Kudzu Kings

Kudzu Kings are a musical outfit from Oxford, MS. Their sound is a unique blend of country, bluegrass and improvisational rock & roll. The band was actively together for almost ten years (1994-2003), and members still come together for occasional reunion shows.

In their years together, the band gained moderate success in the Southeast, Colorado, and Texas filling several prominent music venues, in addition to spreading their talent the rest of the nation and Canada with a number of successful tours. They have shared the stage many times with Widespread Panic (with whom longtime Kudzu guitarist George McConnell eventually joined up with in 2002 and has since left), as well as with many other artists, including Bob Weir and Rob Wasserman, Leftover Salmon, Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Junior Brown, just to name a few. Kudzu Kings have also welcomed a number of guest musicians to collaborate over the years (sometimes sitting in for several shows for absent members) including Chris Etheridge (Flying Burrito Brothers, Gram Parsons, Willie Nelson), Bucky Baxter (pedal steel and guitar w/ Bob Dylan, Ryan Adams, Los Lobos), John "Jojo" Hermann (Widespread Panic), Cody Dickinson (North Mississippi All-Stars), and Tony Furtado.

Discography

Kudzu Kings (1997)

* Produced by Jim Gaines and engineered by Jeffrey Reed * "All Music Guide" - "If you want to get at least a vague idea of what the Kudzu Kings sound like on this album, picture in your mind a really good country band that has been playing the biker bar scene for a while. They're tight and energetic and rowdy, and everybody works together really well. Now lock that band in a room with a whole bunch of Grateful Dead and Phish CDs and several dozen cases of beer, and tell them that they can only come out when the beer is gone and they have heard every album at least twice. The band that will come out of that room will be the Kudzu Kings, and the first thing they'll do when they emerge from captivity is record this album. They will make music that will toss together honky tonk, country-rock, and intense jamming, and many of the songs will be about getting drunk, getting laid, and being broke. Not all of them -- there will be some wise songs about relationships, like "It's a Play" and "Streetwalkin," and perhaps a bit of free-form poetry set to music, like "Amsterdam." Still, the focus is on party music, like the wacky "Rototiller" (and you only wonder why the singer's mother felt it was an appropriate gift) and "Uninvited," a song about an ingenious party crasher. The apex of the album, the track that pushes this over the edge to greatness, is "I Love Beer." Even among the formidable catalog of country songs about getting drunk, this delirious ode to boozing stands out for sheer zaniness. The band sounds like they're having a great time, and when you listen to them you will, too."

Y2Kow (1999)

* Produced and engineered by Jeffrey Reed * "CMJ" (5/8/00, p.32) - "...A winning blend of roots rock, traditional country and Delta blues..." * "All Music Guide" - "The Kudzu Kings' second album, Y2kow, is another collection of humorous romps and touching ballads anchored by the group's energetic instrumental interplay."

Members include: Tate Moore - acoustic guitars, vocals; Dave Woolworth - bass, alto guitar, vocals; Robert Chaffe - keyboards;Tommy Bryan Ledford (1997-2003)- banjo, mandolin, vocals;
George McConnell (1995-2001)- acoustic and electric guitars, vocals;Max Williams (1994-1997)- electric and acoustic guitars, vocals;Daniel Karlish (2001-2003)- electric & slide guitar, vocals;Chuck Sigler (1994-1999)- drums;Jefferson E. Colburn (2000-2003)- drums;

Sometimes with: Ted Gainey - drums;C.D. Overton - drums;JJ Callaway - trombone;
Chris Etheridge - bass;
Bucky Baxter - pedal steel;