the dustbowl revival

WEDNESDAY MAY RESIDENCY AT THE MINT LA

The Dustbowl Revival is a Venice, California-based collective that merges old school bluegrass, gospel, jug-band, swamp blues and the hot swing of the 1930’s to form a spicy roots cocktail. Known for their inspired live sets, the Dustbowl Revival boldly brings together many styles of traditional American music. Imagine Old Crow Medicine Show meeting Louis Armstrong’s Hot Seven Band in New Orleans or Bob Dylan and Fats Waller jamming with Mumford & Sons on a front porch in 1938.

Growing steadily from a small string band playing up and down the west coast (hundreds shows in the last two years), DBR has blossomed into a traveling collective featuring instrumentation that often includes fiddle, mandolin, trombone, clarinet, trumpet, banjo, accordion, tuba, pedal steel, drums, guitars, a bass made from a canoe oar, harmonica and plenty of washboard and kazoo for good luck.

With an enthusiastic and growing national following, DBR released their first LP “You Can’t Go Back To The Garden of Eden” to rave reviews. Their tune “Dan’s Jam”, received Americana Song Of The Year honors by the Independent Music Awards (Tom Waits, Ozzy Osbourne judging). The group has placed songs in several independent films and TV projects including “Made In China” (IFC) which won SXSW, and in an upcoming episode of FOX’s AMERICAN IDOL. National radio play includes LA’s KCRW and KCSN, Austin’s KGSR, SF’s KPFA and Seattle’s taste-making KEXP.

Their EP + vinyl 7’’ "Holy Ghost Station"  was released in the summer of 2011 under the auspices of Raymond Richards with Rockets Red Glare (Local Natives) and in 2011-12 Dustbowl played with artists as diverse as The Rebirth Brass Band, Best Coast, Steve Martin and The Steep Canyon Rangers and more, hosting shows from Chicago to Seattle, Anchorage and San Diego as well as playing festivals like Outside Lands, Lightning In a Bottle, Make Music Pasadena and The New LA Folk Festival.

2013 has a new album Carry Me Home (produced by Eric Lilavois) on the way. Merging their vintage style with a hip, lose-your-troubles-and-start-moving vibe, the record perfectly encompasses the band’s upbeat message. Seeking to travel more widely in 2013, the band will be playing Mountain Song Bluegrass Cruise to The Bahamas (Punch Brothers, David Grisman) as well as venturing to Arizona, Colorado, Oregon and beyond. 

(((MEET THE BAND MEMBERS)))

For full contact, including private party info or licensing go to CONTACT tab.

Band contact: dustbowlrevival@gmail.com

REGULAR DUSTBOWL FAMILY ROSTER: 

Z. Lupetin, Caitlin Doyle, Daniel Mark, Connor Vance, Matt Rubin, Ulf Bjorlin, Chloe Feoranzo, Nate Ketner, Josh Heffernan, Jon Mohr, Josiah Mory, Matt Bruer, Paul Cartwright, Mark San Filippo, Ray Bergstrom, Danny Graziani

RECENT:

As heard on American Idol (FOX)

Song Premiere on American Songwriter

KCRW 89.9FM's "TOP TUNE" 

ARTICLE IN LA WEEKLY's WESTCOAST SOUND

AS SEEN ON GOOD DAY LA FOX 11

"A nine-piece band replete with tuba, washboard, accordion, fiddle, mandolin, trumpet and guitar joyously pumped out early 20th century standards and original tunes that would have sounded utterly at home within the hallowed confines of Preservation Hall in New Orleans' French Quarter. The seven men, most with suspenders attached to well-worn trousers, broad ties and vests and some sporting 1930s-vintage newsboy caps, and two women in flapper-inspired dresses, are members of a ragtag outfit called the Dustbowl Revival, strumming, sawing and puffing enthusiastically as smiling listeners on the dance floor swung their partners infectiously."

-- THE LOS ANGELES TIMES

"A natural opening act for The Lumineers or Mumford and Sons"

--LOS ANGELES MAGAZINE

From Outside Lands Music Festival: 

"It was an old-time medicine show featuring the kind of roots music that normally isn't my cup of twang, except it offered great bands like the Dustbowl Revival, whose Americana swing was so fun I went back to see them again the next day."

-- Rob Sheffield, ROLLING STONE 

"The music is so genuine, you can almost taste the PBR and port wine being passed around the front porch during the Great Depression on the bayou, or on the post-fire Chicago streets. Trumpets blaze, guitars wail, and the spirit of a great revival becomes you."

--Train Wreck'd Society

"Dustbowl reaches across the entire country for inspiration, brewing up a unique sound influenced by Dixieland jazz, Delta blues, New Orleans swing, East Coast bluegrass, and various points in between...[and] rolls those genres into something cohesive, often using traditional songs and old hymns as jumping-off points for the band’s own material."

