Dustin Arbuckle & The Damnations have a new live EP, recorded at The Hook and Ladder Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The four-song set spotlights the musical partnership struck between the bandleader, guitarist Brandon Hudspeth, bassist Mark Foley and drummer Kendall Newby.
Arbuckle recently spoke with KMUW about the EP and his band’s history.
Interview Highlights
What led you to want to record at The Hook and Ladder?
It was kind of serendipitous, really. Last fall we had decided we wanted to record a new EP, but we were having a hard time deciding exactly where we wanted to record and when we'd all be free to get into the studio. We had a tour coming up that included a show at The Hook, and a couple weeks before the tour my friend Jackson Buck, who books the venue, reached out to tell me that the other two bands on the bill were planning to record their sets so they could have tracks for a split single. He asked if we wanted to go ahead and record our set, as well, and we jumped at the chance. I've wanted to record a live album for years, and this was the best opportunity we'd had to try it since we started the band. It all just came together. The Hook and Ladder Theatre is really a cool, unique, and good sounding venue, so it was a great location for the recording. We couldn't be much happier with how it all worked out.
What went into the selection of the material that’s on this new EP?
Since it was a live record, we thought it would be fun to focus on some of our favorite cover songs are a regular part of our live show. They're all great tunes, and not the kind of covers that you hear all the time. We did include one original song, a swing tune called "Spent The Rent" that was borrowed from Haymakers and given a little different vibe. We wanted the record to represent how many different styles of music we are apt to play in a given night, and I think it does that pretty well.
We always hear stories about live recordings presenting challenges. If you make a mistake, it’s on the tape forever. Did you go through any special mental preparation before the gig you recorded it at?
Honestly, not really. We just focused on filling the set list that night with tunes that we knew we'd been playing really well. It helped that we'd been on the road for over week leading up to that show, so we tight from the previous shows. It made for a good performance.
You’ve had The Damnations together as a band for a while now. What’s changed between when you formed and now?
Because of the way the band came together, we had to put a full night of music together pretty quickly, which meant putting together older original tunes from earlier projects, getting a few songs from a couple of friendly songwriters, and trying out of bunch of traditional and cover tunes. We didn't really get a chance to try and write much together till the band had been together for a little while. Recently we've been able to finally start focusing more on our own new original songs, so that's been a great step in continuing to establish who we really are as a band.
You’re not supposed to have favorites when it comes to songs but is there a track on this release that you feel especially strong about?
It's a tough choice, but I really feel good our performance on the old Hank Williams song, "Ramblin' Man". It's just a great song, and I a feel like we've found our own unique way of playing it. I think we captured a really strong performance of it on the EP.
You’ll do two release shows for this, one of them at The Shamrock in Wichita. That venue’s been hosting live music for a long time. In some ways it’s a kind of unexpected gem.
I think it's a bit unexpected in that if you don't know the place, it comes off like more of a neighborhood bar, but really is a great place to play and listen to music. They have consistently been one of the best venues in town for a while. I've had a lot of great shows at The Shamrock over the years. It's been in Wichita since the 30s and the room has a great, classic vibe to it. They've been very friendly to live music, both under the former owner Dave Stough, and have continued to be since Justin Brown took over recently. I'm very glad that it worked out for us to do the release show there.
What happens next for The Damnations?
Hopefully, we continue to grow and evolve musically. The next few months are pretty busy. We'll be going to Europe for the first time from late April through most of May, then some nice festivals here in North America over the summer. We're also in the process of recording our first full length studio album, which should be done within the next few months.
Jedd Beaudoin is the host of Strange Currency. Follow him on Twitter @JeddBeaudoin.
