Preacher Boy -- Guitar, Vocals, Drums, Keys, shoestrings... everything
Will Scott -- Vocals, Guitar, Banjo, Ukelele, Bass... everything else
Influences
Tony Joe White, Captain Beefheart, Son House, Johnny Shines, Tom Waits, Chris Whitley, Bukka White, Junior Kimbrough, Dave Van Ronk, Kelly Joe Phelps, Skip James, Blind Willie Johnson, Dr. John, Howlin' Wolf, R.L. Burnside, Bob Dylan, The Band, Wilson Picket, Otis Redding, Townes Van Zandt, Robert Pete Williams, Fred McDowell, Muddy Waters, Sam & Dave, Ray Charles, and Charley Patton
Sounds Like
Tony Joe White, Captain Beefheart, Son House, Johnny Shines, Tom Waits, Chris Whitley, Bukka White, Junior Kimbrough, Dave Van Ronk, Kelly Joe Phelps, Skip James, Blind Willie Johnson, Dr. John, John Hammond, Howlin' Wolf, R.L. Burnside, Bob Dylan, The Band, Wilson Picket, Otis Redding, Townes Van Zandt, Taj Mahal, Robert Pete Williams, Fred McDowell, Muddy Waters, Sam & Dave, Ray Charles, and Charley Patton
Much like the two characters they've borrowed from the swamps of Tony Joe White's funky imagination for their own musical moniker, Preach and Will were "ponderin' on what they gonna do" one night, when they stumbled smack dab into the idea for Roosevelt & Ira Lee. Two voices, two guitars, two songwriters, one sound. One deep, rough, wild, swampy sound, drawing on two lifetimes worth of immersion in Country Blues, Delta Blues, Folk Blues, Chicago Blues, Roots & Blues, Soul Blues, Jazz Blues, Bluegrass, and all the good and groovy sounding things brewed up in the holy mojo night of Blues America.
This is Roosevelt & Ira Lee, the musical offspring of Christopher "Preacher Boy" Watkins and Will Scott, two singer-songwriter musicianers whose roots run deep, and are deeply intertwined. Between them they’ve released 6 albums, 2 EPs, received 1 Gold Record, played in 17 countries around the world and in nearly every state in the U.S. They have garnered critical acclaim from the likes of Rolling Stone, Blues Revue, The New York Press, Sing Out!, Mojo, Melody Maker, Blues Access, and more. Their songs, both together and independently, have been featured in multiple films, on many compilations, and have been covered by numerous other artists.
If you like your Blues to sound like a mash of Tony Joe White, Captain Beefheart, Son House, Johnny Shines, Tom Waits, Chris Whitley, Bukka White, Junior Kimbrough, Dave Van Ronk, Kelly Joe Phelps, Skip James, Blind Willie Johnson, Dr. John, John Hammond, Howlin' Wolf, R.L. Burnside, Bob Dylan, The Band, Wilson Picket, Otis Redding, Townes Van Zandt, Taj Mahal, Robert Pete Williams, Fred McDowell, Muddy Waters, Sam & Dave, Ray Charles, and Charley Patton, then turn up the heat on the pot-still and prepare to get your ears sloppy drunk on a bonded bottle of Roosevelt & Ira Lee.
Press Quotes:
"Demanding To Be Next (Preacher Boy's latest) offers solid songs delivered in spine-tingling fashion by one of the best contemporary bluesmen on the current scene." — Sing Out! Magazine
"Will Scott, his voice as thick as blood, sometimes accompanies with guitar; his weird liturgies bring out the pathos in pop." — New York Press
"Preacher Boy is somewhat like Keb Mo' in his jazzing up of blues styles, but with a more contemporary sound akin to Kelly Joe Phelps or Chris Whitley. The best cuts highlight his wonderful work on National Steel." — The Rolling Stone Jazz and Blues Album Guide
"Between his uniquely beautiful voice, talented six-string skills and haunting melodies, Scott shines a ray of light into a dark and dying music industry." — Anchorage Daily News
"Country blues that marry Nick Cave, Robert Johnson, Woody Guthrie and Tom Waits, honeymoon in the barroom with accordions and banjos and line the wedding bed with sheets of mutant folk, deviant campfire country and beatnik jazz." — Melody Maker
"Some of the most innovative pieces of blues songwriting of the year.” — Louisville Music News
Thanks for making room for some washboard-fueled vaudevillian ragtime/jugband blues and hillbilly swing mandness in your space!
Best,
joebass, michael, parrish
thought of you guys last night...after the ryman, late dinner at the hermitage hotel...me and the girls headed out to hendersonville in search of johnny and june carter cash...had to kick my heels off...and walk the graveyard barefoot...but after 45 minutes...we finally found them...mother maybelle too!
still lovin these songs! possession is my fav! amazing that two of my fav artists bring it together so effortlessly!