--American Songwriter 

"They care. They're in love with their music. I hope the Dustbowl Revival sticks around for a while. The world could learn from their example." 

-Adobe & Teardrops ("Carry Me Home" review)

"Their mixture of bluegrass and big band had the whole room moving in old time swing. The crowd went crazy and the band took to the floor to finish off using only the power of their voices and acoustics. The audience was no longer at a concert, but transported to a backyard party where the band is their close friends and the songs their prayers."

-- THE LUMBERJACK (N. ARIZONA)

"Extremely sonically gratifying...I know for a fact I would love each and every one of them as not just musicians, but as people."

--Under The Basement (93.3FM Austin, Texas)

"...with big brass beats and nostalgic style, [Dustbowl Revival] instantly transports listeners to a different time and place that they never may want to leave. This band offers such a fun vibe that you just can’t help yourself—once you step into their musical time machine you will find your foot tapping. Before long, everyone was singing and dancing along. The band left the stage amidst pleas for encores."

--Deli Magazine LA

"The songs these entirely eccentric characters create are a brilliant modernization of a time when having the blues was true to life, and a good time could be found in the simplicity of a few instruments being played fast or subtle, short or sweet, and with a strenuous desire to entertain, not just to sell a few records."

--Fensepost (WA)

"These folks ply the waters of modern old-timey music, bringing in folk, rural and urban blues, western swing, bluegrass, N'awlins jazz, Tin Pan Alley and plenty more. With fourteen listed members and an additional handful of "special guests," calling the Dustbowl Revival a collective is something of an understatement. Calling it anything other than startlingly remarkable would be a crime. I'm Thunderstruck." 

-Aiding and Abetting

"This taste for nostalgia has been developing across the indie landscape. From Beirut to Fleet Foxes, many are wearing the clothes of classic American and European folk forms, and are constructing musical identity by conjuring and listening to the past. Not as isolated individuals on a search for original expression, but as a community of players on the same quest. The Dustbowl Revival is a perfect example of this zeitgeist.
 
A previous generation may have felt a disaffected pride at being “out on their own”, but groups like the Dustbowl Revival are starting to question the foundations of both individualized autonomy and utopian denials of the human condition. It’s a community of musicians that connects and invites the audience to participate.
 
That fact alone makes this music a post-modern treasure, and the perfect medicine for the musical palette that usually prefers despair over celebration.
 
Roots folk music has always made a resurgence within American popular music whenever seismic cultural shifts have taken, or are about to take place. Let’s hope that the music of the Dustbowl Revival is a sign of a hopeful shift. Leave it to a bunch of (West Coast) hipster 20-somethings to inject a bit of joy while forging the future by way of the past.

Garrison Keillor could only wish he had a house band this good."

--Pop Matters

"The main thing that really grabs my attention with a band like The Dustbowl Revival is they are writing their music for the love of it, playing a style that few others venture into in this modern era, and they do so as if they have lived through it all."

--LA Music Blog 

Artist to Watch: on Rollo & Grady LA Music  + 

Artist of The Month: Nationally Syndicated Radio Program: Acoustic Cafe

New record + show review in Seattle's MONARCH REVIEW

New full-spread article on Dustbowl in UCLA's DAILY BRUIN: HERE

"Similar to the new New Orleans scene of young DYI street-folk jazz bands, Dustbowl makes a joyful noise blending all the traditions into one loose celebration of American song."

--Greg Vandy, KEXP 90.3FM Seattle

"Dustbowl Revival and some local friends...were utterly enjoyable. They’re not kidding about their name, either: they take that era and make it their own. These guys brought the house down.  People dancing, drinking, like a regular speakeasy.  Scandalous."

--Chicago Critic (Schubas show review)

“The Dustbowl Revival throw everything they’ve got at recreating a folk band, swing band, rock n roll band, a jazz-roots-jive band, an uncategorisable, wild, dance band. You’d have to be a gloomy beggar not to jig around to this; it’s well-rehearsed fun. ‘Dan’s Jam’ is the sound of a party your great-grandpop might’ve been at, back in the day, and ‘Swingin’ Sammy’ sees the band possessed by Cab Calloway…9-10 Rating.”

–AMERICANA UK

“Bluegrass swing like the Blue Ridge miners from the 1920’s heading into town for dancing and drinking.”

–MUSIC SPECTRUM

Recent Live Review From FREE FOR ALL FESTIVAL

“Many great acts graced the stages at the Free For All Festival, but there were a few acts that really stuck out in my mind. The Dustbowl Revival was one of those bands. They played a great mixture of jazzy swing and Big Band style music, without the cliche pop swing sound that is commonly associated with this genre of music nowadays. They sounded authentic and had the audience up and moving. Most audience members ended up looking like hippies dancing around to a Grateful Dead tune more than swing dancers, but nontheless, people were feeling what The Dustbowl Revival was serving up and enjoying every minute of it.”

