Southern Culture on the Skids w/ Rockin' Scott and the Hot Shots

Bio

Southern Culture On The Skids has been consistently recording and touring around the world since 1983. The band (Rick Miller – guitar and vocals, Mary Huff – bass and vocals, Dave Hartman – drums) has been playing together for over 30 years. Their musical journey has taken them from all-night North Carolina house parties to late night TV talk shows (Conan O’Brien, The Tonight Show), from performing at the base of Mt. Fuji in Japan to rockin’ out for the inmates at North Carolina correctional facilities. They’ve shared a stage with many musical luminaries including Link Wray, Loretta Lynn, Hasil Adkins and Patti Smith. Their music has been featured in movies and TV, parodied by Weird Al, and used to sell everything from diamonds to pork sausage. In 2014 the band was honored by the Southern Folklife Collection at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill with an exhibition featuring their music and cultural contributions. Their legendary live shows are a testament to the therapeutic powers of foot-stomping, butt-shaking rock and roll and what Rolling Stone dubbed “a hell raising rock and roll party.”

At Home with Southern Culture on the Skids is the latest full length album from the band and was released in March of 2021. It was recorded during the stay at home period of the pandemic when the band was at home and not touring. The album consists of 11 tracks recorded and mixed in Rick Miller’s living room with some additional tracks recorded at his studio, The Kudzu Ranch.

The first radio single off the album is “Run Baby Run”—a rocking number with deep garage roots. SCOTS bassist Mary Huff provides an urgent vocal while the band pulls back the throttle on a full race fuzz fest—cause she’s gotta to go fast! Run Baby Run!

The other songs on the album are a combination of the band’s unique mix of musical genres: rock and roll, surf, folk and country—all a bit off-center, what Rick proudly calls “our wobbly Americana”. Rick goes on, “We put a few more acoustic guitars on this one, as you would expect if you recorded in your living room, but it still rocks like SCOTS. So put your headphones on, get in your favorite chair/sofa/recliner, put on “At Home With” and let’s hang out for a while.”

Rockin' Scott and the Hot Shots Bio

For over half of a century, Scott Alexander has been playing and singing blues and roots rock & roll, seasoned with the spicy flavor of New Orleans R&B. He has appeared on stage with such artists as Taj Mahal, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, Roomful of Blues, and Chuck Leavell, and has opened for the likes of James Cotton, Doctor John, and George Thorogood and the Destroyers.

Scott played piano on the early recordings of Tinsley Ellis and the Heartfixers, including their collaboration with Nappy Brown on his critically acclaimed Landslide / Alligator Records comeback effort: “Tore Up”.

In the 1980’s, Scott founded the Night Flight All Stars, which morphed into the Savannah All Stars after the close of the renowned Night Flight Cafe. Today, he has reunited with veterans from that original group, bassist Mike Perry and drummer Jesse Jordan, to form his trio, Rockin’ Scott & the Hot Shots. Together, they cook up a tasty gumbo of fun for their listeners!

Rockin’ Scott’s style is heavily influenced by the icons of the New Orleans R&B piano tradition: Huey Piano Smith, Professor Longhair, Fats Domino, and Doctor John. An aficionado of Chuck Berry’s piano partner Johnny Johnson, and Big Joe Turner’s right-hand-man Pete Johnson, Scott’s playing and singing is anchored in the bluesy, R&B-influenced roots of rock & roll.

Mike Perry grew up in a house full of musicians, and knew early that music was his passion. A fixture in the Savannah area, Mike has played has played every type of establishment from churches to gentlemen’s clubs, from military bases to prisons. A longtime member of the Perry Brothers and G.E. Perry; Strange Brew, and currently supporting nationally celebrated blues rocker Eric Culberson, Mike has played in countless bands and has the stories and chops to show for it.

In the 1970’s, Jesse Jordan was the heartbeat of the locally renowned Veraflames, the closest thing to a house band holding forth at Savannah’s famous Night Flight Café. A music educator and master of many styles, Jesse’s extensive drumming experience includes working with such artists as Huxsie Scott, Jack Williams and John Brannen, and a stint in the house band for Savannah’s premiere riverboat attraction, the Georgia Queen.

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