The Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band at the Redstone Room -- April 20.
Saturday, April 20, 8 p.m.
The Redstone Room, 129 Main Street, Davenport IA
Boasting numerous chart-topping albums on the iTunes Blues Chart and top-10 smashes on Billboard's Blues, Heatseekers, and Tastemaker charts, the roots and country-blues musicians of The Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band headline an April 20 concert event as Davenport's Redstone Room, their discography including such hits as So Delicious, Poor Until Payday, Between the Ditches, and 2021's Dance Songs for Hard Times.
The Reverend Peyton was born in Eagletown, Indiana, in 1981, and at age 12, his father gave him a red Kay "State of the Art" model guitar, eventually purchasing a Gorilla amplifier once he learned to play. A friend pointed out the blues sound of Peyton's guitar playing, sending Peyton off on an exploration of the blues of B.B. King, Muddy Waters, and King's cousin Bukka White. Further exploration led to pre-World War II "country blues" and a desire to learn the finger-picking style of artists such as Charlie Patton. Peyton played a party following his high-school graduation, and the next morning suffered excruciating pain in his hands. Doctors told Peyton he'd never be able to hold his left hand in fretting position again, at which point he gave up on music and spent a year working as a hotel desk clerk. The Indiana Hand Center eventually operated on his left hand, and while recovering from surgery, Peyton met his future bandmate and wife Breezy. He played her the music of Charley Patton, she played him Jimbo Mathus' album Plays Songs For Rosetta, and their first date was at the Indiana State Fair, where Peyton won a stuffed animal they named the "Big Damn Bear," which gave them a name for their planned band.
Breezy took up the washboard and the pair started writing songs, going on to play blues festivals, headline two nights at actor Morgan Freeman's Ground Zero Blues Club in Clarksdale, and tour as the opening act for Mary Prankster. Eventually, a 40-hour drive from Indiana to El Centro, California, to open for the Derek Trucks Band and Susan Tedeschi convinced the band to devote themselves to music and touring full-time. Since then, Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band, with Max Senteney joining the Peytons on drums, has toured constantly in the United States, Canada, and Europe. In 2008, they released The Whole Fam Damily, which entered the Billboard Blues Chart at number four, and additional accomplishments over the years have included the 2017 release of The Front Porch Sessions that debuted at number one on the iTunes Blues chart and number two on the Billboard Blues chart, and 2021's Dance Songs for Hard Times, a chart-topper that led to the group touring with ZZ Top.
The Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band headlines their Redstone Room concert on April 20, admission to the 8 p.m. concert is $17-20, and more information and tickets are available by calling (563)326-1333 and visiting CommonChordQC.org.
