Pat Logterman plays bass and sings for The Dirty Shirts.
Today's highlighted Madison-based musical act is The Dirty Shirts.
Country crunk, roots skronk, honky-tonk; it's all a matter of course for The Dirty Shirts, an old-school hinterland band based in Madison. This five-piece bluegrass supergroup plays a variety of honky-tonk standards by the greats, musicians like Hank Williams, George Jones, Gram Parsons, Roger Miller, Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash, Buck Owens, Lefty Frizell, and Willie Nelson, among others.
Here is how the band describes its live show:
Perhaps you've resolved to see more honky-tonk music this year. And who could blame you? For you are the type of person who revels in the real-life stories of the down and out, who tinkers with the twangy, who is shaken by the shuffle-beat and slide of a steady steel guitar. You, my friend, are in luck. For the second time in three weeks, the Dirty Shirts will take the stage of a Madison watering hole, perhaps convincing you to slip around on the dance floor with a beverage of your choice.
Who are The Dirty Shirts? From the Cork 'n' Bottle String Band comes Pat Logterman (on the bass and vocals) and Kurt Kellesvig (on the lap steel), while Jeff Burkhart (on guitar and vocals) and Colin Bazsali (on drums and vocals) also boast membership in the Cajun Strangers. Then there's the Ted Weigl, once of Cornelius Klein and a sound engineer that the band describes as knowing 'every riff from 1960 to 1997." More details about all five band members can be found here.
There are more than a few samples of the band's music at thedirtyshirts.com. This includes a series of five "rough recordings" from September 2006 ("If You've Got the Money, I've Got the Time," "Drinking Too Much," "Swinging Doors," "Walking the Floor," and "Invitation to the Blues'), and a nine-song set from "Back to the County," a Wednesday morning program on WORT 89.9 FM hosted by Bill Malone. Four of these songs are also available on the group's MySpace page.
The Dirty Shirts are hitting the stage about twice every month over this winter. One of their recent performances was on Friday, Dec. 22, 2006 at the High Noon Saloon, where they celebrated "The 12 Days of Dirty Shirts." To drum up interest in the show, the band encouraged listeners to submit a ditty for each day, with the winners getting published online. By the time of the show, The Dirty Shirts had received "twelve rainbow monkeys, eleven in-laws griping, ten drunks-a-drinking, nine hippies dancing, eight boxes of baking soda, seven pink leg warmers, six hounds a howlin', FIVE MICRO CUBES!, four unraveled sweaters, three used La-Z-Boys, two clumsy lovers and a can of pork and beans" over all twelve days.
Their next show is this Saturday, Jan. 27, when they will play at the King Club with The Orange Whips and Cribshitter in a show otherwise known as "The Wisconsin Poop Explosion." Following shows include a stop at the Cuda Cafà in Deerfield on Saturday, Feb. 17, a stop at the Crystal Corner Bar on Saturday, Mar. 10, and a pair of gigs at the High Noon on Apr. 10 and 27.
This is the latest featured entry from the Madison Music Project, an online database of Madison-area musicians. Please register or update your current profile on the project for consideration in these highlights.
