New tracks were recorded, and a second EP was released with the title Fervor. This was no joke.”ĮMI signed the Scorchers in 1983, and producer/engineer Terry Manning was brought on board. Guterman would later write that it “captured the explosive band in its untutored infancy…Across its four terse, hilarious songs – full of rants against British hair bands, analyses of Jerry Falwell’s shortcomings as a marriage counselor, and an irreverent homage to Hank Williams – the band was able to erect a sound that approximated nothing so much as Joe Strummer hurling a wrecking ball through the Grand Ole Opry. EP, Reckless Country Soul, in 1982 on the independent Praxis label. The Scorchers released their debut, D.I.Y. His own dancing during the rocking numbers suggested (The Honeymooners’) Ed Norton on methamphetamines, but when he strapped on his acoustic guitar and stood center stage, no one could argue that he wasn’t haunted by the ghosts of Hank Williams and Lefty Frizzell.” Whether he stood at the lip of the stage, leaning over the audience, sucking a cigarette, or he spun himself into speedy circles that would have made any mere mortal dizzy, Hodges personified the country boy too thrilled to be rocking to care how ridiculous he looked. Drummer Perry Baggs concentrated on destroying his snare with style, and bassist Jeff Johnson stood intent and rail-straight, an ideal foil for the two wild men up front…Guitarist Warner Hodges slid from delicate lap steel to Keith Richards-style guitar heroics without making one seem like a departure from the other. “onstage, the early Scorchers…eschew all subtlety. ‘Like a religious service,’ he said wistfully, ‘only a lot dirtier.'” Rock critic Jimmy Guterman reports that in late 1983, during a concert held “in the basement of a now-boarded Philadelphia dive…Jason Ringenberg balanced himself on a rickety stool…and wished aloud what he wanted his band to sound like. This made The Scorchers a natural for eclectic venues such as Nashville’s Exit/In. Jason and the Scorchers were something of a novelty in their hometown, Nashville, Tennessee, as their ragged, high-energy music was somewhat unprecedented. He was introduced to his original Scorcher bandmates through the independent Praxis record label, and the group soon established a strong reputation among indie rock circles.Īlthough country rock and rockabilly were not new concepts, they predated the raw sound of ’70s punk and ’80s alternative rock, and by the ’80s, most country music resembled mainstream pop. Ringenberg disbanded Shakespeare’s Riot and moved to Nashville in 1981. Named after an oblique reference to the Astor Place Riot, Shakespeare’s Riot played Ringenberg’s original compositions, rockabilly songs and other similar styled tunes by Bob Dylan and Tom Petty) adapted to his high-energy country rock style. In late 1979, Ringenberg formed his first band, Shakespeare’s Riot, the precursor of the Scorchers. Jason and the Scorchers released their latest album Halcyon Times in February 2010.Ī native of Sheffield, Illinois, Ringenberg attended Southern Illinois University at Carbondale and was a member of a short-lived acoustic trio in 1978. Jason and the Scorchers have maintained a loyal core group of fans around the world for more than 30 years. With a sound that combines hard rock, punk rock and country music, Jason and the Scorchers are noted for their energetic live performances, and have earned strong reviews from critics, including Mark Deming, who declared they “blazed a trail for the cowpunk and alt-country movements that followed in their wake.” Jason & the Scorchers, originally Jason & the Nashville Scorchers, are a Cowpunk / Country rock band that formed in 1981 and is led by singer/songwriter Jason Ringenberg.
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