MOG - Creech Holler's Posts

Rootsscene review

Creech Holler — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 15:50:46 GMT

Rootsscene review

CREECH HOLLER With Signs Following
This is the music of funeral processions and dirge-filled bereavements. Of sin. Of salvation. Of old termite infested boards standing stoically side-by-side for impromptu juke houses in the way back of hazy mountain hills, brimming with fresh shine. But be weary of mistakes because while this music embraces you lovingly with a cupped drone it also hits with a barrage of reckless abandon and whup ass; Hill Country Stomping Hell Fire and Blues for those who like there heaven with a bit of hell.

Many of the songs here are of traditional origin and the fact that they are here at all illustrate that the boys from Creech Holler know their shit – but rather than bow silently to whatever expectations may creep, they punch and jab at the songs with an audacious fervor and wear them like well worn string ties.
This is good. Real good.
So. From here forth, let it be known, there's a trio of hell-raisers in Roots Music right now and they're taking up serpents, their name? Creech Holler .

Leicesterbangs review

Creech Holler — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 23:30:05 GMT

Leicesterbangs review

Creech Holler - With Signs Following (Self Released)

If you were looking for the missing link between the hoedown and the black mass then look no further.

Electrification of old folk songs rarely comes off, and half of this album is from 'traditional' sources; but panic ye not because Creech Holler are more the inbred country cousins of The Immortal Lee County Killers than they are the grandsons of Fairport Convention. That said 'The Ballad of Mathie Groves' is a disinterment of the very same 'Matty Groves', only this time with webbed hands and six toes. What we have here is full-on fuzzed-up slide guitar, frenzied and insistent drumming (complete with footstomps), and an eerie rasping vocal sunk so low in the mix that it sounds like wind filtered through the branches of dying trees. Their characters, such as 'Lester Ballard' roam the hills by night, preach 'The Gospel of Judas' and are justly visited with a 'Plague of Frogs' in a drunken, dirty and dangerous world where this demented hillbilly blues is what they cut loose to on a typical East Tennessee Saturday night.

--Leicesterbangs

Purchase the record at CD BABY

Whispern and Hollern, Republic of Ireland

Creech Holler — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 16:18:25 GMT

CREECH HOLLER WITH SIGNS FOLLOWING

- Label: 'Self-released ' - Genre: 'Alt/Country' - Release Date: '2007'

Our Rating: 8 out of 10

Listening to the debut album, "With Signs Following", from East Tennessee-based CREECH HOLLER, is a bit like being trapped on a long-haul flight with severe turbulence. Theoretically, you know you're not going to die, but it's a pretty damn scary experience all the same.

Jeff Zentner (vocals, guitar), Christian Brooks (drums, footstomps), and Joey Campbell (bass, melodica, vocals) have produced a real contemporary take on the traditional style of their locality, that being the Southern Appalachian Mountains.

The album title, "With Signs Following", is a direct reference to The Church of Jesus Christ with Signs Following, or, Snake Handlers. These preachers took literal translation of various passages in the bible, in particular Mark 16: 17-18: "And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shalltake up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them." Unsurprisingly, quite a few preachers died from vicious snakebites sustained as they were waving the poor creatures around in their fervour, and the practise was made illegal in the 1940s. Point being, it was a dark and passionate practice, and so totally fitting with what Creech Holler are doing.

Fans of garage blues and hard country set-ups like the Archie Bronson Outfit, and (as always) Hank III, will lap up "With Signs Following". From the dramatic opening of "Pretty Polly", to their creepily disturbing take on "Little Matty Grove" [N.b. note for folksters - in many versions the young tyke is portrayed as a cheeky adulterer - in this version he endures a violent and bloody death, and we certainly know about it], their maniacal guitar, bass and drum bashing, more often than not coupled with eerie, hypnotic melodicas floating over the top, sends shivers down the spine.

If "With Signs Following" is enough to terrify the living daylights out of you, and it probably is, then just imagine what these guys would be like live. The London/UK circuit could surely do with more bands that run the risk of making your head explode, so this is a direct hint for Creech Holler to come pay us a visit.

Creech Holler have embraced Southern Gothic in all it's glory, so if you're a fan of Cormac McCarthy, Harper Lee, William Faulkner, death ballads, dark religion, Southern friend chicken, heavy rolling bass-lines, moonshine, cat fish, claw-hammer banging guitars, and unrelenting drums that will probably make your ears bleed, then this trio might be right up your street.

www.myspace.com/creechholler

WHISPERN and HOLLERN, Republic of Ireland

Creech Holler

CD BABY

Enigma article

Creech Holler — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 11:19:19 GMT

Creech Holler

Men of Constant Sorrow

Creech Holler is known for playing gothic country reminiscent of late night front porch sessions, sitting in creaky rocking chairs, drinking moonshine and singing about the devil and church. From the time you start playing their CD, With Signs Following, you feel catapulted straight into a scene of "Deliverance". There's an eeriness merging with an ethereal quality that is both terrifying and mystifying.

The trio, composed of Jeff Zentner (Bottleneck and Clawhammer Electric Guitar, Vocals), Joseph Campbell (Electric Bass, Vocals), and Christian Brooks on drums and tambourine, have also been involved with or are currently involved with The Katies, Parchman Farm, Porter Hall Tennessee, The Turncoats, and SJ and the Props.

Guitarist Jeff Zentner took some time out to answer these hard-hitting questions:

1. How did Creech Holler come to be? How did you guys decide on each other as members, this type of music, band name, etc.?

"Creech" is the name of our bass player's family, who are from the hills outside of Kingsport, Tennessee. I probably don't need to explain what a "Holler" is like we would if we were doing an interview for some paper in New York City. Christian and Jeff met at a Black Diamond Heavies show (a name Chattanoogans might recognize) that Jeff was opening for as a solo act. We started music and realized we had a lot in common. We brought Joey on board later to fill out the sound. Joey and Christian were already acquainted from the Murfreesboro music scene.

