Roger Clyne & the Peacemakers at the Codfish Hollow Barn -- July 11.
Friday, July 11, 8 p.m.
Codfish Hollow Barn, 5013 288th Avenue, Maquoketa IA
Performing a special co-headlining engagement on July 11, the Americana and classic-rock outfits Roger Clyne & the Peacemakers and Miles Nielsen & the Rusted Hearts bring their combined talents to Maquoketa's Codfish Hollow Barn, the former's discography ranging from 1999's Honky Tonk Union to 2017's Live at the Belly Up, and the latter's OHBAHOY hailed by Maximum Volume Music as “such a staggeringly diverse 11 songs that you can only marvel at it.”
Presently composed of bandleader Clyne (lead vocals, rhythm guitar, harmonica, kazoo), Paul "P.H." Naffah (drums, percussion, backing vocals), Nick Scropos (bass guitar, backing vocals), and Jim Dalton (lead guitar, backing vocals), Roger Clyne & the Peacemakers formed in 1998, following the removal of Brian Blush and departure of Art Edwards from The Refreshments. Clyne and Naffah were originally joined by former Gin Blossoms member Scott Johnson, who left to rejoin his former band in 2002. James Swafford and Daryl Icard also appeared in the new lineup, but were unable to stay. Steve Larson, former guitarist for Dead Hot Workshop, also joined the band. In January 2009, it was announced that Larson would be departing and would be replaced by Railbenders frontman Jim Dalton on lead guitar.
In early 2004, shortly after the release of ¡Americano!, bassist Danny White left the band to start his own recording studio in Nashville, Tennessee. He was replaced by Nick Scropos, who had been the bassist for another Tempe band, Gloritone.[2] Scropos recorded the bass track "Green and Dumb", on the band's debut CD, Honky Tonk Union. In 2007, the Arizona Diamondbacks reached out to Roger Clyne & the Peacemakers to write a song for the team. The result, the "D-Backs Swing," is played in the stadium after every home game win, and the lyrics are used in advertisements. Roger Clyne & the Peacemakers frequently tour the United States and host their own seaside music festival in Puerto Peñasco. In June 2019, they celebrated the 20th year of their official Circus Mexicus festival, and a month later, the group was inducted into the Arizona Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame at the Tempe Center for the Arts.
Since the release of 2012's Miles Nielsen Presents the Rusted Hearts – his ensemble completed by Daniel James McMahon on guitar, Adam Plamann on horns and keys, Dave McClellan on bass, and Jeff Werckle on drums – Miles Nielsen, the son of iconic Cheap Trick guitarist Rick Nielsen, has also recorded the 2012 EP St. Louis Sessions and, with his bandmates, 2014's Rockford, 2016's Heavy Metal, and the 2019 EP In the Meantime. The outfit's most recent album OHBAHOY, meanwhile, went on to earn the Rockford, Illinois native and his bandmates some of the most laudatory notices of their careers.
The United Kingdom's Get Ready to Rock praised the recording's “well-polished, laid-back grooves,” calling it “a finely crafted pop/rock album that owes as much of a debt to the songcraft of the likes of Tom Petty and the extended Wilburys fraternity.” Keys & Chords deemed Nielsen “an excellent vocalist” and his most recent recording “a great album.” And according to Artree, OHBAHOY is “a refreshing album that has carefully blended together scores of influential musicians and genres through the years and repurposed them into something that’s strikingly unique. What Miles Nielsen & the Rusted Hearts create isn’t just music or song, it’s genuine art and peace of mind. Their deep and heartfelt music is an invigorating rush that has the power to shape the way your day turns out.”
Roger Clyne & the Peacemakers and Miles Nielsen & the Rusted Hearts play their co-headlining engagement in Maquoketa on July 11, admission to the 8 p.m. concert event is $35-40, and more information and tickets are available by visiting CodfishHollowBarnstormers.com.
