Eddie is humbled as Supersuckers return
“It’s really humbling, and it’s great to know that so many people care,” Supersuckers leader Eddie Spaghetti says of the band’s fans, who have stepped up in droves to lend support following the front man’s recent diagnosis of stage-3 throat cancer. The indefatigable singer/bassist/songwriter’s illness — which coincides with release of the Supersuckers’ bracing new album Holdin’ The Bag — has forced the band to cancel a planned European tour and put their touring activities on temporary hold, while Eddie undergoes surgery, radiation treatment and rehab. Meanwhile, the Eddie Spaghetti Cancer Fight Fund has already raised more than $57,000 to help pay for his treatment, thanks to the kindness and generosity of the group’s fans.
If Eddie has proven anything over the course of the past quarter-century, it’s that he’s one of rock’s most tenacious survivors. The same can be said of the Supersuckers, who over the past 25 years have released more than 20 albums, while maintaining the sort of punishing touring regimen that’s been known to break lesser combos. “We knew that we wanted to come out with something quickly after Get the Hell,” Eddie recalls. “We had rocked ourselves into oblivion with Get the Hell, so we were ready for a country break. We had just done a one-off country show, and we enjoyed that so much that it felt natural to start writing country songs. I really felt like I was onto something, and I felt more and more inspired as the process went on. Some of the best songs on the record are some of the last ones I wrote. So by the time we got into the studio, we were in a really good place.”
Holdin’ The Bag offers a compelling blend of brawny badassery and sensitive songcraft on such memorable originals as the high-lonesome title track, which kicks the album off on a deceptively spooky note, and the rousingly twangy anthems “High and Outside,” “Man On A Mission” and “Jibber-Jabber.” The album closes on a thoughtful note, with an update of the Hank Williams Jr. standard “All My Rowdy Friends (Have Settled Down),” with updated lyrics that refer to such Supersuckers contemporaries as Steve Earle and Lemmy Kilminster of Motörhead. The album sessions also yielded a second cover tune, a spirited reading of the Billy Joe Shaver classic “Georgia On A Fast Train,” which will be included as a bonus track on Holdin The Bag’s vinyl edition.
The Supersuckers’ trademark balance of take-no-prisoners swagger and hardheaded introspection is reflected throughout Holdin’ The Bag. The album’s eleven songs find them in typically rocking form, while tapping deeply into the band’s longstanding affinity for country
music, which has grown increasingly prominent in their output since 1997’s landmark Must’ve Been High. In recent years, the Supersuckers have been known to play relatively low-key all-country sets, sometimes under assumed names. “I love the honesty and directness of country, and that’s how we approach it,” Eddie states. “I feel like having the country thing in our back pocket kind of takes the expiration date off the band. It’s way more acceptable for an old guy to be up there singing a country song than it is for an old guy to be up there screaming about the evil powers of rock ’n’ roll.”
The Supersuckers — Eddie on vocals and bass, plus guitarist Marty Chandler and drummer Chris Von Streicher — recorded Holdin’ The Bag in Austin, TX, at Ray Benson’s esteemed Bismeaux Studios. They were joined by such kindred spirits as outlaw singer-songwriter Hayes Carll, who’s featured on the rollicking hard-luck tale “This Life Would Be a Whole Lot Better,” and acclaimed alt-country songstress Lydia Loveless, who adds her distinctive voice to the bittersweet “I Can’t Cry.” Also lending their talents are Asleep at the Wheel fiddler Jason Roberts, Butthole Surfers member Jeff Pinkus, noted neo-honky-tonker Jesse Dayton and Willie Nelson’s longtime harmonica sidekick Mickey Raphael.
“If you don’t like Holdin’ The Bag, then you really don’t like the Supersuckers,” Eddie says. “I really feel like this and Get The Hell are the best records we’ve ever made. I feel like, after 25 years, we’re finally getting the hang of this. We’re still that hungry little band that pictures itself being much bigger than it really is.”
Tracklist CD:
- Holdin’ the bag
2. This Life… With You (feat. Hayes Carll)
3. High and Outside
4. Man On A Mission
5. I Can’t Cry (feat. Lydia Loveless)
6. Let’s Bounce
7. I Do What I Can
8. Jibber-Jabber
9. That’s How It Gets Done
10. Shimmy and Shake
11. All My Rowdy Friends
12. Georgia On A Fast Train (EU Bonus track)
Line Up:
Eddie Spaghetti – Lead & Harmony Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Bass
“Mountain” Marty Chandler – Lead Guitar, Backing Vocals
Captain “All Nighter” Von Streicher – Drums & Persussion, Backing Vocals
