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The Chickasaw Mudd Puppies
Return After a Two-Decade Hiatus
T wenty years ago, Ben Reynolds and Brant Slay were
delightful, bluesy stand-outs in the crowded Athens
music scene. As the Chickasaw Mudd Puppies, they
strummed, stomped, hollered and carried on like a
couple of tipsy hillbilly rockers.
The twosome called it quits in 1992. But this year, on
the heels of an unexpected reunion in the studio, the Mudd
Puppies are back in action.
"It's hard for me to look back at it and say what we were or
what we are now," says Reynolds, who handled electric guitar
and shared vocal duties. "We certainly didn't plan on being a
kind of novelty act, although it did sort of turn into that at
one point. For us, it was all about the music. We had a great
time doing it, and there was
some sort of weird chemistry §
between us." *
Formed in 1988, the duo |
played around town and took %
their act on the road behind a 33
small pile of recordings. Fans
loved their onstage enthusi
asm and backwoods image.
Critics raved about their
Southern personality, bluesy
style and Slay's stompbox,
harmonica, washboard and
battery of homemade per- .
cussion instruments. Fellow
musicians admired their raw-
but-effective technique.
"Neither one of us had any
plans on being professional
musicians," says Reynolds.
"Although, that would be my
dream job. In some ways, it
still is my dream job, but it's
nothing I ever thought I'd
be doing. We just simply got
together and started playing."
Their show wasn't a silly
novelty act. On their kiosk
flyers and promo photos, the
longhaired, overall-clad Mudd
Puppies looked a little crazy
and weird, but onstage, the
music stood up. Their punkish
blend of swamp blues, rocka
billy, country and Appalachian folk styles was mighty power
ful. Slay's boot-stomping performance style and rowdy harp
work complemented Reynolds' twangy guitar tones and riffs. It
rocked and grooved in a unique way.
"I can't tell you how talented I think Brant is," says
Reynolds. "He somehow makes me sound good, which is dif
ficult," he laughs. "It's not like we're virtuosos at what we do,
but Brant's a natural talent. For me, I'm just a basic guitar
player who can beat the hell out of a guitar."
In 1989, the Mudd Puppies issued their debut on the small
California indie label Texas Hotel Records.
"When we were dealing with Texas Hotel, we were really
excited because they had some great artists, like Vic Chesnutt,
Poi Oog Pondering and the Rollins Band. They had a hard time,
though. They'd make promises that they weren't in the position
to follow through with."
After a frustrating period of delays and complications with
Texas Hotel, the duo signed to Wing Records, a subsidiary of
Mercury/PolyGram, in 1990. The album White Dirt came out
that year, followed by 8 Track Stomp (co-produced by Willie
Dixon and Michael Stipe) in '91.
"I liked the idea of being on an indie label, but I liked the
idea of getting out there and playing music," Reynolds says.
"That just wasn't happening with Texas Hotel, for one reason
or another. When we went with a major label, we were able to
record and get out and tour all around the States, Canada and
England."
From 1990 to '92, the Mudd Puppies warmed up for the likes
of The Rave-Ups, Violent Femmes, The Waterboys, The Feelies,
Jane's Addiction and The Bad Livers. They toured regularly with
Beggar Weeds. In the U.K., they opened for Bingo Hand Job,
R.E.M.'s collaborated with Billy Bragg, Peter Holsapple (of The
dB's), and Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians.
"By that time, it was the era of record labels signing indie
bands and then spitting them back out," remembers Reynolds.
"They realized that everybody wasn't going to be R.E.M.
PolyGram decided to keep Ugly Kid Joe and dump us.
"I think we handled some of the business side of things
poorly because we took the advice of experts," he adds.
"One thing I've learned about it is to always follow your
’ conscience."
After an amicable split in
'92, Reynolds and Slay went
back to school, worked day
jobs and started families.
Reynolds currently works as
a photography professor at
the University of Georgia.
Slay is now a land protection
manger for the Georgia Nature
Conservancy.
"Brant and I kept in touch,
but we hadn't been in close
contact until a couple of years
ago when someone got in
touch with us about music for
an indie film," Reynolds says.
Director Simon West's 2011
film The Mechanic used the
scratchy romper "Chickenbone"
in the original soundtrack. The
song was originally released
under the title "Ponky Knot"
on White Dirt. Over a raw blues
riff from Reynolds, Slay's high-
toned whoops, washboard
rhythms and rapid-fire hick-
rap skills are on full display on
the track.
"We decided to re-record it
under a new title with John
Keane," says Reynolds. "It was
the first time we got together
like that in a long time. We
decided to do a few shows to see how it went, and it was a lot
of fun."
That experience in Keane's studio sparked a casual reunion.
They played a handful of shows around the Southeast, includ
ing a stint at South by Southwest in Austin. The Mudd
Puppies shared the stage with old cronies Beggar Weeds (from
Jacksonville) at the Melting Point during a local reunion gig
in April. Drummer Alan Cowart kept time with Reynolds and
Slay onstage; it looks like he's been enlisted as the official
drummer.
"Alan's a great drummer, and we're all like family," says
Reynolds. "We're all like one big band and one big family, like
always, so it made some sense to play with him when we got
back together. It's fun to revisit this stuff with new ears and
old ears. If we can write some new songs and play them out,
instead of just playing old stuff, I think we'll stick around for
a while."
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