Kudzu Kings is an

alternative country Alternative country, or alternative country rock (sometimes alt-country, insurgent country, Americana, or y'allternative), is a loosely defined subgenre of country music and/or country rock that includes acts that differ significantly in style ...

roots rock Roots rock is a genre of rock music that looks back to rock's origins in folk, blues and country music. It is particularly associated with the creation of hybrid subgenres from the later 1960s, including blues rock, country rock, Southern rock, ...

jam band A jam band is a musical group whose concerts (and live albums) are characterized by lengthy improvisational "jams." These include extended musical improvisation over rhythmic grooves and chord patterns, and long sets of music which often cr ...

from

Oxford, Mississippi Oxford is a city and college town in the U.S. state of Mississippi. Oxford lies 75 miles (121 km) south-southeast of Memphis, Tennessee, and is the county seat of Lafayette County. Founded in 1837, it was named after the British city of Oxf ...

. Their sound has been categorized as a blend of

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

, bluegrass and improvisational

rock & roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm an ...

. The band was actively together and toured aggressively for almost ten years (1994–2003). Today, Kudzu Kings play regularly in the Southeast for festivals, benefits, obscure astrological events, or big paychecks to tamper with their unique chemistry. In addition, members are working on various projects, both solo and with other Kudzu members; some current projects the Kings have sired are Pithecanfunkus Erectus, Tate Moore and the Cosmic Door, Effie Burt Band, Hemptones, Sparkle Pants, Blackbird Hour, and Rocket 88. In their touring years together, the band garnered substantial success in the

Southeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

, and

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, in addition to spreading their base to the rest of the nation and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

with a number of tours. They have shared the stage many times with

Widespread Panic Widespread Panic is an American rock band from Athens, Georgia. The current lineup includes guitarist/singer John Bell, bassist Dave Schools, drummer Duane Trucks, percussionist Domingo "Sunny" Ortiz, keyboardist John "JoJo" Hermann, and guit ...

(with whom longtime Kudzu guitarist

George McConnell George McConnell is an American singer from Vicksburg, Mississippi. He played for the bands Widespread Panic, Kudzu Kings, and Beanland. History George McConnell attended the University of Mississippi, where he was in the Sigma Alpha Epsilo ...

eventually joined up with in 2002), as well as with many other artists, including

Bob Weir Robert Hall Weir ( ; né Parber, born October 16, 1947) is an American musician and songwriter best known as a founding member of the Grateful Dead. After the group disbanded in 1995, Weir performed with The Other Ones, later known as The Dead ...

and

Rob Wasserman Rob Wasserman (April 1, 1952 – June 29, 2016) was an American composer and bass player. A Grammy Award and NEA grant winner, he played and recorded with a wide variety of musicians including Bob Weir, Bruce Cockburn, Elvis Costello, Ani di F ...

Leftover Salmon Leftover Salmon is an American jam band from Boulder, Colorado, formed in 1989. The band's music is a blend of bluegrass, rock, country, and Cajun/Zydeco. Over their thirty years as a band Salmon have released seven studio albums and three li ...

Jimmie Dale Gilmore Jimmie Dale Gilmore (born May 6, 1945) is an American country singer, songwriter, actor, recording artist and producer, currently living in Austin, Texas. Life and career Gilmore is a native of the Texas Panhandle, having been born in Amarillo ...

and

Junior Brown Jamieson "Junior" Brown (born June 12, 1952) is an American country guitarist and singer. He has released twelve studio albums in his career, and has charted twice on the ''Billboard'' country singles charts. Brown's signature instrument is th ...

, just to name a few. Kudzu Kings have also welcomed a number of guest musicians to collaborate over the years (sometimes sitting in for several shows for absent members) including

Chris Ethridge John Christopher Ethridge (February 10, 1947 – April 23, 2012) was an American country rock bass guitarist. He was a member of the International Submarine Band (ISB) and The Flying Burrito Brothers, and co-wrote several songs with Gram Parsons ...

Bucky Baxter William "Bucky" Baxter (1955May 25, 2020) was an American guitarist. He is best known as a member of Steve Earle and The Dukes and as a member of Bob Dylan's backing band in the mid-90s during the Never Ending Tour. He released his only solo ...

John "Jojo" Hermann John "JoJo" Hermann is an American singer, musician and songwriter, best known for his involvement in the band Widespread Panic. Early life He was born in New York City and attended Collegiate School, where he was a classmate of actor Billy W ...

(of

Cody Dickinson North Mississippi Allstars is an American blues and southern rock band from Hernando, Mississippi, founded in 1996. The band is currently composed of brothers Luther Dickinson (guitar, lowebow, vocals) and Cody Dickinson (drums, keyboards, electr ...

(of

North Mississippi All-Stars North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

), and

Tony Furtado Tony Furtado (born October 18, 1967) is an American singer-songwriter, banjoist, and guitarist. History Furtado was born in Pleasanton, California. He took up the banjo at age 12, inspired by the Beverly Hillbillies television show and a sixth- ...

