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!..