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Purty Mouth

Camped up country-tonk

About Me

Purty Mouth, Seattle's slightly bent countrypolitan combo: a little Hedwig, a little Hee Haw, a lotta heart.

Starting in 2002, the Purty Mouth sound has evolved from an early cocktail of countrypolitan, costume and camp into a bracing shot of harmony, melody and dynamics, that respects Country & Western musical history while offering its own unique perspective on the tradition.
Performance
Purty Mouth has built a reputation in Seattle as a viable headliner, with shows at the Tractor Tavern, the High Dive, the Mars Bar, Jules Maes Saloon, the Blue Moon Tavern, and the Comet Tavern. Local acts sharing bills with Purty Mouth have included the Wakefields, Ruby Dee and the Snakehandlers, Miss Mamie Lavona the Exotic Mulatta and her White Boy Band, the Half Brothers, the Moondoggies, Brent Amaker & the Rodeo, Rocky Point All Stars, the Rainieroos, Grownup Trouble, the Bouchards, the Buttersprites, and many more.
In the summer of 2007 Purty Mouth began its first residency, performing the third Wednesday of each month at the Highway 99 Blues Club in downtown Seattle. The club and its owner, Ed Maloney, recognizing the band’s ability to appeal to varied audiences, have regularly transformed these Wednesday nights into special events: most recently a benefit for local charity Home Alive, sponsored by Fluevog shoes and Seattle Sound Magazine, and featuring a fashion show with local designers and burlesque performers (performing with the band no less). Other special events include benefits for the Dunshee House and the Rat City Rollergirls.
Seattle Sound Magazine has this to say about Purty Mouth: “There is something for everyone at a Purty Mouth show as long as you like fun and cowboys. And having fun with cowboys. Especially if you are another cowboy" (Seattle Sound Magazine, December 2007).
As support, Purty Mouth has proved itself as an exotic and entertaining opener for a wide array of national touring acts, including Neko Case, the Hidden Cameras, Momus, the Meat Purveyors, Carolyn Mark, El Vez, the Ditty Bops and more, as well as local acts from across the musical spectrum.
Other performance highlights include: appearing, in 2004, at the Freedom to Marry benefit WEDrock, in Washington D.C., where they shared the stage with Henry Rollins, Sandra Bernhardt, Bob Mould, and Hedwig creator John Cameron Mitchell; performing, June 2006, at Seattle GLBT Pride, at the Seattle Center's Mural Amphitheater; and, during the summer of 2007, hitting the local festival circuit, performing at Seattle's Fremont Fair, Fremont Oktoberfest, the Bite of Seattle, Hempfest, and Portland's BearTown MusicJam.
On the Web
www.purtymouth , www.myspace.com/purtymouth, electronic press kit at www.sonicbids.com/purtymouth .
Music
Purty Mouth's ever-expanding program consists of originals by Graham, Mikey & Alyssa, with covers drawn from the catalogs of Kirsty MacColl, Highway 101, the Ramones, Wanda Jackson, Tammy Wynette, Jackie DeShannon, the Kendalls, the Beatles and Gram Parsons, with nods to the Nashville and Hedwig and the Angry Inch soundtracks.
Featuring the three-part harmony of Lori, Alyssa and Mikey, the band completed a four-song demo in May 2006 under the auspices of Steve Smith (formerly of Billy Moon), two songs of which can be heard at www.purtymouth.com . Lead-off track “Tapedeck in His Tractor” received airplay on Seattle’s premier community radio station, KEXP.
For additional information, bookings, T-shirts, etc., contact Graham Short, (206) 329-6851, or via email .
Press
Vocalist Lori Ramon profiled in the February 2008 issue of Seattle Sound Magazine.
“There is something for everyone at a Purty Mouth show as long as you like fun and cowboys. And having fun with cowboys. Especially if you are another cowboy" Seattle Sound Magazine

"Gay and lesbian alt-country band from Seattle. They're sort of like Hee Haw meets Queer Eye" MetroWeekly (Washington DC Gay & Lesbian Magazine)

"The genius behind Purty Mouth is the band's respect for the music and the theatrical opportunities afforded by love songs that tell stories" The Stranger

"Perched somewhere between cornpone kitsch and hardcore honky-tonk, local combo Purty Mouth certainly have found a unique niche in an otherwise crowded roots scene" Seattle Weekly

