Exorcising a Bible Cyst

As Southern folklore goes, a group of young and angry carnies once decided to try their hand at Southern rebel blues. After a mish-mashing of drunken swagger and ruffian attitude, Th' Legendary Shack Shakers were born.

Th' Legendary Shack Shakers released their sophomore effort, "Believe," in October. The Mohawk Place will play host to the hucksters on Sunday, who plan to spread their fanatical ramblings befitting of a backwoods Pentecostal revival.

"Believe" is a mix of bluegrass guitar, hillbilly hellfire, polka rhythms, folklore lyrics, punk rock attitude and sideshow antics. The unbridled potency of the Shack Shakers has been criticized by some and heralded by others, but never duplicated.

Colonel J.D. Wilkes, the Shack Shakers' front man, grew up in Paducah, Ky. and is the source of much of the band's feverish animation.

"In Kentucky, everyone's existence is low-to-the-ground. There's not a whole lot of music culture. It forces you to come up with your own. I listened for sounds from other sources, like the sputtering engine of a tractor in the tobacco fields. Our music is echoic of sounds that just waft around naturally," Wilkes said in a phone interview.

The natural sounds on "Believe" are dominant from the beginning. The first track, entitled "Agony Wagon," starts with a train whistle that is blasted to within an inch of its life. Listeners may also find the sound of Wilkes's bullet microphone unique.

"The bullet microphone gives (my voice) a raw sound; it makes the harmonica sound better, too. The harmonica sounds too clean and pretty on a regular microphone, like it would around a campfire. I want it to sound more like a horn, real rugged," Wilkes said.

Indeed, rugged is a word that sums up the feel of many of the songs on "Believe." With songs called "Piss and Vinegar," "Fistwhistle Boogie," "Creek Cats," "Cussin' in Tongues" and "Bible Cyst," the word "clean" does not come to mind.

"A bible cyst is a lump on the back of your head, like carpal tunnel syndrome. You whack it with the Bible and the swelling goes down. It's not exactly a scientific word, but it's real. It's a term from an old Southern wives' tale," said Wilkes.

Although Wilkes already considers the Shack Shakers to be successful, he isn't trying to change the world.

"I think we've already achieved success, we're making our living doing what we love to do. It's not that I'm not ambitious, but I wouldn't expect this to really take off. People want hip-hop and boy bands. Our record is there for people who want to dig deeper into more primitive music," Wilkes said.

On the band's Web site, Wilkes has been very vocal about his rejection of mainstream music, especially over the past few decades. The so-called hipsters have been a target of his scathing words, and every Shack Shakers song is a rejection of pop culture.

"These hipsters won't give themselves permission to be free. They're just as bad as the teenage girls that try to keep up with the latest fashion. Not everyone can be the tortured genius they say they are, no matter how messy their hair is," Wilkes said.

The Shack Shakers have tried to pull ideas from the likes of Muddy Waters and Sonny Boy Williamson. These old-school influences are the basis of the vaudevillian style that is prevalent on "Believe."

"Music ceased being about entertaining in the '60s. Musicians suddenly became the high priests of wisdom, but they're just guys strumming on a piece of wood. I want to break it back down to serving the audience's needs. Our band is there for primal scream therapy," Wilkes said.

The Shack Shakers have been known to serve more than just the audience's needs, as food fights and swapping of bodily fluids have broken out at past shows.

Th' Legendary Shack Shakers take the stage Sunday night at the Mohawk Place with Pete Warden and the Hardtimers. Doors open at 9 p.m.