As for how we decided on this type of music, we didn't have much choice. It's what we knew how to play. It's music that's in our blood. We've never really made many formal decisions in that regard. There was never a point where being an experimental free jazz band was an option available to us, even if we were so inclined.

2. How would you describe With Signs Following? What's the inspiration behind it?

Dark. Raw. The inspiration for this album is the South, specifically the Southern Appalachian mountains, and even more specifically, the blood and religion of the Southern Appalachian mountains is the inspiration for With Signs Following. We try to pay tribute to musicians like Dock Boggs and Hobart Smith while carrying the Appalachian musical tradition forward.

3. Fried chicken or fried catfish?

Yes. And if you have some cornbread, we'll take some of that too.

4. Where do you see yourselves in a year? Five? Ten, fifty?

Making music. Making music. Making music. Dead.

5. If you could go on tour with one band, who would it be?

We'd probably reach a lot of appreciative fans by touring with Hank III. We seem to attract a lot of 16 Horsepower fans. If they were still around, that'd probably be a good opportunity for us as well.

6. In 30 seconds, name the top 5 albums of all time.

Now see, this isn't a fair question because too many of our favorite artists like Hobart Smith didn't really put out albums in the way that most people think of albums. How about the top 5 musicians of all time? Hobart Smith. Dock Boggs. Hank Williams. Charley Patton. Blind Willie Johnson.

7. Do you use the usual themes in your songs: religion, politics, girls, etc.? Are you geared toward meaning or nonsense?

There are some recurring themes in our music. God. Death. Murder. Life. Hard life. We are very much geared toward meaning, because the influences we draw from used music to make meaning of the world in which they lived. To pass that meaning down from generation to generation. We're not into nonsensical lyrics and songs.

8. Tornadoes. Romantic, or horrific?

Romantic and horrific. The way most good things are.

Creech Holler will be performing at The Local with Bathtub Gin on March 30 at 9:00 p.m.

http://www.myspace.com/creechholler

- Jessica Wallin

ENIGMA, Chattanooga TN

Creech Holler footage from Knoxville, TN

Creech Holler — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 14:15:34 GMT

Creech Holler performing "Maggie Rose" live at Preservation Pub in Knoxville, TN.

Creech Holler

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With a sound that's part black magic and part reverent Southern evangelista, Murfreesboro-based Creech Holler plays to exorcise its own demons, but also to flaunt them in front of others, those who don't have the same gifts of darkness... --THE METRO PULSE, Knoxville TN

Metro Pulse

Creech Holler — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 15:52:29 GMT

Creech Holler With a sound that's part black magic and part reverent Southern evangelista, Murfreesboro-based Creech Holler plays to exorcise its own demons, but also to flaunt them in front of others, those who don't have the same gifts of darkness. The sound is frightening, but also liberating, in the same way that a good scare leaves you exhilarated and wanting more. With only drums, guitar, bass and the occasional tambourine, the trio conjures an entire history, and an entire world buried beneath the everyday mundane. It creates feelings worth exploring, the same you might hope to find in a small church way off the interstate, where things are strange, and full of fire and brimstone and shadowy demons. Also, there might be snake taming. ( Lisa Slade )

METRO PULSE, Knoxville TN

Buy the record: CD BABY

Dowload it: ITUNES

MySpace: Creech Holler

Knoxville News Sentinel

Creech Holler — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 15:02:36 GMT

Southern spirits saturate act's sound

With its members divided between Murfreesboro and Asheville, N.C., Creech Holler claims the entire southern Appalachian region as its home base. The heritage of this area - as well as the Mississippi Delta - is reflected in the trio's music, which consists of both traditional mountain songs and original tracks in almost equal parts. Describing its style as Southern Gothic, Creech Holler gives an ominous twist to a sound that has existed for generations, though the band says this is less of an innovation than it may seem. The eerie yet historic folk songs that compose around half the group's catalog serve as evidence of the claim. Regardless of origin, the imagery of murder, whiskey-swigging, gun-toting and snake-handling creates a sinister backwoods atmosphere that, at times, boasts the same impression of fright brought on by watching "Deliverance."

"We refer to ourselves as a Southern Gothic band, in the same sense that writers like Flannery O'Connor and Harry Crews are Southern Gothic writers," guitarist/vocalist Jeff Zentner says. "We never set out to make dark music. We set out to make Southern music, and found that it's pretty difficult to avoid dark, Gothic themes when you do that - especially when your main influences are traditional Appalachian music and Delta blues. There's a whole vein of Appalachian music that's as dark and driving as the Delta blues that musicians of the 'amplified music era' totally ignore. We didn't start out thinking of ourselves as a Southern Gothic or 'dark country' band. Those are sort of labels that fans have bestowed upon us. We're proud of them and accept them, because the Southern Gothic tradition is a proud one."

Authenticity is a staple of Creech Holler. The band gathers its material the old-fashioned way, having many of its traditional songs passed down from regional players and obscure recordings. The band supplements this repertoire with simply structured original tracks whose basic arrangements allow for hasty assimilation as the trio struggles to find time for group rehearsal.

"To get inspiration for traditional tunes, we listen to a lot of old recordings of traditional music and we try to associate with a lot of old-time musicians who know a lot of great old traditional tunes," Zentner says. "We write a lot of our own songs. I'm generally the lyricist. I'll work up a solo version of a song, something that I could perform all alone if I needed to. Then I bring it to (bassist/vocalist) Joey (Campbell) and (drummer) Christian (Brooks), and they give me musical ideas. Sometimes they'll come to me with a rhythmic idea that they want a song built around. This process allows us to put songs together very quickly, which is good because they live 4 1/2 hours away from me.

"Our only chance to work on new material is when we have a few hours to kill before a show. Fortunately, our songs are not complicated. We don't do stops. We don't do chord changes. We do drone music."

A distinctive facet of Creech Holler's persona lies in spirits, specifically whiskey. Venues throughout the South that host the band often incorporate whiskey discounts on the night of a show.

"People seem to identify with various aspects of this band, but whiskey is certainly one of the more common threads," says drummer Christian Brooks.

