Videos by American Songwriter
With a new record titled Poor Until Payday set to release October 5, The Rev. Peyton’s Big Damn Band has teased the LP with its latest single “It Is Or It Ain’t.” The album’s closing track covers the melancholy topic of lost love while remaining fast and upbeat.
“It Is Or It Ain’t” sticks to the band’s classic country-blues roots. The song’s beat is infectious and driven by the Rev.’s one of a kind guitar skills. In addition to his captivating fingerstyle playing, the Rev. became a YouTube sensation for his ability to play household objects like axes and shotguns.
The band says Poor Until Payday may be its best sounding record to date, and with the release of four successful singles from the album, it’s hard to disagree.
Listen to “It Is Or It Ain’t” and read a Q&A with Rev. Peyton below.
“It Is Or It Ain’t” clearly draws from your blues/Americana roots. What was the inspiration for this track?
This one was inspired by those people that stick around in a relationship long after they know they don’t want to be there, and cheat and lie and hurt people, instead of owning up, being honest and moving on. I wanted this one to feel like a dance song from the Chess Records era.
The song seems fairly guitar-driven. What is your background in music and playing guitar?
I’ve been playing guitar since I was a little kid. Fingerstyle country-blues has always been my obsession. I know people aren’t going to believe it, but there are no overdubs on this song, and all of the bass, rhythm, lead, etc. I played live in the studio on one guitar. So all you are hearing is one guitar, one drummer and one washboard player. That’s it! That’s the beauty of the country-blues guitar style. You have to learn to play two things at once.
What can listeners expect from Poor Until Payday? How is it different from previous albums?
This record is the definitely the most immediate and exciting record we’ve ever put out. I think people are going to be surprised at how good it sounds, even those fans that have been with us a long time. We’ve been working hard on just being a better band all around. I’m never satisfied, and it drives me to try to be better. Breezy and Max shine on this record like a lighthouse. Their vocals are just next level, too. I can’t wait for folks to hear it all. And, it’s all recorded live to tape. I sang it and picked the guitar all at once.
What song are you most excited for people to hear?
Well it’s hard to say definitively, because everyone has gravitated to different tracks. I thought it was “Poor Until Payday.” That’s why I named the record after that song. Now I’m not so sure.
You recently released a music video for the album’s title track “Poor Until Payday,” which features hundreds of volunteers. What was your experience filming the video?
It looks like a giant party in the street, because that is exactly what it was. We really love making music videos, and our fans expect them to be good, but luckily they are willing to come out and help us make these videos happen, because we don’t have near the budget to create these productions. The towns of Nashville, IN and Bloomington, IN helped us greatly. We had food and drinks donated, and we had about 300 volunteers of friends and fans show up to help. We had a car crash, livestock, drones, cherry pickers and all kinds of stuff. There is no way we could afford that without the love and support of our friends and fans coming out like they did.
