The Dirty Guv’nahs have made quite the splash over the past few years. From modest origins to a fully funded record (paid for by the fans!), the sextet has built a solid fanbase on strong musicianship and an ear for the hook.
I talked to singer James Trimble in the middle of a stretch of dates, with their third album Somewhere Beneath These Silver Skies looming overhead.
You guys have been touring a lot. How’s that been going?
It been a lot of driving, Knoxville to Virginia Beach to western North Carolina to Rosemary Beach. This fall, the tour is a little more of dates strung together, but when we do summer there are a lot more summer festival one-offs that you can’t say no to, so you end up going on long drives all of the time.
So you’ve got a new record coming out in the fall. Can you tell me about it?
Yes, we’re releasing it August 14th. We’re doing a big free show August 17th in Knoxville to open it up as a big thank you to our home town. We did a Kickstarter campaign and raised almost $40k, so it paid for the record and some publicity work, too. 65% of our backers were from Knoxville, so after they basically paid for our next record, we wanted to do a big free show.
Is it in the same vein of the last record?
It has more concise modern sounding songs. I would almost equate it to—we’re not worthy of comparison—but when My Morning Jacket moved from their older material to their new records, which sound more modern. They tied in their Southern influences and made some more contemporary sounding songs—I think that is what this record is for us.
Sharpening your sound, as it were?
Sharpening it, but it’s also maturing, and we’re adding in more focused lyricism.
Where was it recorded?
It was recorded in two places. The first place was in Nashville. We met a guy on the 4th of July at an outdoor show who just came up to us and was crazy about our band. He was a nice guy and insistent on producing our record. We kept thinking nothing would come of it. As it ends up, he was an experienced songwriter and engineer. We recorded the core of the album with him, then did overdubs at our home studios.
So tell me about Knoxville. Has living in Tennessee influenced your music?
It has, but there are also other influences. We’re a rock and roll band. Being from the South, that’s where our influences are from. From the beginning we wanted to be a fun uptempo rock and roll band. But I think we’re starting to get a modern sound. Our biggest influence is, and probably always will be, the Rolling Stones for their ability to write good songs and throw great live performances. Our genesis revolved around the jam, and we play songs 9 or 10 minutes long, so the live performance will always be important to us.
You can get down and dirty with The Dirty Guv’nahs on a string of dates throughout the rest of the summer including Reevestock and a summer microbrew festival in Traverse City, Michigan.
However, to see the Guv’s in full glory, check them out in Knoxville at the Market Square on August 17th to celebrate the release of their new album Underneath These Silver Skies (released 8/14).