"Much of the music we are playing is tied directly to the history of Southern culture and legacy, and whiskey of course is a significant part if this heritage. In order to escape federal taxes imposed upon their homemade whiskey, Scots-Irish immigrants pushed deep into the mountains back in the late 18th century in what was called the 'Whiskey Rebellion.' In addition to taking their whiskey deeper into the hills, they also carried with them their songs. Some of these ancient songs still survive and have been handed down - in fact we'll be playing some of them (tonight), appropriately enough, at Preservation Pub," Brooks says.

Tonight Creech Holler plays Preservation Pub, with Murfreesboro act Those Darlins opening the show. The pub will offer whiskey specials in honor of the performance, which starts at 9.

The Knoxville News Sentinel

Jeff Zentner

Joseph Campbell

Christian Brooks

Kentucky Ampilfier review

Creech Holler — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 10:12:39 GMT

With Signs Following - Creech Holler (self-release)

From the first distorted strains of the opener "Pretty Polly," you're put on notice that Creech Holler is a different kind of trip. The sound on their debut release is a grungy drama that revels in the gothic mystery of the south. The Murfreesboro trio's mix of originals and folk traditionals, combined with a sound both ethereal and raw, have the edge and danger of snake handlers in church or Civil War re-enacters using real bullets and firing on the spectators. Songs like "Lester Ballard" and "Wild Bill Jones" have that ominous edge to them. The galloping "Country Blues" has an eerie irresistibility, while the dark "The Gospel of Judas" could be at home on a western soundtrack if it were made by Quentin Tarantino. "Black Mountain" makes literal what the rest of the music here implies – there's blood in them there hills. Creech Holler's music is definitely worth experiencing, and they're playing Tidballs on March 31. Visit www.myspace.com/creechholler to obtain one of 2007's most noteworthy independent releases.

Kentucky Amplifier, Bowling Green KY

Purchase the record here: CD BABY

ITUNES

Come visit us: Creech Holler

The Creech Holler boys screamin' at East Tennessee.

Kingsport Times

Creech Holler — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 10:58:37 GMT

There’s a long tradition of white rockers who claim to be “influenced” by the rural, black bluesmen of the pre-World War II era. In shorter supply are rockers who pay homage to the period’s white bluesmen.

Creech Holler looks to change that. The trio — Jeff Zentner (vocals, clawhammer banjo, bottleneck guitar), Christian Brooks (drums, tambourine, foot stomps, vocals) and Kingsport native Joseph Campbell (bass, melodica, vocals) — sees white hillbilly musicians such as Southwest Virginia’s Dock Boggs as being on equal blues footing with Robert Johnson and his black contemporaries. Their debut album merges the string-band tradition with electric blues-rock, thus sounding like the missing link between Southern Appalachia and classic rock radio.

In Creech Holler’s hands, “Pretty Polly” is rescued from the clutches of bluegrass and given the kind of eerie treatment normally reserved for “Crossroads.” Ditto Boggs’ spooky “Country Blues,” transformed here into a frenetic juke blues. String-band staples like “Little Mattie Grove” and “Wild Bill Jones” have a sinister vibe, as do hypnotic Creech Holler originals like “The Gospel of Judas” and “Black Mountain.”

This is fierce, dark, passionate music that should be investigated by fans of the contemporary garage-band movement.

Creech Holler will appear at Ireson’s Pub in Bristol on Saturday, March 3. Also on the bill are The Fury, Heat and Dirty Works. Creech Holler will also be at the Down Home on March 17.

Kingsport Times, Kingsport TN

Underground Collective interview

Creech Holler — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 15:20:40 GMT

Interview with Jeff Zentner of Creech Holler----(playing this week in RoaVa)

Interview with CREECH HOLLER--

(Creech Holler is playing in Roanoke Va on March 2nd with Red Clay River at the Green Dolphin)

1. Who are the members in your band?

Christian Brooks-Drums, tambourine, foot stomp, vocals

Joey Campbell- Bass, melodica, vocals

Jeff Zentner- Guitar, lead vocals

2. Is there a meaning or importance behind the band name? "Creech" is our bass player's family's name. They're from the tri-cities area of Tennessee and Virginia. And of course, we don't need to tell folks from Roanoke what the "Holler" part means like we would with a paper from Minneapolis, for example.

3. What brought you all together (when, short history, etc)? Jeff met Christian at a Black Diamond Heavies show in Nashville where Jeff opened for them as a solo act. He and Christian started talking and decided to start throwing around some musical ideas as a guitar/drums duo. Christian then brought Joey on board to play bass and add some musical texture.

4. What are the influences musically, socially, etc. and explain how they influence you? And what draws you to write, what brings out the cathartic creativity that is evident? The American South. First and foremost. The rhythms, landscape and history of the South. Southern music, particularly music from Appalachia such as Dock Boggs, Hobart Smith and Roscoe Holcombe, as well as Delta Blues such as Charley Patton, Son House, and Skip James. We're very influenced by the Southern Gothic literary tradition. Flannery O'Connor, Harry Crews, Cormac McCarthy, etc.

5. What inspires you all creatively as far as writing, playing, and just daily life (if different than #4)? For me (Jeff) right now it's books. Literature is currently having a bigger influence on the music I make than anything else. As a band, we draw inspiration from the time we spend on the road in the van, between shows. The landscape. The music we listen to.

6. What are the lyrics mainly referring to? Or what is usually the subject matter? The subject matter of our songs tends toward the darker aspects of life. Death, lost love, murder, God, redemption, sin, sorrow. We don't really have it in us to make very happy, light music.

7. If you could play with one band/artist (living or not, together or not) who would that be? It would be really amazing to play with Hobart Smith or Dock Boggs. But even more than that, it would be amazing to just sit and watch them.

8. What is your favorite club/bar/whatever to play in the area ? We really loved playing at the Darkstar in Bowling Green, Kentucky, but it shut down. There's a lot of great places that we play and have played at. The Hummingbird in Macon, Georgia was a favorite. We played at the Filling Station in Bozeman, Montana, which was a lot of fun.

