Backstage at the Flogging
Molly Green 17 tour, there are some real
characters sitting around a poker table. An Irish
Punk with a bowler cap playing a banjo, a roadie
who looks like a reject from the Hell’s Angels, but the
real oddity is the three piece standing by the door,
waiting to take the stage. A large man (both height
and weight), with a look that seemed to be pulled from
“O Brother, Where art Thou?” A shabby, untrimmed
beard projected from his jaw with no space unfilled on
the lower half of his face. A hat, used to protect
depression-era farmers from the sun, sat atop his
rounded head, and denim overalls were pulled over his
rounded belly. Next to the Reverend stood a woman
of equal mass and height wearing a full dress with a
washboard strapped around her neck. On her hands
were cloth gloves that looked perfect for gardening.
With them was a shorter man, very thin, wearing a t-
shirt and shorts; the only one that fit in with the rest of
the crowd. My next exposure to this trio was a few
minutes later. We walked downstairs to the floor of
the venue and grabbed some beer. From the left, we
heard a siren alarm. The spotlight pointed at this mass
of a man as he shouted some barely legible statements
through a megaphone and made his way through the
crowd and up to the stage.
The “Big Damn Band” consists of only three
people: “The Reverend” Josh Peyton (yes, he is truly
an ordained minister) on guitar and lead vocals,
“Washboard” Breezy Peyton on Washboard (hence the
cool nickname), and Jayme Peyton on Drums. The
band started when Rev met up with his now wife
Breezy. She introduced him to the music of Jimbo
Mathis and his band The Squirrel Nut Zippers. Rev,
who had already given up on music due to a build-up
of scar tissue in his left hand, gained a renewed
interest in the guitar and seeked out a doctor to aid his
ailment. After a successful surgery, Rev is now an
extremely talented guitarist in both a picking and
Molly Green 17 tour, there are some real
characters sitting around a poker table. An Irish
Punk with a bowler cap playing a banjo, a roadie
who looks like a reject from the Hell’s Angels, but the
real oddity is the three piece standing by the door,
waiting to take the stage. A large man (both height
and weight), with a look that seemed to be pulled from
“O Brother, Where art Thou?” A shabby, untrimmed
beard projected from his jaw with no space unfilled on
the lower half of his face. A hat, used to protect
depression-era farmers from the sun, sat atop his
rounded head, and denim overalls were pulled over his
rounded belly. Next to the Reverend stood a woman
of equal mass and height wearing a full dress with a
washboard strapped around her neck. On her hands
were cloth gloves that looked perfect for gardening.
With them was a shorter man, very thin, wearing a t-
shirt and shorts; the only one that fit in with the rest of
the crowd. My next exposure to this trio was a few
minutes later. We walked downstairs to the floor of
the venue and grabbed some beer. From the left, we
heard a siren alarm. The spotlight pointed at this mass
of a man as he shouted some barely legible statements
through a megaphone and made his way through the
crowd and up to the stage.
The “Big Damn Band” consists of only three
people: “The Reverend” Josh Peyton (yes, he is truly
an ordained minister) on guitar and lead vocals,
“Washboard” Breezy Peyton on Washboard (hence the
cool nickname), and Jayme Peyton on Drums. The
band started when Rev met up with his now wife
Breezy. She introduced him to the music of Jimbo
Mathis and his band The Squirrel Nut Zippers. Rev,
who had already given up on music due to a build-up
of scar tissue in his left hand, gained a renewed
interest in the guitar and seeked out a doctor to aid his
ailment. After a successful surgery, Rev is now an
extremely talented guitarist in both a picking and
strumming style. The band has received acclaim in the
blues genre and people in the punk and indie scene are
beginning to take notice as well. Rev Peyton’s Big Damn
Band have played with the likes of Susan Tedeschi, The
Derek Trucks Band, and were the support act on Flogging
Molly’s 2008 Green 17 Tour. They are currently signed
to Family Owned Records, distributed by NAIL
Distribution, and you can order their albums from their
website, www.bigdamnband.com. [Anthony Augustine]
blues genre and people in the punk and indie scene are
beginning to take notice as well. Rev Peyton’s Big Damn
Band have played with the likes of Susan Tedeschi, The
Derek Trucks Band, and were the support act on Flogging
Molly’s 2008 Green 17 Tour. They are currently signed
to Family Owned Records, distributed by NAIL
Distribution, and you can order their albums from their
website, www.bigdamnband.com. [Anthony Augustine]
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