CATHERINE PARKER
In its current lineup as a three-person band, local sensation the Chubby Knuckle Choir — which includes two musicians hailing from Taylor — recently sat down to talk music after a gig at Rodeo Austin.
As a band entering its fourth decade next year, its playlist and members have changed over the years. However, during the creative process, its two original partners have grown musically and remain a constant thread.
The memorable name of the band, according to the group’s website, “came from former bass man, and original member Curtis Farley in a comedic moment, while working in Twisted Twig Studio with current members Perry Lowe and Rory Smith. Their style is categorized as blues rock but it often crosses several genres ... so they call it acid-funk-soul-grass.”
BACK TO THE 1980S
Lowe and Smith, a Taylor resident, talk about the early years of Chubby Knuckle Choir and Bastrop High School.
“We actually put a band together,” Lowe said of the era. “We had like 10 pieces in the band.”
”We played with two keyboards. Keyboards were big in the ’80s,” Smith added. “We had three backup singers.”
“I was a backup singer. I always wanted to play drums,” Lowe said of the early years when his brother was the more experienced drummer.
“I was in the church choir,” Smith added. “And I could dance.”
“Well, half of the band was brothers or cousins,” he added with a nostalgic smile. “We always sang our own songs. I don’t think we ever did any covers; we never learned any covers.”
THE CHUBBY KNUCKLE CHOIR’S MUSIC
From the early years of learning their craft to the present, Chubby Knuckle Choir’s sound has evolved. With people in the music business always wanting to slap a label on their output, the band’s music has been called many things over the years.
“We say it’s ‘rocking soul,’” Smith said. “We could all be studio musicians, rap, gospel or anything like that if we really wanted to,” said Justin Cody King, the guitarist, newest member and also a Taylor resident.
“Music is music, whatever feels good,” he added.
Influences include sounds from the “sixties to early ‘80s,” King said. “That’s the window we stay in.”
“We work in everybody — Johnny Cash in our set, Merle Haggard in the set sometimes. We work in Bill Withers, Otis Redding and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers along with our original music,” Smith said.
“Our originals are in the same vein, where we cover country, R&B and rock,” Smith added.
Even after four decades, though, the band is open to new influences, including Leon Bridges.
Another is “Clouddriver, a Taiwanese guy. It’s pretty crazy to hear someone singing soul in Taiwanese, but it sounds soulful,” King added.
H.E.R. spoke to Smith, especially her guitar work.
“South Korean gospel choir, it’s like they went to church somewhere in Alabama,” Smith added.
MEMBERS OF THE BAND Smith is a vocalist and bass player, playing a Squier bass. As he sings, he is known to interact with the audience, his smiles beckoning from the stage.
King plays a Squier Telecaster his wife purchased from Karch Music in Taylor. He explained the “mods,” or modifications, he made to his guitar.
“It had a Union Jack on it and I ripped that off and now it is a nice, beautiful blonde,” he said. “I changed out the pick guard and the tremolo bar does not work. He’s gonna go out of tune and never come back again, so it’s just for aesthetics.”
Lowe lives in Bastrop and plays what he describes as his “Franken Drums.” With a cajon (a type of box drum) that he operates with a pedal, he also has a hi-hat, a snare drum, a floor tom and a Djembe (a type of African drum). After years of breaking down his drum kit, he has edited his sound, tired of being the last guy in the car.
“Nobody helps the drummer pack,” Smith quipped.
He added the trio all have day jobs. According to Lowe, he turned to gardening after music venues shuttered a few years ago, especially tomatoes.
Smith, a chef when he’s not playing bass, added, “I love growing tomatoes, too.”
Then King added, “‘Homegrown Tomatoes’ by Guy Clark,” referring to the 1981 song.
The musicians all share a hobby, too. “Craft beer,” King said. “We do a lot of beer drinking.”
MUSIC FESTIVAL SEASON During the last few years, the group has played the summertime Viva Big Bend, local Bastrop Music Festival and April’s Conroe Crossroads Music Festival.
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