9. Where do you see the "music industry" (mainly referring to true independent/underground) going with regards to myspace/the internet in general? Now bands such as ourselves need not be at the whims of a record label to record and distribute our music internationally. We don't have the money or exposure that a major-label band would have, but we're reaching the sort of people we care to reach. We won't be able to quit the day jobs anytime soon, but we're making the music we love.

10. What are the top 5 records you are listening to right now? Mosaic- Woven Hand

The High Lonesome Sound of Roscoe Holcombe- Roscoe Holcombe

Ashes to Dust- William Elliot Whitmore

Minor Works- J. Tillman

Plague of Dreams- The Everybodyfields

11. If you could punch one major label artist in the face who would it be and why? None, they have too much money to sue with. But here's who we would punch in the face: we got a myspace friend request the other day from this band in Nashville that is not on a major label, but they have major label haircuts. Anyway, they say on their page that one of their fans who sells 50 CDs gets to have dinner with the band, schedule permitting. So basically, if you hustle your ass off enough to sell 50 CDs, you maybe get the privilege of hanging out with a bunch of pretty boys who make awful music. You probably have to pay for dinner, too. It was the most pretentious thing we've ever seen.

12. Lester Ballard is my favortie song that you guys do, is there a story behind it? (if not, or not a good one, choose another) Lester Ballard is the protagonist and anti-hero of a book by Cormac McCarthy called "Child of God." Lester Ballard is a serial killer and necrophiliac who haunts the hills and hollers of East Tennessee. It was a story that begged to have a murder ballad written about it. So we did.

13. Being that i know your stuff and am a big fan, how do you choose to cover a song such as pretty polly or some of the other traditionals? Is it intimidating? Not really. In fact, it's quite the opposite. These songs are supposed to be passed down from generation to generation. They're not meant to be revered, or be sacred ground upon which none may tread. That's not how folk music traditions work. We chose Pretty Polly because we love murder ballads and it's a classic. Plain and simple.

13. What is your upcoming schedule? BIg shows? You can see our schedule at www.myspace.com/creechholler. We're playing Roanoke soon, and we couldn't be more excited.

MySpace: Creech Holler

Purchase With Signs Following: CD BABY

Download it: ITUNES

Taproot Radio review/interview

Creech Holler — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 08:59:41 GMT

"On their CD, With Signs Following, Creech Holler travels deep into Appalachians, deep into the American psyche, deep into the past and dig up traditional songs you've never heard of but you know are part of your heritage and channel them through a hard rock filter to transform them into something deep, gothic, and inspired. The only question is, inspired by what? What have these guys touched? Have these guys indeed been handling serpents and drinking poison? How else could they take such a perfectly innocent bluegrass song like Dock Boggs' “Country Blues” and create something that comes out, well, kinda creepy? Other highlights on the CD include “Pretty Polly,” “Lester Ballard,” “The Gospel of Judas,” and “Black Mountain.”

--Taproot Radio

Follow this link for an intervew with Jeff Zentner of Creech Holler: Taproot Radio Interview

CD BABY

ITUNES

Creech Holler

Twang Nation review

Creech Holler — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 12:11:31 GMT

“Creech Holler is the sound of sin and redemption of another time when such matters were taken as gospel and music was the stories that frightened children and set them on the path to righteousness. Like a ghost hillbilly band you hear playing from the bottom of that long dry water well, you know the one, it’s where that little Jackson girl drowned back in the 40’s. Creech Holler is both joyous and spooky in their particular brand of lonely gothic Americana. Twang says check ‘em out.” –Twang Nation

CD BABY

ITUNES

Creech Holler

Great American Music Hour review

Creech Holler — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 15:07:45 GMT

“These guys take you to some serious, heavy places using the language, and sometimes, the literal songs of another era to illuminate our own. “Poor Ol’ Maddie” and “Black Mountain” are dark songs from the weird, old America that doesn’t exist much anymore in mainstream culture. This album reminds me of Snakefarm or Jim White, in that it both exhumes old forms and makes them new again. This is not easy listening, but if you want to understand how we got where we are, it is certainly required listening.” –The Great American Music Hour

Wild Bill Jones

Creech Holler — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 10:06:41 GMT

From Creech Holler's debut record With Signs Following, we present to you "Wild Bill Jones" (trad.)

Download it from ITUNES

But, you're a Mogger and still prefer physical CDs: CD BABY

"Military drumbeats, foot stomps and yes, hollers - these boys'll sure conjure up a ghost in the broad light of mid-day or, shake hands with the rattlesnakes of mountain faith." --11th Hour, Macon GA

“Serving up a musical experience that is both modern and timeless, Creech Holler offers an innovative approach to The South’s musical history.” --TRICITIES.COM, Johnson City TN

The Gospel of Judas

Creech Holler — Sat, 03 Feb 2007 19:00:42 GMT

From Creech Holler's debut record With Signs Following, we present to you "The Gospel of Judas"

"The Gospel of Judas" is a Creech Holler original and features the Melodica playing of Joseph Campbell.

Download it from ITUNES

Old school, old fashioned actual CD: CD BABY

“The music of Creech Holler is earthy, dark and riddled with secrets - just like the mountains that birthed it.” --SKULLRING.ORG

Country Blues

Creech Holler — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 04:16:42 GMT

From Creech Holler's debut record With Signs Following, we present to you "Country Blues"

"Country Blues" is a traditional Appalachian song also known as "Hustlin and Gamblin." Creech Holler's arrangment draws its inspiration from Dock Boggs.

Download it from ITUNES

Old fashioned CDs from CD BABY

“Serving up a musical experience that is both modern and timeless, Creech Holler offers an innovative approach to The South’s musical history.” --TRICITIES.COM, Johnson City TN

Red Rockin' Chair

Creech Holler — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 16:55:25 GMT

From Creech Holler's debut record With Signs Following, we present to you "Red Rockin' Chair"

"Red Rockin' Chair" is a traditional Appalchian tune sometimes called "Sugar Baby".

