TTMR Band Bio: Chubby Knuckle Choir

The name Chubby Knuckle Choir came from former bass man, and original member Curtis Farley while working in Twisted Twig Studio with Rory and Perry.  It was shortened from Chubby Knucklehead Choir before the band took the name.  We’ll let Rory tell you the rest of the story.

Some bands are content to remain within the rigid confines of their musical comfort zones. The Chubby Knuckle Choir is not one of those bands. Nobody gleefully shatters genre boundaries like this frenetic sextext, who play everything from bongos to banjos onstage.

The Chubby Knuckle Choir officially formed in 2009 in Bastrop, Texas, a town which the original band members called home at one time or another. The band is made up of Perry Lowe, Tres Womack, Josh Droegemueller, Luke Adair, Dave Gould, and Rory Smith, singer-songwriters and multi-instrumentalists who all come from varying musical and geographical backgrounds; the result is a freewheeling live sound which blends country, bluegrass, R&B, and swamp blues. “It’s a marriage of all genres,” explains Lowe, who plays guitar, drums and keys, and contributes vocals, while Smith describes it as “folk music from a country that doesn’t exist … but should.”  

In the past five years, this creative group has earned comparisons to acts like The Gourds, the Wood Brothers, and Asylum Street Spankers, and has steadily built a dedicated fan base that’s drawn to the Choir’s joyful noise. In 2014, the band was awarded the Bugle Boy Talent Trust, which assists promising, up-and-coming artists (previous recipients include Grammy-nominated Americana singer-songwriter John Fullbright). They’ve appeared on The Texas Music Scene, syndicated radio show “Real Life, Real Music” and the television program “Songwriters Across Texas,” bringing their eclectic sound to a whole new audience.

Now based in Austin, the Chubby Knuckle Choir released Reveille (the title being a sly nod to Bugle Boy) on March 10, 2015. Recorded live in Austin’s Congress House Studio and produced and engineered by Andre Moran (Hot Club of Cowtown, Eliza Gilkyson), the record sizzles with the high-spirited energy of a Chubby Knuckle live show. Reveille, includes guest appearances by Glenn Fukunaga, Haley Cole, and Sons of Fathers’ David Beck.  The Group pegged Beck to produce their latest project scheduled for an early 2016 release.  “David (Beck) picked six songs that sounded like where we were heading and then made sure he captured who we are today” says Droegemueller.    

Although their live shows are an exhilarating, sweat-drenched blast, The Chubby Knuckles’ songwriting cannot be overlooked. The members prove their writing chops on standout tracks “Black Motel,” “Always Somthing,” and “Trouble.” Cuts like “Undone” take introspective looks at political, religious, and social frustration, while “Gone,” written by Womack and sung by Lowe, is a heartbreaking true story about a young husband and father who loses his wife to cancer.

While other musicians stay beholden to genre and specific song arrangements, The Chubby Knuckle Choir’s music changes with every performance. It’s this spontaneity and constant willingness to experiment musically that makes them one of the most unique and compelling bands in Texas today.

Chubby Knuckle Choir will be playing at KHYI’s Toyota Texas Music Revolution on Friday March 25th, 2016