Band members

Members include (but not limited to): ;Current Members * Tate Moore – acoustic guitars, vocals * Dave Woolworth – bass, baroque doghouse, vocals * Robert Chaffe – keyboards *

(1995–2001; 2014 –) – acoustic and electric guitars, vocals * Max Williams (1994–1997; 2004 –) – electric and acoustic guitars, vocals * Chuck Sigler (1994-2000;2018 -) funk and western drums, vocals ;Former Members * Tommy Bryan Ledford (1997–2003) – banjo, mandolin, vocals * Daniel Karlish (2001–2003) – electric & slide guitar, vocals *Ted Gainey (1999-2000, numerous occasions and extended stays including 2014 -) – drums * Chris "Wolfy" Louviere (1999-2000) – drums * Jefferson E. Colburn (2000–2003) – drums * CD Overton (2003-2014) – drums Sometimes with: * JJ Callaway – trombone * Cary Hudson (Blue Mountain) – guitar ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:25 PlotArea = left:120 bottom:80 top:10 right:10 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1994 till:12/31/2016 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Colors = id:vocals value:red legend:Vocals id:eguitar value:yellow legend:Electric Guitar id:doghouse value:gray(0.5) legend:Baroque Doghouse id:banjo value:drabgreen legend:Banjo id:aguitar value:green legend:Acoustic Guitar id:keyboards value:purple legend:Keyboards id:bass value:blue legend:Bass id:drums value:orange legend:Drums id:mandolin value:pink legend:Mandolin id:sguitar value:lavender legend:Slide Guitar id:lines value:black legend:Studio albums id:bars value:gray(0.95) Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:3 Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:1 BackgroundColors = bars:bars ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:1 start:1995 ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:1995 LineData = at:03/21/1997 color:black layer:back at:03/30/1999 color:black layer:back BarData = bar:Tate text:"Tate Moore" bar:Dave text:"Dave Woolworth" bar:Robert text:"Robert Chaffe" bar:George text:"George McConnell" bar:Max text:"Max Williams" bar:Ted text:"Ted Gainey" bar:Tommy text:"Tommy Bryan Ledford" bar:Daniel text:"Daniel Karlish" bar:Chuck text:"Chuck Sigler" bar:Wolfy text:"Chris "Wolfy" Louviere" bar:Jefferson text:"Jefferson E. Colburn" bar:CD text:"CD Overton" PlotData= width:11textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) bar:Tate from:03/14/1994 till:end color:aguitar bar:Tate from:03/14/1994 till:end color:vocals width:5 bar:Dave from:03/14/1994 till:end color:bass bar:Dave from:03/14/1994 till:end color:vocals width:5 bar:Dave from:03/14/1994 till:end color:doghouse width:3 bar:Robert from:03/14/1994 till:end color:keyboards bar:George from:03/14/1994 till:03/14/2001 color:aguitar bar:George from:03/14/1994 till:03/14/2001 color:eguitar width:5 bar:George from:03/14/1994 till:03/14/2001 color:vocals width:3 bar:George from:03/14/2014 till:end color:aguitar bar:George from:03/14/2014 till:end color:eguitar width:5 bar:George from:03/14/2014 till:end color:vocals width:3 bar:Max from:03/14/1994 till:03/14/1997 color:eguitar bar:Max from:03/14/1994 till:03/14/1997 color:aguitar width:5 bar:Max from:03/14/1994 till:03/14/1997 color:vocals width:3 bar:Max from:03/14/2004 till:end color:eguitar bar:Max from:03/14/2004 till:end color:aguitar width:5 bar:Max from:03/14/2004 till:end color:vocals width:3 bar:Ted from:03/14/1999 till:03/14/2000 color:drums bar:Ted from:03/14/2014 till:end color:drums bar:Tommy from:03/14/1997 till:03/14/2003 color:banjo bar:Tommy from:03/14/1997 till:03/14/2003 color:mandolin width:5 bar:Tommy from:03/14/1997 till:03/14/2003 color:vocals width:3 bar:Daniel from:03/14/2001 till:03/14/2003 color:eguitar bar:Daniel from:03/14/2001 till:03/14/2003 color:sguitar width:5 bar:Daniel from:03/14/2001 till:03/14/2003 color:vocals width:3 bar:Chuck from:03/14/1994 till:03/14/1999 color:drums bar:Wolfy from:03/14/1999 till:03/14/2000 color:drums bar:Jefferson from:03/14/2000 till:03/14/2003 color:drums bar:CD from:03/14/2003 till:03/14/2014 color:drums

Discography

Kudzu Kings (1997)

* Produced by

Jim Gaines James Gaines, birth name James Larry M. Gaines Jr., is a character actor, singer, musician, writer, director and producer born on May 18, in Maui, Hawaii. He was sometimes also credited as Jaimes Gaines, Jim Gaines, and James Gainers. Career ...

and engineered by Jeffrey Reed * All Music Guide review []

Y2Kow (1999)

* Produced and engineered by Jeffrey Reed * ''CMJ'' (5/8/00, p. 32) – "...A winning blend of

traditional country Classic country is a music radio format that specializes in playing mainstream country and western music hits from past decades. Repertoire The radio format specializes in hits from the 1950s through the early 1980s, and focus primarily on innov ...

and

Delta blues Delta blues is one of the earliest-known styles of blues. It originated in the Mississippi Delta, and is regarded as a regional variant of country blues. Guitar and harmonica are its dominant instruments; slide guitar is a hallmark of the s ...

..."

References

{{Authority control American alternative country groups Jam bands Musical groups established in 1994 1994 establishments in Mississippi