Download it from ITUNES

Purchase the disc from CD BABY

"Blood-soaked country blues, creaky garage rock and front-porch whiskey ballads from this Tennessee trio." --THE FLAGPOLE, Athens GA

Little Mathie Grove

Creech Holler — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 17:54:00 GMT

From Creech Holler's debut record With Signs Following, we present to you "Little Mathie Grove"

"Little Mathie Grove" is a traditional Appalachain folk song with European origins perhaps as early as the 17th century. Creech Holler's arrangment features flat footin' by guest Ms. Sarah Twilley who is a Grand Ole Opry cast dancer.

Creech Holler instrumentation on "Little Mathie Grove":

Jeff Zentner- Vocals, Clawhammer electric guitar Joseph Campbell- Melodica Christian Brooks-Tambourine, footstomp

"...a Tennessee-based trio who do this crazed amalgamation of old-time ballads (“Pretty Polly,” “Plague of Frogs”) set to loud, grungy blues rock. It’s very dark and eerie and completely satisfying." --MOUNTAIN EXPRESS, Asheville NC

Lester Ballard

Creech Holler — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 22:03:46 GMT

From Creech Holler's debut record With Signs Following, we present to you "Lester Ballard"

"Lester Ballard" is an original murder ballad (Zentner, Campbell, Brooks) and features some guest fiddle sawin' by Jason Sligh. The song's chorus features The Damned Hillbilly Choir: Jeff Zentner, Joseph Campbell, Christian Brooks, Jason Sligh

Download it here: ITUNES

Old fashioned CD, right here: CD BABY

“This Tennessee trio explores the darker side of Americana, employing melodica, tambourine and droning guitar to create a spooky sonic mood. If you liked the canceled HBO series ‘Carnivale,’ you'll probably like this band. Both deal with the Bible, the conflict between good and evil and the forthright passions of rural whites.” --MACON TELEGRAPH, Macon GA

enjoy.

Pretty Polly

Creech Holler — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 19:59:32 GMT

From Creech Holler's debut record With Signs Following, we give you "Pretty Polly"

This an arrangement of a traditional Appalachain murder ballad. Creech Holler's interpetation draws its influence from Dock Boggs.

Purchase it from ITUNES

Creech Holler

Creech Holler — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 02:44:05 GMT

Creech Holler plays the music of midnight whiskey stills and front porches. of those whose sole act of contrition before god was to make song of their sin and sorrow. of those who have been to dark places, and who left their soul there. of those who deemed it necessary to kill some poor son of a bitch who had it coming to them, and then deemed it necessary to sing a song about it. of those who loved the sacred and the profane in equal measure; who played the devil's music on saturday night, and god's music on sunday morning. of those who have trod black paths so long that they have forgotten the light, but not so long so as to forget to bring their gun and a shovel. of those who saw fit to salve their wounds with the banjo, the fiddle, the guitar. of those who know no other way to touch the face of god than to take the venomous serpent to their breast, and drink deadly things, and take up fire, and live or die by the power of their faith and the force of their will and the sweat of their backs. creech holler is the hills and hollers of east tennessee and the fields of the delta, and the regret and desires and vain hopes of redemption buried under their soil. it's everywhere that america's bad blood flows and gives birth to hymns to the wrong that lives in low men's hearts. it's the ghosts of america's music reborn in furious electricity.

"...the bands originals and reworked traditional songs bear witness to the virtues of the raucous and reflective alike, paying homage to the glut of influences that merged in the South to create its music." --11th HOUR, Macon GA

“…the trio sound as though they are possessed by fanatical, old, whiskey-swilling spirits.” --NASHVILLE SCENE, Nashville, TN

"Blood-soaked country blues, creaky garage rock and front-porch whiskey ballads from this Tennessee trio." --THE FLAGPOLE, Athens GA

"If you can only afford to buy five independent records this year then I suggest you make this one of them." --BLUES IN LONDON.COM, London UK

“Creech Holler is the stuff of nightmares, not because the music's bad, but because the sound conjures backwoods Baptist churches, Deliverance, and intense electrical storms on a night home alone. It'll make you spin around real fast, just to make sure no one's behind you.” --METRO PULSE, Knoxville TN

"Creech Holler is a genre of its own. Who else in Music City, USA has the balls to sing the blues and preach the Gospel while chain-smokin' Prince Albert "roll you owns" and sippin' illegal sour mash? I have immensely enjoyed the music I've heard from these Apostles of Deep South depravity. Some would say the music isn't commercial....I say it ain't s'pposed ta be! (Commercialism would taint the pure essence of THE MESSAGE" --TIMOTHY EDWARD JONES, author of "Country Conversations: Timeless Stories from the legends of Country Music"

"This Nashville band channels traditional, pain-laced, bluesy Appalachian music and through electric guitars, amps and drums for the younger generation. Its both a little bit country and a little bit rock and roll." --The CHATTANOOGA PULSE, Chattanooga, TN

“Serving up a musical experience that is both modern and timeless, Creech Holler offers an innovative approach to The South’s musical history.” --TRICITIES.COM, Johnson City TN

“The music of Creech Holler is earthy, dark and riddled with secrets - just like the mountains that birthed it.” --SKULLRING.ORG

'07 Tour dates

Creech Holler — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 01:03:48 GMT

Jan 25 2007 9:00P The Town Pump Black Mountain, North Carolina

Jan 26 2007 9:00P Preservation Pub w/ Cutthroat Shamrock Knoxville, Tennessee

Jan 27 2007 TBA

Feb 16 2007 9:00P The Local w/ Bathtub Gin Chattanooga, Tennessee

Feb 17 2007 TBA

Mar 1 2007 9:00P Town Pump Black Mountain, North Carolina

Mar 2 2007 TBA

Mar 3 2007 9:00P Ireson's Pub w/ The Fury...Heat! Bristol, Tennessee

Mar 16 2007 9:00P Preservation Pub w/ The Darlins Knoxville, Tennessee

Mar 17 2007 8:00P St Patrick's Day Downhome Johnson City, Tennessee

Mar 30 2007 9:00P The Local Chattanooga, Tennessee

Mar 31 2007 9:00P Tidball's Bowling Green, Kentucky

April 12 2007 TBA Athens GA

Apr 13 2007 9:00P The Loft Vicksburg, Mississippi

Apr 14 2007 1:00P Juke Joint Festival- stage and time TBA Clarksdale, Mississippi

