already started a new CD, which will lean a little more to the cou...
Posted by Sodajerk on Mon, 01 Jan 1900 12:00:00 PST

where to buy some jerk

in case you might be interested.....we currently have 3 cd's available, and one on the way. you can always get them at shows, or if you're local you can get 'em at eides, dave's music mine, paul's in...
Posted by Sodajerk on Mon, 01 Jan 1900 12:00:00 PST

nervous nellies

well, tonight marks the first show that i (PJT) and bucky will be doing all alone onstage. seems weird not having a full band onstage.....but not everyone's on the same page, all of the time. bucky ...
Posted by Sodajerk on Mon, 01 Jan 1900 12:00:00 PST