Reverend Peyton and his Big Damn Band have to be the most consistent band Ive ever seen. These three wonderful people could throw down in a back alley with a harmonica, three ring binder and soup can to play with, and theyd still deliver a performance that would blow your mind. It really doesnt matter what type of music you like. If you like having a good time, a Big Damn Band show is where youll find it.
Backstageaxxess caught up with Reverend Peyton at Warped Tour and had a conversation about how his Big Damn Band began, whats behind the songs, the truth behind the songs and much more. Enjoy!
BXA Rev Peyton & Breezy, thanks for taking the time to talk with Backstageaxxess. First time I saw you, it was when you opened for Clutch, and I had no idea of what I was in for. You took the stage after Red Fang and DESTROYED the place. I was instantly a fan. Have you been seeing that kind of reaction to what you guys are doing on this tour?
Rev Yeah, people have been pretty good to us. I think were lucky where our sound is concerned. We go n play with Clutch, turn around and tour with Flogging Molly, play Sturgis, and here we are on the Warped Tour.
Breezy We take the back door into a lot of places.
BXA I have to know, what happened in Europe when you had your stuff stolen? How did you adapt to that?
Rev Ill tell you this; the first couple days, I took it pretty well. I was pretty proud of myself. I thought, Im doin pretty good with this havin all my stuff stolen. Then I realized that my little book that Ive been keeping for years was in my bag that got stolen. All these songs that Ive been writing for so long had been stolen. Then the angry, ugly American came out. Everything I said was preceded by, If we were in the United States, itd be or if we were back in Indiana, itd be I was an asshole for a bit. I WAS fine, n then I went through all these stages.
Breezy We had some stuff shipped in.
Rev We were in the UK. Now, we call these things wife beaters, this shirt Im wearin here. They call em vests. So it was a bit of a language barrier. And its different, like, Ive never seen an extra small mens shirt in the United States!
BXA Breezy, how did lighting the washboard on fire come around? What made you start doing that?
Breezy Well, its kinda like this whenever we play our homecoming shows in Indiana, we would do something crazy at the end of the set. One year, I lit the washboard on fire and all of these pictures got posted. People were goin nuts about it and then fans would show up and be like, man, you didnt light the washboard on fire! Like, it was the only big part of the show! Now, just to make it clear, I only do it if its a really awesome show. So theres a possibility I wont do it today. I might do something different, but I dont do it every show.
BXA Can you tell me a little about when you first started playing? What were you playing like, and how did it change after you had your hand surgery?
Rev Well, I was a flat picker. I love finger style and I just couldnt do it. Its the hardest way to play. Its a dying art. Youre basically doin two things at once. My mind just couldnt get around it when I was younger. Then after my hand surgery, something just changed and it turned my head. I suddenly could just do all that stuff. I dont know if it was that I just had to live a little bit of life, or something in my mind just clicked, but now I can hardly NOT play that way. Its obviously what I was put on this earth to do. Its pretty weird, ya know? What I thought would be the worst thing turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me.
BXA We definitely all love it. Anyone Ive ever brought out to a show I tell em, You gotta see this, its gonna blow your mind. Theyre like, yeah, whatever. Then they leave diehard fans at the end of the night. Another thing I gotta know, DTs or the Devil whats it mean?
Rev Well, the DTs are like the shakes, ya know
Breezy The shakes you get from alcohol.
Rev Is it DTs or the Devil
All That make you shake like that?
BXA Another thing I gotta know is Your cousins on COPS a true story?
Rev Sure is. Breezys cousin.
Breezy We didnt know she was on the show. We just had it on one day, flippin through the channels, n he (Rev) said, Oh look, its in Indiana, we should watch it n see if we know someone. I go to the kitchen to go n make dinner and he says, Breezy, get in here. Then starts screamin. I walk in and low n behold, there she was my cousin. She had taken a whole bunch of pills from her babys daddys momma. Swallowed em. I think they sent her to jail. I dont know if they took her to the hospital or what. We dont really know if she knows. I mean, the song is pretty popular, so shes gotta know. She was mean lookin at Thanksgiving dinner
Rev Yeah, I felt like she was givin the stink eye.
BXA I wanna know more about how you guys came about. It was your brother on drums, right? Now its your cousin
Rev Well, Ive been playin since I was a little kid. So we just kinda played for ourselves locally from the time I was 12 or 13 years old. It was just sorta born of that. Just playin my whole life, ya know? Then I met Breezy one (1) week after my surgery. So I was startin to re-learn how to play again, gettin all that back. At the same time, I was gettin to know Breezy and it all just sorta happened right then. Kinda a re-birth.
BXA Howd you guys meet anyway?
Rev Just through some friends. Its not a really sweet story or anything.
Breezy It was when he was workin a straight job. He couldnt even play music for a year, so I didnt even know what he could do. I didnt even know that he played guitar or anything. I guess I really didnt know what I was getting myself into!
Rev And here we are!
BXA How long have you actually been together as a band?
Rev Weve been a Big Damn Band since around 2004. 6 or 7 years.
Breezy Most of that was playin on the front porch, ya know?
BXA I take it you enjoy the live show more than the studio?
Rev Studio makes us nervous. I like writin songs n playin songs for people, but the studio just makes me nervous. I dont know what it is about it.
Breezy We love to play live, or we wouldnt do 250 shows a year!
Rev When you get to feed off the crowd n all I mean, as far as Im concerned, a show is as much or more of the crowd than it is the band. The crowd can take a show from being an average, medium, mild show and make it an amazing show. The band can play the songs the exact same way.
Breezy We play the same if its for 5 or 5000.
Rev We hear, Oh, that was an awesome show, we loved it, and Ill think to myself, it was awesome because the crowd was good, ya know? We go
out n rock it like we always do.
BXA Its a great thing, and I can tell that you truly love what you do.
Rev We do.
Breezy Thats one thing. Maybe its because we come from a more roots musical background than most of the people here, but everybody should be backstage playin music! Thats what were doin on our bus! I walk around sometimes and nobodys playin music. Thats kinda a sign.
Rev I think music is powerful and I feel blessed to be able to do this and play for people. I feel a responsibility when I play a show. People paid money that they worked for, doin God knows what, diggin ditches, who knows? They deserve their moneys worth. No matter how I feel that day or whatever may have happened, they deserve a good show.
BXA You deliver on the same scale every time, I know that for a fact. And I respect that all day long. I love you guys and love the stuff you do. Cant wait to see the show today. Just do it like you always do. I cant say enough. Rev, Breezy, thanks again for taking the time to talk with Backstageaxxess.com.
Rev My pleasure, thank YOU!
For more information on Reverend Peyton and his Big Damn band, please go to: http://www.bigdamnband.com/.