Apr 14 2007 9:00P Two Stick Oxford, Mississippi

Apr 27 2007 9:00P TBA

Apr 28 2007 8:00P Morehead Boogie Festival- stage and time TBA Morehead, Kentucky

Creech Holler has two stipulations for playing a town:

1. The area must have a regional reputation for producing quality moonshine, whiskey, or bourbon. 2. Catfish and eggs must be available on a local breakfast menu.
Dates are current as of 1/15/07. More dates to be announced soon.
“Creech Holler pulls a tight knot between Mississippi Delta blues and Appalachian mountain music, unleashing a gut-check sound like Larry Brown and James Dickey if they had more noise than words to give the world. If you've ever wanted to see a band leave everything they've got on the stage then you absolutely must see them play." --11th HOUR, Macon GA

More info at: Creech Holler

Bill Monroe vs. Nashville

Creech Holler — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 03:45:55 GMT

Bill Monroe (1911-1996) is arguably one of the single most influential figures in the history of American music. Not only did Monroe dominate a single, distinctive musical genre, he may be the only person in history who deserves credit for single handedly creating an entire genre of music.

Of course Bluegrass was built of the same musical components as other forms of American music: modal ballads, African-American secular music ("Blues") and sacred music, Southern Protestant church tendencies, square dance and fiddle tunes- both Black and White, and Tin Pan Alley tunes. Bluegrass also borrowed heavily from the improvisational tendencies of Jazz.

But something about this Bluegrass music defines it as being wholly separate and unique from other musical traditions. For one, Monroe consciously distanced himself from the pre dominate (but largely false) Hillbilly image of his time. He eschewed the "Hayseed", comical, and Minstrel tendencies of the past and embraced professionalism and seriousness in his music. The most obvious example is the fact that The Bluegrass Boys wore suits and ties on stage.

In the simplest terms, Monroe updated forms of traditional music and molded it into something serious and professional. His musical innovations and influence are alone enough to secure him a pedestal in American history. However, scholars often debate whether one man can truly be responsible for an entire genre of music as no other comparable example can be drawn in the history of American music.

In his book Can't You Hear Me Callin' The Life of Bill Monroe, Father of Bluegrass Music, Richard Smith writes:

<"But how much of Bluegrass did Monroe really invent? Was he the true father of Bluegrass or just one of its many parents? There is intense debate over the relative contributions of Monroe and his sidemen, notably the great Earl Scruggs. The Scruggscentric view is that Bluegrass as we know it today is defined by the bright percolating sound of syncopated three-finger banjo picking, and Monroe's music did not have this sound until Scruggs was hired as a Bluegrass Boy. The Monroecentric view is that lonesome themes, bluesy vocal and instrumental ornamentation, and surging, anticipating rhythms are the true hallmarks of Bluegrass and were present in Monroe's band sound right from the beginning.">

<"Arguments about the origins of Bluegrass music are particularly intense because- as ‘traditional’ as Bluegrass is in comparison to the rest of American popular music- it has a starting point within living memory (unlike opera or symphonic music), and its origins can arguably be credited to one man (unlike Jazz or Rock' n'Roll). The who-invented-Bluegrass debate bespeaks the vitality of this American art form." (Smith 2000, xii-xiii)>

The question emerges as to what exactly defines a musical style? Was it indeed the distinctive banjo style (dubbed "Scruggs Style") or the more general musical tendencies of Monroe combining Blues, traditional music of the British Isles, Jazz etc? Can one man really be the father of a style of music? Did Monroe really do something that had never been done before?

From the banjo angle, was Scruggs really the inventor of the three finger style, or did he simply play in the adopted style of his region of Western North Carolina? (Incidentally, this Scruggs banjo style was later adapted to the Dobro by Josh Graves when Scruggs and Lester Flatt formed their own duo-based band after splitting with Monroe. The Graves style of Dobro has since become the standard technique for Bluegrass style Dobro.) What makes this debate interesting is that Bluegrass is such a young style of music born in the 1940's (not the 100's of years old as many erroneously believe). What is commonly referred to as "Bluegrass" is in fact what we call “Old Time” music.

If you are inclined to lean towards the "Scruggscentric" view, then the true father of Bluegrass is still living and in fact serves on the faculty of Berklee School of Music (where one can now receive a degree in Bluegrass studies). If you lean towards the "Monroecentric" view, then our father of Bluegrass is but only 10 years in the ground and no older than many of our grandparents.

While Creech Holler takes little or no direct or intentionalinfluence from Bluegrass (in its stead, leaning much more heavily towards Old Time music), this is but another example of the general tendency to ignore the musical/cultural influence and importance of Hillbilly music within the context of American history. In order to give credit where credit is due, Dock Boggs should be equally celebrated along with Robert Johnson or John Lee Hooker. Bill Monroe should also equally be celebrated along with the influence of early rockers Bo Diddley, Elvis, and Chuck Berry as well as primary Jazz greats such as Louis Armstrong and John Coltrane.

The question emerges as to why the importance of the music of rural Whites has tended to be suppressed and generally ignored in favor of celebrating the historical music of rural and urban Blacks.

At least part of the answer to this question may very well lie deep within the blackheart of Nashville and its embarrassment of "Hillbilly" culture. Since the early 1950’s, Nashville has made conscious attempts to erase the public's perception of such music in favor of more commercially viable, pop music which caters to a wider audience. Nashville's inability to embrace its true heritage and its general lack of historical awareness has created an almost fruitless situation for artists creating some form of "Country Music" and wishing to reach an audience of large proportions: Either you embrace the Nashville arrogance and create historically ignorant music, or you stand steadfast to tradition. Clinging steadfast to tradition doesn't allow music to progress, yet creating music ignorant, or worse, intolerant of that tradition serves to devalue its historical importance and further distances the art form from years of progression.

