Devil in a Woodpile is a band from Chicago, Illinois. Although they routinely give a fresh sound to 80-year-old songs, their repertoire and instrumentation categorizes them as a country blues or jug band.

History

Rick Sherry and

Tom V. Ray Tom V. Ray is an American bassist living in Chicago. He was born in 1965, and grew up on a farm in Vincennes, Indiana. Ray’s professional musical career began in 1983, when he began performing with local bluegrass, country and classic rock ...

first began playing together in the early 1990s as part of the Jake LaBotz Trio. After this unit broke up, the group began backing David "Honeyboy" Edwards, and performed as Devil in a Woodpile in between sets. The band first won acclaim locally in Chicago by playing frequent gigs at The Hideout. Signing with local folk/country label Bloodshot Records, the group released its first album in 1998 and a second in 2000. Soon after this they toured with Son Volt in the USA. Adding Madison, Wisconsin native Joel Paterson to the lineup in 2003, the group released its third record for Bloodshot in 2005. Gary Schepers (tuba) or Beau Sample (bass) often play with the band when Tom Ray is not available. In the summer of 2007, the group opened for the folk legend Ramblin' Jack Elliott in Cleveland. After more than ten years playing their weekly Tuesday slot at the Hideout, the group disbanded in 2009. That year, Rick Sherry joined with guitarist Eric Noden and bassist Beau Sample to form a new group, the Sanctified Grumblers. This group plays in the same style, and eventually took over the old Hideout residency. Sherry has since re-reformed Devil in a Woodpile with Joel Paterson on guitar,

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

and kazoo, and Beau Sample on upright bass and jug. In 2015, Devil in a Woodpile/Sanctified Grumblers was inducted into the Jug Band Hall of Fame.Jug Band Hall of Fame website
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Music

For the most part, Devil in a Woodpile perform cover tunes, playing and recording their own interpretation of an eclectic range of old songs. Their repertoire stretches from

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

, jazz and ragtime, to traditional folk songs and some country influences. Their own compositions follow the same pattern. While performing with blues legend, David Honeyboy Edwards has a more laid back sound. On their most recent album, ''In Your Lonesome Town'', they cover a Charlie Patton song "Shake It and Break It" as well as Led Zeppelin's " Bron-Y-Aur Stomp."

Members

;Current members *Rick "Cookin" Sherry - vocals,

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

, washboard, other percussion *Beau Sample - upright bass *Joel Paterson - guitar, vocals (Joel also plays with The Western Elstons and under his own name with the Joel Paterson Trio) ;Former members *Paul Kaye -

steel guitar A steel guitar ( haw, kīkākila) is any guitar played while moving a steel bar or similar hard object against plucked strings. The bar itself is called a "steel" and is the source of the name "steel guitar". The instrument differs from a conve ...

- upright bass *Gary Schepers - tuba *Mike Grenz - upright bass

Discography

*''Devil in a Woodpile'' ( Bloodshot, 1998) *''Division Street'' (Bloodshot, 2000) *''In Your Lonesome Town'' (Bloodshot, 2005)

Compilation contributions

* "Got Just What I Want" (Trad.) - ''For A Decade of Sin: 11 Years of Bloodshot Records'' (Bloodshot, 2005)

References

* Devil in a Woodpileat Allmusic

External links

Devil in a Woodpile
at Bloodshot Records * {{DEFAULTSORT:Devil In A Woodpile Musical groups from Chicago American alternative country groups Musical groups established in 1998 Bloodshot Records artists