–Big Wheel Magazine

“With a name that evokes an era decades past, Dustbowl Revival can surprise audiences as one of the more musically sure-footed and adventurous ensembles in town — and, not coincidentally, one of the most fun.…That may seem an unlikely observation to make about a band of smartly dressed merrymakers who routinely pillage songbooks from the 1920s and ’30s. But bandleader Zach Lupetin and his “folk-blues orchestra” work hard to win over listeners.”

–Pasadena Weekly

“The thirteen songs and one hour’s worth of sounds that comprise this collection of songs covers an awful lot of ground over its duration, which I imagine will confuse and turn away some who give this record a chance.  It’s an unfortunate truth of our oft-closed minded society, because this album is a real joy for those who look for and are able to establish a connection with what the band is trying to do.  Moreover, You Can’t Go Back to the Garden of Eden is just an awful lot of fun when it comes down to it and is the type of LP that can easily stand out and distinguish itself from the rest of your music collection.”

–STRIKER BILL

“…The first few songs on You Can’t Go Back To The Garden of Eden remind us in many ways of The Kinks’ Muswell Hillbillies album. Some of this band’s tunes have a cool, loose New Orleans flavor that is characterized by cool spontaneous vocals and some really nifty and loose dixieland horns. As the album progresses, the tunes seem to become more sparse and direct…which is pretty damn cool considering the fact that most bands take the exact opposite approach.”

–BABY SUE

“If you’re not having fun while listening to this fantastic big-band, bluegrass blending of styles, I don’t know what to tell you. They’d be perfect for a dancehall jamboree or a front-porch house party…”

–THE WOUNDED JUKE BOX

“The Dustbowl Revival doesn’t exactly follow the fickle path of fashion. A sweet-hearted ride through Dylanesque melancholy [that] ends with a whistle.”

–Magnet Magazine

“It’s kind of ironic that in these days of economic recession that a band comes along that literally sounds as if it came wandering out of the dustbowl around the time of the Great Depression. Traditional music has never sounded so uplifting or fun to listen to.”

–The Pop! Stereo

“I believe that Zach Lupetin knows the blues deep down in his soul…his is a timeless, happy sound – a very talented singer.”

–Freddy Celis / Rootstime Magazine, Belgium

“Venice-based The Dustbowl Revival sounds dusty all right and harks to an era when a washboard and kazoo were cutting-edge. Grab a spot on the porch swing.”

–Kevin Bronson, Buzzbands LA

“Mr. Lupetin obviously loves this music and the players match his affection with their technique which results in something utterly charming. Matt Rubin’s trumpet work throughout flits around the songs pollinating and stinging, transporting the listener to a black and white life, Dennis Potter, Woody Allen, raising musical eyebrows with a knowing wink. If you want to picture it, think of Clem Snide in a 1930′s musical with Eddie Cantor or the soundtrack to an unseen Marx Brothers film and you’ll be somewhere near.”

—David Cowling, Americana UK

“Any band with a tuba, trombone and washboard (among many other wonderful instruments) should definitely be listened to. The LA music landscape is so rich, so innovative, with so many bands taking so many chances to make their sounds heard. As I slid into my spot at the Silverlake Lounge the other night I was reminded of this very fact. This crazy brass concoction, eight piece band, whose sound is way too large for this stage, brought me back to another era. Their music is a throwback to a previous sound, one that littered joyous nights from the west to the east coasts bringing into its merriment all that would be taken hold of by this music. And while I was not alive all those years ago, The Dustbowl Revival does an amazing job of channeling a creative force from the past while making it truly their own as they performed for us…there is a genuine and very organic approach to their sounds, allowing them to play music the only way they know how which is by having tons of fun on stage and making the sounds truly their own. The Dustbowl Revival makes happy music, right to the core, leaving you with a smile on your face.”

—Loudvine.com

“I ended up really enjoying this. It would go nice with a drunken bar scene in a movie. Also, that is definitely the coolest trumpet solo I’ve heard all year. I doubt you’ll ever hear something like this on MTV, but it’s a nice addition to your collection if you like unique music.”

–-Pigeons And Planes

“The Dustbowl Revival swings so solidly that all the effort remains behind the curtain. All that can be heard is a large group of people playing and singing their hearts out. And having an awesome great time while they do it. Positively infectious. I defy anyone to get through this album without smiling, much less taking to the floor and grabbing the nearest partner. It doesn’t matter if you know how to dance; there are so many styles on this disc even someone with three left feet could find something that worked. Absolutely fabulous.”

–AIDING AND ABETTING (2010)