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 7/2/2006
Band Website: www.purtymouth.com"purtymouth.com
Band Members:
Mikey Budd - lead and backing vocals, acoustic guitar Tim Dunn - drums Walter Harley - electric bass Alyssa Keene - lead and backing vocals, percussion Tim Moore - harmonica, backing vocals Lori Ramon - lead and backing vocals Graham Short - electric guitar, backing vocals
Myspace Layouts Myspace Codes Myspace Generators Myspace Backgrounds
Influences: Kurt B. Reighley, Mark Mitchell, Hedwig, Lavender Country (Patrick Haggerty), The First Lady of Country Music Ms. Tammy Wynette, Roy Orbison, The Carter Family, Kirsty MacColl, Phil Spector, Robbie Fulks, Skeeter Davis, Elvis Presley, Bob Wills, Wanda Jackson, Johnny, Hank, Gram, Merle, Buck, Lefty, Patsy, Dolly, Loretta, Webb, Waylon & Willie, the 'eatles, 'ones & 'inks, and anything that rocks your country bone.
Sounds Like: Cold beer
Record Label: none
Type of Label: None

My Blog

Special Happy Hour performance - Purty Mouth @the High Dive, Fri, June 6

Hey friends - just a quick note to let y'all know that Purty Mouth will be playing an early show this Friday, June 6 at the High Dive in Fremont. It's a special happy hour show, so our set will begin ...
Posted by Purty Mouth on Mon, 02 Jun 2008 02:50:00 PST

Purty Mouth with Thornton Creek, Sat, May 17 at Eddie’s Trackside Bar & Grill, Monroe, Wa

Hey Purty fans!  Just a quick note to let you know we'll be playing a FREE show this Saturday night, May 17, at Eddie's Trackside Bar & Grill in Monroe, Wa, with the estimable Thornton Creek ...
Posted by Purty Mouth on Mon, 12 May 2008 03:29:00 PST

Purty Mouth with Golden Robot Army, Wed, May 21

Purty Mouth will be headlining an evening of good-time country beat music on Wednesday, May 21, at the Highway 99 Blues Club, as part of our monthly residency at the Blues Club which sees us performin...
Posted by Purty Mouth on Tue, 06 May 2008 01:38:00 PST

Purty Mouth, Fashionistas & Fluevogs, Wed, April 16

Hey Purty friends, check it out - our usual monthly Wed at the Highway 99 Blues Club this month has been transformed into a benefit for the very-worthy charity Home Alive. The night promises to be a ...
Posted by Purty Mouth on Sun, 13 Apr 2008 06:42:00 PST

Purty Mouth’s own Lori Ramon interviewed

Local glossy the Seattle Sound, which so kindly previewed our December Highway 99 show with the infinitely quotable bon mot "There is something for everyone at a Purty Mouth show as long as you like f...
Posted by Purty Mouth on Tue, 06 May 2008 01:43:00 PST

Introducing new bassist Walter Harley

Purty Mouth is thrilled to welcome new bassist Walter Harley, formerly of Thornton Creek, into the fold.  Walter will make his debut with on Wednesday, January 16, for our monthly gig at the High...
Posted by Purty Mouth on Fri, 11 Jan 2008 01:34:00 PST

Details on final shows for 2007 - Dec 19 & New Years Eve

Season's greetings all you hella hot holiday hipsters 'n hussies! You've got only two more chances this year to see Seattle's finest exporter of countrytonk class 'n crass.On Wednesday, December 19, P...
Posted by Purty Mouth on Wed, 12 Dec 2007 01:19:00 PST

Ramones vs. the Clash - battle of the (cover) bands!

This Wed night (Dec 5), Purty Mouth will be trading leather for leather (chaps for jackets, natch), when they step into the punk rock arena for an epic showdown - it's the Ramones vs. the Clash, battl...
Posted by Purty Mouth on Sun, 02 Dec 2007 11:22:00 PST

Monthly residency at the Highway 99 Blues Club

Hey y'all!  Exciting news from the Purty Mouth camp. After a hella fun benefit show for the Rat City Roller Girls earlier this summer held at the Highway 99 Blues Club, we were asked by the club ...
Posted by Purty Mouth on Thu, 09 Aug 2007 01:56:00 PST

New tunes

Howdy folks!  If you haven't noticed yet, we've posted a couple of new tunes for ya, all from a recent performance at the Fremont Fair. We were in pretty good form that day, so we thought you mig...
Posted by Purty Mouth on Thu, 09 Aug 2007 01:38:00 PST