The Band Of The Week contest continues it’s journey around the world and this weeks stops down South, right in the heart of Tennessee – Nashville. The Clover Club are a pretty newly formed rock & roll band with blues roots, currently consisting of Dustin Rye on vocals and guitar, Christopher Campbell on bass and Shawn Jones on drums. They released one EP so far – the poker-inspired “Straight Flush Hustle” recorded in the Summer of 2013.
The EP opens with the fairly named “A fair game never played”, where the vocal Dustin sings:
“Straight flush hustle, every Tuesday night
Just need the cash, no I ain’t looking for the fight
Loaded dice, looks that could kill
It’s easy when every game’s a steal”
I really liked the sexy vibe of “On the ropes”, which leaves me a little confusing impression with the line “On the rocks, shaken not stirred” but wins me with the next phrase “Bending not breaking…” 🙂
Among the highlights of the EP is also the groovy “Six feet down” :
So I caught up with Dustin & Chris from The Clover Club, who told me a little more about their project:
When did you formed the band and how did that happened?
Originally the band started off just me and another drummer back in January 2013, so all the pieces weren’t put together at first. After writing a few songs, I asked Chris if he’d be interested in sitting in on bass for a practice, and after that jam he joined up with us. We ran into some difficulty with our former drummer and it wasn’t until September that year that we picked up Shawn Jones.
Where does the name The Clover Club originates from?
D:I’m really glad this question was asked. We’re all hail from a small town called McEwen, TN and my grandfather along with everyone else’s used to tell stories of the only bar in McEwen that ever existed. Apparently it was so rowdy that it burned to the ground, and it was called The Clover Club.
Your EP is called Straight Flush Hustle are you big poker fans?
D: Indeed we are! When we were in search for a theme for the EP we kept going back to our song “A fair game never played” and our friend Mike Dobrzelecki loved the first lyric in the song and suggested we use that as our EP title. We pretty much all agreed.
What is it like to be a rock and roll band in Nashville? What’s the scene like over there?
D: Definitely challenging cause there is a multitude of talent. It comes with its advantages though, there a lot of open minds. The scene is very diverse, if you turn the right corner you can pretty much find anything your looking for.
Nashville is definitely a city known for its music, what does a band requires to stand out over there?
D: Hard work, dedication, chops, and creativity.
Chris: We also have an amazing team, like our producers Christopher Ott & Jeff Fralinger, and our amazing fanbase.
What are your favorite rock and roll bands? What about blues bands?
D: My pops cut my teeth on Van Halen, AC/DC, and The Police. Although I love my roots The Black Keys, Radio Moscow, and Queens of the Stone age are definitely among my favorite rock groups. As far as blues – Stevie Ray Vaughn and Jimmy
Hendrix for sure. Each one of us has diverse tastes, we could talk about this question all day.
If you could have any guest musician contributing for your next album, who would you invite first?
D: I would love to collaborate with a few local artists that we have shared the stage with. We have met some awesome musicians.
C: As far as established artists, I would really like to collaborate with Jack White. I’m a huge fan of all of his projects and he is definitely a unique talent.
Are you working on new material?
D: Constantly, we only have 5 songs on the EP but we have at least 20+ songs. I spend most of my time on my guitar writing.
Where can we hear you play?
D: Right now mostly in the middle Tennessee area, but we have plans to tour and we always have an open mind.
More about The Clover Club on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram @thecloverclub,
