THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 23, 1995 TAG: 9509230042
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SUE SMALLWOOD, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 80 lines
IT'S A ROCKY road to superstardom. Just ask campy, country-fried rockers Southern Culture on the Skids.
Last June, the van that gets the trio to more than 200 shows a year died in Ritzville, Wash., population 500 or so. Stranded, and expected in Los Angeles for several high-profile gigs, the band traded vans with a complete stranger.
``I hand him our keys,'' guitarist and frontman Rick Miller remembered recently, ``and he hands me a screwdriver. I said, `Where are the keys?' He said, `Well, that is the key.' None of the locks work, you start it with a screwdriver, but, hey, we took off.''
And the Skids, who play The Big Easy in Norfolk tonight, got to L.A., home of their new record label, Geffen. Four years ago the Chapel Hill, N.C.-based trio - Miller and bassist/vocalist Mary Huff and drummer Dave Hartman - came to the label's attention thanks to another set of unlikely circumstances.
A retail sales rep at Geffen picked up the group's low-budget, high-octane scorcher ``Too Much Pork For Just One Fork'' in 1991, was completely smitten and vowed to bring the band to his company.
``One day there was this message on our phone,'' Miller said, `` `Hi, I'm Ray Farrell, I work at Geffen Records and I'd like to get you guys signed to my label.' We thought it was just one of our friends playing a practical joke. We didn't even return the call.''
Farrell called again and now the Skids boast a Geffen debut, ``Dirt Track Date.''
``Dirt Track Date's'' polished sound might put off some fans of the Skids' earlier down 'n' dirty, lo-fi outings.
The trio named the album ``Dirt Track Date'' for its several road songs and also ``because that primitive take on things is where we're coming from. Dirt track racing is the most primitive, the garage-rock equivalent of automobile racing, that old rock 'n' roll kind of thing.''
The album also includes plenty of longtime crowd-pleasers. Some, like the fried-chicken anthem ``Eight Piece Box,'' were added at Geffen's insistence.
``We weren't going to put it on the record,'' Miller recalled, ``and they said, `Well, your crowd identifies you with that song and we'd really like to have it on our first release.' And actually, it's the best version we've ever cut of it.''
Food, particularly the deep-fried sort, is a recurring Skids motif. ``It's hard to live in the South and not have sort of an obsession for food,'' the guitarist said. ``All the local, indigenous recipes - everybody's got their own way to cook barbecue, their own way to cook chicken. And food is great for double entendres.'' Miller - who counts Dick Dale, Slim Harpo and Link Wray among his varied influences - founded Southern Culture On The Skids while in school at U.N.C. Chapel Hill 10 years ago.
They cut their first record, ``Southern Culture on the Skids,'' when they'd been together about six months.
An EP, ``Voodoo Beach Party,'' followed, as well as myriad personnel and style changes. Miller eventually recruited bassist Huff from Richmond-area rockabilly band the Phantoms. She brought along her drumming pal Hartman and the threesome opted for a greasy sound they call ``swamp pop'' - not so equal parts surf, soul, hillbilly and rock 'n' roll.
The trio recorded three more albums - 1990's ``Too Much Pork,'' 1992's ``For Lovers Only,'' and last year's ``Ditch Diggin' '' - and toured constantly, performing 250 shows a year wherever they could plug in: at barbecues, gospel revivals, penitentiaries and nightclubs.
The Skids' very participatory live show, complete with pot banging, showers of fried chicken and masked wrestlers, has become almost legendary locally.
The Skids' sound and image - Miller and Hartman often sport Hatfield 'n' McCoy overalls and straw hats; Huff's fond of trailer-park-princess beehive hairdos - is beyond spoof or satire, Miller said. It's a way of life.
``Actually, it's all those things, plus a deep-seated identification with all that stuff,'' he said. ``My dad built trailers; Mary's dad worked at an RC Cola bottling factory. It's all just part of our background.'' MEMO: JUST THE FACTS
Southern Culture On The Skids
When: 9:30 tonight
Where: The Big Easy, 5215 Colley Ave., Norfolk
Tickets: $5
Call: 423-1100; to order tickets, call 671-8100. by CNB