“As country music met the rock ’n’ roll challenge by electronically amplifying instruments, even adding string sections on records and generally slicking up its image, Bluegrass was widely perceived in the industry as a rough-hewn hick cousin, a quaint diversion but ultimately an unsophisticated embarrassment.” (Smith 2000, xii)

Ultimately, Bill Monroe serves as a testament to the combination of tradition and forward- thinking progression in American music.

Dock Boggs

Creech Holler — Sun, 24 Dec 2006 03:45:45 GMT

By Jennifer Peters

Dock Boggs, born and raised in the mountains of Wise County in far southwestern Virginia, was a unique, exceptional and seminally important banjo player and singer that most people do not know about. His music is a unique combination of old time mountain and blues. "I have never worked for pleasure, peace on earth I cannot find, the only thing I surely own is a worried and troubled mind," Boggs sings in "Old Rub Alcohol Blues."

Most historians of American Folk music agree that Boggs was incredibly skilled with the banjo, sometimes picking the melody on the third and fourth strings while he played an accompaniment on the first and second strings. He also used many unusual tunings, often playing on a different key than that to which the banjo was tuned. He was proud of his style of music, which was more of the straight, old style than the "knock down" style of the 1920s (which was the predecessor to bluegrass and formative musicians of the genre, such as Bill Monroe).

Born February 7, 1898, in West Norton, Virginia, Moran Lee "Dock" Boggs was the youngest of ten children. He was named after the town doctor, and his father started calling him "Dock" when he was a toddler. He made it through the seventh grade, and began working in the coal mines of Appalachia when he was twelve years old. Music historians agree that it was the time he spent in and around the mines that made his music what it is.

It was around 1910 that Dock became interested in playing music on the banjo. He eventually got one by trading his watch for a gun and then trading his gun for the banjo. During the next ten years, Dock was influenced by many banjo players, such as Homer Crawford (a banjo picker and singer), his brother-in-law Lee Hunsucker (a preacher), and his brothers and sisters (especially his brother Roscoe). He was married in 1918 to Sara, his wife for the rest of his life.

In 1920 Dock moved up to a Sears Roebuck Supertone banjo and began to hear blues music, which had a great effect on him. Particularly influential was black music that he heard from the men in the mines and those around the railroads. In 1927, one of his friends talked him into going to an audition nearby, in Bristol, TN, where two men from Brunswick records were listening to the local talent. After borrowing a banjo from the record store and drinking half a pint of moonshine to "calm his nerves," he went to audition.

After playing two or three songs, among them "Country Blues" and "Pretty Polly," Dock immediately was offered a contract to go to New York and record with the record company. He was one of the few people from the area to make a journey like that, and it made him a local hero. He recorded eight sides and was offered two more contracts to record twelve more records. He never recorded for the company again, though, because of problems at home. He quit and went back to the coal mines in Norton.

Dock discovered that he was quite popular in Virginia, though, and made about three to four hundred dollars a week with his band. However, at the end of 1928, the band broke up and Dock and Sara moved to Mayking, Kentucky, in Letcher County.

In 1929, Dock recorded four sides with a record company owned by W.E. Myers of Richlands, Virginia (Russell County), called "The Lonesome Ace." However, because of the Depression, people did not have the means to buy his records, so he was forced to sell them for next to nothing. He was also not established enough in the industry to make it as a radio commodity. In 1930, Dock went to Atlanta where he was offered a spot on the radio, but was barely able to perform because of fright.

In 1931 Dock was offered a recording date with RCA Victor but he could not raise enough money to make the trip. In 1933 Dock returned to Virginia, gave his banjo to a friend as collateral for a personal loan, and never got it back. He soon gave up all hopes of making a living playing the banjo.

In June of 1963, Mike Seeger, a scholar and musician, sought out and found Dock and they became immediate friends. Seeger recorded Dock performing eight songs in addition to several hours of interviews. From there, Dock went on to play at the American Folk Festival in Asheville, NC. His nighttime performance there of "Oh Death" while fog rolled off the western North Carolina mountains and across the stage is still the stuff of folk music legend. He continued to make many appearances throughout the sixties.

Dock died on February 7, 1971, after his health began to deteriorate. He had taken up drinking again, which had haunted him his whole life.

Dock Boggs is a significant influence for Creech Holler. The band's reworkings of the traditional songs "Pretty Polly" and "Country Blues", are directly influenced by Bogg's interpetations recorded during the 1920's.

Live Review

Creech Holler — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 16:42:05 GMT

Saturday, December 9th

"From Magnolia, thirty or forty heat-seeking music lovers descended on the Hummingbird. More than two-hundred people inside, more than half of them paused on the dance floor, just waiting – souls agape for the second coming of Creech Holler. Drummer Christian Brooks raised his arms in car crash slow motion, hanging still and poised to settle the joint with an earth-quaking first beat. A wish stood on the threshold of being fulfilled. Bated breath, not a second passed. Jeff Zentner and Joseph Campbell, guitar and bass respectively, gripped their weapons by the neck, their fingers pressed hard against the strings, hard against the frets – a bad doctor strangling throats for a pulse. Through the heavy muck of this molasses time, the first screams and shouts surfaced like infants – young voices fresh and whole, just babies sentenced to grow into hoarse, scratchy yells burdened by booze to be beyond sense or comprehension, extensions of their source searching to release the friction between want and ability."

--Chris Horne 11th Hour, Macon GA

Skullring.org

Creech Holler — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 17:08:01 GMT

One of our favorite finds of the last few months is a group of Tennessee and North Carolina boys that go by the name of "Creech Holler". These guys make some bad-ass, hard-bit Appalachian tinged roots rock that touches right on down into the instinctive animal part of your brain. There's something just plain spooky about their stuff - when you hear it you you just know that you've stumbled into something special. The music of Creech Holler is earthy, dark and riddled with secrets - just like the mountains that birthed it.

These guys are the real deal. Tracks like "Pretty Polly" and "Plague of Frogs" establish their bona fides in the canon of American traditional music while still showcasing the boys' ability to wail and truly rock. This is the music of sweat and dirt and hard living. This is Southern Gothic set to Stun.

