The Dirt Daubers – ‘Wake Up, Sinners’ (COLONEL KNOWLEDGE/THIRTY TIGERS)
The deeper the Roots, the closer to heaven must be carved over the doorway that leads in to The Dirt Daubers. The band take a messianic message and turn it up to eleven on “Wake Up, Sinners”. Raising a ruckus out of Paducah, Kentucky, The Dirt Daubers are a three piece containing Colonel J.D. Wilkes of The Legendary Shack Shakers, his wife Jessica and stand up bassman Mark Robertson. ‘Wake Up Sinners’ is a holy hootenanny cramming thumped-up ragtime, disgruntled jazz and Appalachian music into thirteen songs. Vocals are shared with The Colonel (banjo, French harp, piano, accordion, kazoo) and Jessica (tenor guitar, mandolin, tenor banjo).
The lessons of life are re-told in “Be Not Afraid” as Jessica Wilkes holds on to safe words of her youth
and the phrases coming from those who have lost their youth while still young “the boys don’t like the good girls no more”. ‘Wake Up, Sinners’ provides advice for those looking to rise from the grave and the ones who would rather dance on top. Sinners and saints can benefit from the testifying of The Dirt Daubers. The traditional title track puts faith on the front burner to “prepare for that great day to come” as original “Can’t Go to Heaven” encourages with do’s and don’t’s for the great beyond. The line between traditional songs and self –penned songs is non-existent. Riding a railroad beat, “Angel on the TracK” clicks along, “Get Outta My Way” does One-Step at full throttle and “She and Us Pets” performs at as three piece minstrel show.
The common ground for the music Is the playing of The Dirt Daubers. Their enthusiasm with which they play is tangible, and infectious. The rhythms are bare boned skeletons, the passion forming the flesh. The constant force of the trio propels blood through your system faster than morning coffee or late night overindulgences. The band weave a southern spell in their stories and raise hell with their beats. It is a heavenly stew, with the devil on your left shoulder and the angel on your right each having their say. Danny McCloskey
