Jason Webley and Rev Peyton’s Big Damn Band:
Punk Accordion and Country Blues
Accordion troubadour, Jason Webley is teaming up with country blues sensation, The Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band for eleven nights of foot-stomping, washboard-pounding, accordion-squeezing fun to ring in the New Year.

On each night of the tour, Webley and the Big Damn Band will play sets of their own music, followed by a set of joint material, including their collaborative hit "Two Bottles of Wine."

Seattle native, Jason Webley, is best known for his energetic accordion-driven music and his unique ability to involve the audience in his shows. With gravelly vocals reminiscent of Howling Wolf or Tom Waits, his music if often referred to as "punk accordion." Webley is also known to accompany himself on guitar, piano, or simply a plastic vodka botle filled with change. A cult-phenomenon with an unrelenting touring schedule, the accordionist has gathered fans all over the world from Russia to Australia. In the past year he has shared the stage with the likes of The Dresden Dolls, Architecture in Helsinki and Regina Spektor, and has released his fifth full-length album, The Cost of Living.

The Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band is one of the largest acts to come out of Indiana in recent years. A family outfit consisting of the Reverend on guitar, his wife Breezy on washboard, and his brother Jayme on drums, the Big Damn Band have been making a splash in the country blues scene all over the country. The Reverend’s guitar playing is virtuosic, feverishly churning out bass, rythm and melody parts simultaneously, while his brother and wife hold down the beat. They Peytons have just finished recording their third full-length album with Paul Mahern (best known for his work with John Cougar Mellencamp) and are gearing up for a mammoth US tour as direct support for Celtic punk legends Flogging Molly.

Webley and the Big Damn Band met on a joint-bill at a dive bar in the Peytons' home-town of Indianapolis several years ago. The Peytons had just finished playing for a crowd of thousands at a local blues festival, but were persuaded to come downtown to play a little show with the accordion madman.

“When I finally got to see Jason play, I was in awe,” the Reverend explains. “It was like seeing the house band for the Queen Anne’s Revenge, only it is just one guy and an accordion... I was hooked for life.”

This feeling went both ways. “This band was playing Mississippi Delta blues so straight that it sounded like punk,” says Webley. “I’m never impressed by fancy guitar playing, but the Reverend Peyton simply blew me away.”

This mutual admiration has lead to a number of joint-concerts, almost a dozen original songs, and the release of "Two Bottles of Wine," a limited edition collection of songs released on Webley's Eleven Records label. Now out of print and sought by fans, several songs from the EP will be staples of this tour including the thunderous, Cajun-riffed title track, “Two Bottles of Wine."


Dates, Press photos and MP3s available here.