Reverend’s mission is sustaining tradition

By Jedd Ferris Daily Progress correspondent
Published: May 1, 2008

Josh Peyton is technically an ordained minister, but the spirit of the blues has taken him down a different career path.
On stage the burly, bearded youngster from the plains of Indiana is known as the Reverend Peyton. With his Big Damn Band he pumps out raucous Delta foot-stompers with gospel fire, but his days of preaching are over.
“It’s neither here nor there at this point, Peyton said. “I’ve sort of abandoned that path.”
He now spends his nights belting out belly-deep, edgy hill-country hollers that belong somewhere between a juke joint and an indie punk club. In addition to his own raw slide bottleneck guitar work, the 27-year-old Peyton is accompanied by his wife, Breezy, on washboard and brother Jayme on drums.
“I’ve been playing music since I was 12,” Peyton said. “There are two kinds of blues — city blues and country blues. We play country blues in the order of Charley Patton and John Hurt. We grew up in the country, and it just makes more sense.”
A few years ago the band caught a break in its home state by being invited to a music showcase in Indianapolis.
The performance immediately generated buzz, and the group has been on the road full-time ever since, even making a trek to play blues festivals in Europe.
The group has been embraced by the underground Americana scene that has driven other upstarts like the Avett Brothers and Langhorne Slim.
In addition to a high-energy live show, another thing Peyton guarantees is honest songwriting.
In speaking about his band’s debut album, “Big Damn Nation,” he promises that every song is nonfiction.
The lead track “My Old Man Boogie” is about his dad’s drinking. “Left Hand George” is a story song about a childhood acquaintance who killed his sister’s husband with one punch in a bar fight.
“I love the old traveling country blues pickers,” Peyton said.
“Hardly anyone plays that style anymore. It’s dying out. The best way for me to keep this stuff going is to be myself and write about my family and people I know. It’s all my firsthand experiences.”
The band visits Gravity Lounge on Monday night with support from local comedic folk-pop duo Barling and Collins.