Share some ‘shine with The Ditch Diggers on Friday at Dive Bar

They call it "hickabilly"; we call it a hangover waiting to happen. The Ditch Diggers hard chargin' honky-tonk goes best with a beer in one hand and a dance partner in the other. It's the kind of stuff that dingy juke joints were made for. Read on as the band bellies up to the bar and tells it like it is.

What do The Ditch Diggers sound like?

"A priest, Patsy Cline and Buddha walk into a saloon. The bartender mops up the counter with an ancient, moldy towel while suspiciously eyeing Sid Vicious and Teddy Ruxpin who are engaged in a drinking contest. In a corner booth beneath a shorting-out Pabst sign that's throwin' sparks and threatening to burn down the place, Johnny Cash, Animal from 'The Muppets' and a leprechaun are doin' lines off of Elvira's ...

"More specifically, we're a three-piece act. Roman (Deville) uses a big fat guitar sound that's just clean enough to take home to meet the parents and just dirty enough to take into the back seat of the '53 Chevy. Original Recipe's drumming is less train shuffle country and would best be compared to the dynamite that the outlaws used to blow the train beat right off the frickin' tracks and into the next county. And as for Vinny (Sin)'s bass, he's best quoted as, 'It's electric, it thunders.' "

You cite moonshine as an influence. Yikes. So, what tunes go best with some eye-watering grain alcohol?

"Our song, 'Total Wreck,' is about a moonshine binge. Not that we're encouraging you kiddies to run out and tie one on with the 'shine. There are some lessons in the song about the dangers of mixing livestock and liquor. Corn can also be distilled into wonderfully liquidous nightmare. Goes good with 'Hee-Haw' reruns and dumplings.''

You're Jerry Reed fans. Remember his "Scooby Doo" days? What cartoon would be best suited for a Ditch Diggers cameo?

"Tex Avery, Wile E. Coyote, Yosemite Sam, the Care Bears -- any of the those old-time, outlaw, rum runnin' classics. All we need to know about life has been taught to us in watercolor wackiness."

The Ditch Diggers are definitely up on their honky-tonk history. Name five classic country LPs that might help Kenny Chesney fans see the light.

"Johnny Cash, Willie, Waylon, George Jones and Hank Williams all played music dedicated to those who only had a few hours between shifts to get drunk, fed and some shut eye. You don't even have to go way back to find real country. Hank III is just one of many who is putting out real country right now. As for Nashville and pop country, what kind of man would castrate himself just to sell a few extra records? And more importantly, why would anyone care what a man like that would have to say about anything? You'd only be giving him a reason to write yet another song."

See The Ditch Diggers at 9 p.m. Friday at Dive Bar, 3035 E. Tropicana Ave. Call 435-7526.

Contact reporter Jason Bracelin at jbracelin@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0476.