Review: The Dig 3 ‘Damn the Rent’
By Jim Hynes
There are still a handful of traditional blues bands who haven’t succumbed to the blues-rock approach. It’s refreshing when we hear the “real stuff.” Welcome back Dig 3, an elite trio featuring the vocals and guitar of Andrew Duncanson of Kilborn Alley Blues Band, harmonicist Ronnie Shellist, and all-round multi-instrumentalist and one-man-band Gerry Hundt, previously a vital cog for Nick Moss and Corey Dennison, to name a couple.
These three take us to the “old school” on their new album Damn The Rent with lyrics of original tunes written and sung by Duncanson while his bandmates assist in writing the music. Their bent is gutbucket rather than loud, smooth, or pretty in any way. It’s about the feel and the songs, no histrionics necessary. The three began to play together in Shellist’s backyard during the pandemic and issued their debut last year in 2022 to much acclaim. Damn the Rent follows in the same gritty way, all tracks recorded live in the studio with no overdubs and edits. That’s partially due of course to Hundt, who plays several instruments simultaneously – as listed here – Farmer FootDrums and percussion, bass VI, guitar, harmonica, and mandolin.
The opening “Take a Ride” carries that unmistakable Bo Diddley beat, as they settle into that groove with Shellist filling Duncanson’s vocal spaces with his wailing harp as Hundt whips up a maelstrom of percussion with his loaded arsenal. “All the Love That I Got” is a mix of classic Chicago blues shuffle and strains of soul where all the smooth silk accompaniment associated with that idiom is completely distilled out, replaced by hard driving umph. The classic John Lee Hooker one chord thumping boogie pushes “Big Water,” Shellist creating the waves with his rough n’ tumble blues harp. The tempo ratchets up for “Big Toe” with Duncanson playing off the age-old blues motif of water and gasoline. Here he’s dipping his toe in the latter to deeply set muscular beats with unrelenting grip. Insert your earplugs, put this one on repeat for your daily run, and try keeping pace. “Red-Tailed Hawks” motors along with a similar insistence, Shellist blowing like it’s his last gig.
“Big Water”
It’s as if we’re time traveling back to Maxwell Street in the ‘50s and ‘60s with the sequence of “Coconut Curry Dance,” “Gold Tooth,” another John Lee Hooker-like boogie where Hundt plays his mandolin, evoking the blues legend Johnny Young, and “Blanco Boogaloo,” a feature for Shellist, which sits right there with Slim Harpo’s “Hip Shake” or the Rolling Stones version of the same, for that matter. The acoustic, back porch stomping of “Old Dog” fits the Maxwell Street throwback sound too.
“Chuck and Willie,” and instrumental tune, plays to a galloping shuffle with searing guitar leads and a vintage, beat-up sounding organ as Shellist soars above what could easily be a four-man band instead of Duncanson and Hundt laying it down. Going a bit out on a limb here, ‘Chuck’ likely refers to the late beloved pianist Barrelhouse Chuck, while Willie may well be the venerable Willie Buck, who celebrated his 70th year of performing at Buddy Guy’s Legends this past August.
As a bonus the band presents two tracks with The Dig 3 BIG, a quintet without Shellist but with backing vocalist Lauren Dukes, bassist Aaron Whittier, and drummer Rick King. Hundt plays both guitar and organ. These tracks were recorded at a different studio and “Southern Fantasy,” reprised from their debut album, is rendered with a disco-funk chugging bassline, which is unexpectedly jarring, not in synch with the primal sounds of the previous cuts. Yet, the version of soul tune, “All the Love That I Got” is arguably a slight improvement, given the harmony vocals of Duke. Call this experiment an even draw.
Bonus tracks aside, in that same defiant, expressive manner of the album title, The Dig 3, will just grab you. You’ll be completely enraptured by their raw, unshakable, and infectious gutbucket approach. It’s as real as the blues gets.
The Dig 3 website
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