There must be something in the water in Asheville, NC. Whatever it is, it brings out the best in young musicians, fueling their ability to captivate audiences with a range of styles , from electronica to Afrobeat to Southern Rock. Velvet Truckstop falls in the latter category, with a sweet convergence of intricate james and dirty Blues. Rather than basking in the legacies of the artists and bands who have come before, the quintet – Jamie Dose, Dorsey Parker, Brad Curtioff, Jerry McNeely, and Chris “Fuzzy” Coomes – is pushing the genre into a new exciting realm.

2009 saw the release of the bands studio debut, SWEET RELEASE, a collection of tried-and-true, road-tested compositions that burn with the intensity of an oil-drum fire pit on a cold January night. Raw guitars, gravel vocals and understated keys make SWEET RELEASE a rock ‘n’ roll salute. From the slinking “Sullen Women” to the rollicking “Mercenary Wind,” Velvet Truckstop proves over and over that not only will the South rise again, but that it is one of the bands who are stoking the flames and conjuring the spirits. This is whiskey-drinking music at its finest, served straight, with no chaser necessary.

by Jamie Lee

Velvet Truckstop

There comes a moment at every SXSW. Your feet hurt. You can’t bear to over hear one more name-dropping conversation or see one more person glued to their iPhone while a band is killing it a few feet away. You are tired of wading through the mess on 6th Street. You are just plain tired, only averaging about four hours of sleep a night. That’s when you need something to remind you why you’re here, and I couldn’t have asked for better medicine than Velvet Truckstop. Crammed into a sweaty Nuno’s, VT laid down rock and roll salvation of the highest order. With their lofty electric blues, driving southern rock jams and echoes of The Band and Wilco, they gave me, and several others, the will to dance down the last hours until closing time. Readers, you need to get acquainted with Velvet Truckstop. These cats are cut from some genuine cloth, the kind of band that pulls you through the rough times and sends you out into the night with a romping “Hallelujah!” Guitarist Dorsey Parker was especially tapped into something huge, making it look so damn easy but one glance at his fingers moving across his axe left your head spinning. They got songwriting skills that bow towards the classic, such as the asphalt-scarred “Carolina Way,” where Jamie Dose sings about the “broken dreams and guitar strings” that litter the highway while you’re chasing a dream. But you keep pushing on regardless, because you believe in what you’re doing. If that’s not what SXSW is ultimately all about, then I don’t know what is.

WNCW’S TOP 20 Regional CD’s OF 2009

1 Avett Brothers – I and Love And You
2 Dehlia Low – Tellico
3 Firecracker Jazz Band – Red Hot Band
4 Honeycutters – Irene
5 Velvet Truckstop – Sweet Release
6 Mad Tea Party – Zombie Boogie
7 Stephanie’s Id – Warm People
8 Sons of Ralph – When I Find Time
9 Yo Mama’s Big Fat Booty Band – Greatest Hips vol. 2
10 Possum Jenkins – Possum Jenkins and Their Collection of Bad Habits
11 Dave Desmelik – Onlooker
12 Laura Reed and Deep Pocket – Live at Tree Sound
13 Angela Easterling – Blacktop Road
14 Scott Miller – For Crying Out Loud
15 Cary Fridley – Fare You Well
16 Jill Andrews – EP
17 Floating Action – Floating Action
18 Christabel and the Jons – Custom Made For You
19 Lance Mills – Wore Out Shoes
20 Stereofidelics – Only Sleeping

Velvet Truckstop’s Sweet Release (self-released) feels like a set you might catch in a forgotten watering hole, where those notes make you shrug off what darkness lies beyond that swinging door. It’s the sound of neon stars sparkling in dingy-bar band dreams, breathing whiskey-kissed vapors down your neck and beckoning you to a scuffed dance floor. VT possess classic rock-and-roll elements, potently muddled, from Jamie Dose’s invitingly gruff-around-the-edges vocals, to Dorsey Parker’s fleet-footed guitar turns, to Brad Curtioff’s muscular B3 and jangly piano. With some notable guests lending their chops, like Buddy Cage (pedal steel), Tom Constanten (piano and B3), and Artimus Pyle (percussion), it’s clear these cats have some seriously infectious charms. Populated with highway-weary lovers (the winning “Carolina Way”) and the road’s siren call (the driving “Mercenary Wind”), their songs aim for the heart of Allmans and Skynyrd traveling territory, with shifts into workingman’s blues. “My health plan/Is I don’t get sick/Ten dollars an hour/And I’m glad to get it,” Dose growls on raucous, brass-peppered closer “Lover Liar.” A thoroughly satisfying slice of straight-up southern rock from some boys who sure know how to lay it down.