Check them out at www.MySpace.com/creechholler, and for God's sake, buy one of their albums. I'll see you at the crossroads at midnight. You bring the shotgun, I'll bring the moonshine.

--Matt Staggs, Skullring.org

Tricities.com

Creech Holler — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 17:05:09 GMT

While there is certainly a generalized perception of mountain music as being no more than aw shucks, picking and grinning tomfoolery produced by inbred hayseeds, the truth of the matter is that the mountain music genre has always been imbued with a certain gothic ethos.

Just look at the rich tradition of murder ballads such as the classic, "Knoxville Girl."

Following the mountain gothic custom, Creech Holler will bring their dark take on bluegrass, blues, country, and roots music to Johnson City's The Down Home this Friday, November 17.

Touring in support of their self-released debut, With Signs Following, Creech Holler delivers melancholy musical tales in the world-weary tradition of Nick Cave, Son House, The Gun Club, and the Man In Black himself, Johnny Cash.

Mining the sin and retribution vein in their blues-charged songs, Creech Holler sounds something like what Flannery O'Connor or Erskine Caldwell might sound as modern musicians, that is.

Serving up a musical experience that is both modern and timeless, Creech Holler offers an innovative approach to The South's musical history. So take advantage of this opportunity to see the band before they get too famous, as they surely will.

The intimate confines of The Down Home are ideal for the musical exorcisms Creech Holler provides.

--Tricities.com, Johnson City TN

11th Hour, Macon GA

Creech Holler — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 17:04:06 GMT

"Immediately after Creech Holler wowed the crowd at Bragg Jam with their hard-driving, dirty folk charisma, locals started begging someone to get them back to town. Those prayers will finally be answered when they lay siege to the Hummingbird. Creech Holler pulls a tight knot between Mississippi Delta blues and Appalachian mountain music, unleashing a gut-check sound like Larry Brown and James Dickey if they had more noise than words to give the world. If you've ever wanted to see a band leave everything they've got on the stage then you absolutely must see them play."

--11th Hour, Macon GA

Under a Morbid Spell

Creech Holler — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 17:03:06 GMT

Nashville Scene Article

Under the Morbid Spell: Creech Holler engage in their own brand of Southern gothic barroom worship on their debut

By Jewly Hight

Gothic images of the South, such as those dreamed up in the novels and short stories of Harry Crews and Flannery O' Connor, have long wooed wide-eyed, ghost-hunting types like moths to a bright light. The members of Creech Holler count themselves among those under the morbid spell. They haven't come to gawk, though, but to worship at the cobwebbed, mythologized altar.

Take the cover of the droning garage-blues trios debut album, With Signs Following. On the front is a bottle tree--dead, sinewy and adorned with glass bottles--believed from antebellum times to attract and capture evil spirits. On the back is the silhouette of a snake handler, with three of the writhing, venomous creatures raised in each hand. Along with these visual nods to fervent belief, the album title was taken from a small, Southern-dwelling sect of snake-handling, poison-ingesting Pentecostals called The Church of God With Signs Following. For Jeff Zentner, Joey Campbell and Christian Brooks, these aren't just exotic images on display. They're an artistic muse, a source of inspiration culled from a long-gone land of feverish religion, deep-seated superstition and white-knuckled attempts at survival.

Several of the album tracks are visceral, hypnotic retranslations of Appalachian murder ballads and Mississippi Delta standards, which the trio tackle with an almost religious zeal. Zentner batters his mountain modal-tuned electric guitar, alternating between bottleneck and clawhammer playing styles, while thick, guttural tones emanate from Campbells perpetually overdriven bass. Brooks pounds out raucous boom-thwack-boom beats and military-style marches on the drums, and the vocals often sink into the thick sonic milieu.

This impenetrable wall of sound has one foot firmly planted in the world of beer-soaked hipster rock dives, and the other in a dire Southern past that's reachable now only through storytelling, song and vivid imagination. The bands motto seems to be the darker the story a song tells, the better-- the album opens with the bristly, churning strains of "Pretty Polly," a traditional folk song and tale of a woman bathed in blood by her new husband. Gory violence continues during the traditional revenge ballad "Little Mathie Grove," a song also recorded by Ralph Stanley a few years back.

With music like this, authenticity is almost a moot point. Nowadays, a rare few musicians are born into poor, isolated, pristinely preserved Appalachian settings in which they can learn old vernacular music on the front porch or out in the field.

Creech Holler's devotion to this music and the culture that birthed it-- albeit a devotion straddling reality and myth--spills over into original compositions that are as raw, primitive and willfully ignorant of any separation between Saturday night and Sunday morning as the traditions that they emulate. From the keening pulse of murder ballad "Lester Ballard," to "Plague of Frogs," a prophetic Old Testament retelling colored by wheezing melodica, foot stomps and tambourine, the trio sound as though they are possessed by fanatical, old, whiskey-swilling spirits.

--The NASHVILLE SCENE, Nashville, TN

Joe Thompson

Creech Holler — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 05:32:45 GMT

Last of the old time Black fiddlers. Listen to Joe Thompson and witness the twilight of an African-American art form. Black string bands once flourished in Middle Tennessee (Tracy City, Altamont) and Western, North Carolina.

Creech Holler — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 00:32:32 GMT

“…the trio sound as though they are possessed by fanatical, old, whiskey-swilling spirits.” --NASHVILLE SCENE, Nashville, TN

"Blood-soaked country blues, creaky garage rock and front-porch whiskey ballads from this Tennessee trio." --THE FLAGPOLE, Athens GA

"If you can only afford to buy five independent records this year then I suggest you make this one of them." --BLUES IN LONDON.COM, London UK

“Serving up a musical experience that is both modern and timeless, Creech Holler offers an innovative approach to The South’s musical history.” --TRICITIES.COM, Johnson City TN

“The music of Creech Holler is earthy, dark and riddled with secrets - just like the mountains that birthed it.” --SKULLRING.ORG