Southern Culture on the Skids

Southern Culture on the Skids are one of my favourite bands - but they're more than a band really, they've become the embodiment of the development on southern rock'n'roll over the last three decades.



Focussing on the trio of Dave Hartman, Rick Miller and the glamorous Mary Huff, out of North Carolina, their music takes a wry and sympathetic look at modern trash culture and the effects it has on working class people in the south. "A lot of our songs are little things out of our daily lives that we've grown up with," says Rick.

The band have their own recording at the Kudzu Ranch, also the title of their latest album. They will often record a track in two or three different styles before deciding which version to put on the album. "We basically fight with one another to decide which take makes the album," Rick explains, "The person who sings it gets the last call usually. Dave and I really liked the rockabilly version of 'Bad Boys,' for example, but Mary liked the garage version of it because she does deliver it with a snarl, and she's right that it is better. We've been a band so long it's like fighting with your family over what channel to watch. Usually the fights are OK, but a lot of people get shot over stuff like that sometimes!"