As a band from the South whose musical roots
are clearly from there, it’s interesting that Velvet
Truckstop bears shades of rural rock ‘n’ roll as
well as the West Coast brand of the same music.
For as much as they dig deep into a well of guttural
playing and raw sounds, they exhibit the softness
and caress of something like the Grateful Dead on
“Box” or “Mercenary Wind.” Songs where guitar
crunch is coupled with effective breaks, like on
tracks “Sweet Release” and “Resting Place,” serve
both as stomping power and hip, deep grooves. By
album’s end the band is firing full tilt, seemingly
saving it up for the explosive and funky “Lover
Liar,” which exudes Memphis sound by way of
Detroit, complete with horns, wah-wah guitar and
a smooth construction eager to go ballistic.
The band swaggers on Sweet Release, laying
in background harmonies and raindrop-trickling
piano notes that seems to cleanse the cigarette and
beer-soaked environment the music inhabits. The
piano playing here is a texture that really blankets,
only slightly more than the slide guitar playing.
Both are effective and emotionally powerful
additions that accompany the vibe, versus merely
lending another sound. Jamie Dose’s vocals are a
gentle growl throughout, moving from soothing
to haggard with scant effort. He sings with ease,
like delivering songs on a porch to family and
neighbors. It’s emblematic of the album’s whole – a
collection of music that is ragged and colorful, laid
back with subtle vibrancy.

Velvet Truckstop is one of four bands selected to participate in the first round of the Deep South Battle of the Bands to be held at Deep South Bar in Raleigh on March 14th. Deep South Entertainment is known for bringing national talent to Raleigh and Nashville, and we are excited to be a part of this event.

Velvet Truckstop
Sweet Release
By Brian Robbins
January 18, 2010

From the kitchen of Velvet Truckstop – Sweet Release recipe:

1.) In a mason jar, mix equal parts Drive-By-Truckers-style crunch, chamois shirt soul, Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers, and vintage Band-ish blues. Don’t be afraid to play with the mix as the song requires, but make sure there’s always enough of it all in there so that the Velvet Truckstop flavor comes through.

2.) Add one big ol’ dollop of jam (just enough to let folks know that you ain’t scared of it – nossir). Note: the song always comes first, though.

3.) Top the rascal off right to the rim with clear, cold water from a creek in Black Mountain NC. (Accept no substitutes.)

4.) Invite some talented friends in to help stir things up, including pedal steel monster Buddy Cage (New Riders of the Purple Sage) and good ol’ Tom Constanten (Grateful Dead, of course) on keys.

5.) Let ‘er wail.

Recipe notes: Sweet Release may be Velvet Truckstop’s debut album, but it sounds like the work of a band who’s comfortable in its own skin and knows what it wants to sound like. Constanten and Cage, being the pros that they are, step onboard only to serve the song; Sweet Release is a solid sample of Velvet Truckstop’s voice from beginning to end. They ain’t tryin’ to be nobody but themselves.

Here are the stations that are playing the new album in the early going of the promotions. Please call your local radio station and request SWEET RELEASE from Velvet Truckstop.

ALAMBAMA
AUBURN
WEGL

AUBURN
WMSR

FLORIDA
TAMPA
WMNF

FT LAUDERDALE
WNSU

KENTUCKY
MOORHEAD
WMKY

WHITLEY CITY
WHAY

LA
LAFAYETTE
KRVS

MARYLAND
BEL AIR
WHFC

MOSSOURI
COLUMBIA
KOPN

NORTH CAROLINA
SPINDALE
WNCW

DALLAS
WSGE

CHAPEL HILL
WXYC

TENNESSEE
CHATTANOOGA
WAWL

TEXAS
FREDERICKSBURG
KFAN

HOUSTON
KPFT

VIRGINIA
FARMVILLE
WMLU

VIRGINIA BEACH
WRRW

VT album review from Houston, TX

Thanks to Kim Clark and WNCW you can request VT on-line or by phone! Help us spread the word by giving them a call!