"Imagine if you took the Tasmanian devil and put him in a chair with a couple of guitars, a slide, and some weird snare drum connected to a foot pedal contraption, and then demanded “MAKE MUSIC.” This explains the frenzy that is Smokestack and the Foothill Fury "
-autopsy4 , Creative Loafing Tampa,FL
"“Smokestack” is a one man band with enough energy for a quartet. Armed with a small arsenal of guitars, his foot driven rhythm section, and a knack for telling a story..he puts on a good show that is a little different but highly entertaining."
-Mountain Freak.net
"Long-awaited arrival of Smokestack the Foothill Fury, was nothing less than inspiring and entertaining. Full of fury, like a rolling and tumbling ball of energy, Smokestack played raw, down-from-the-hills blues. A refreshing slap in the face to pretentious, over-produced pop."
-Nasty Ned, ARL about Live performance
"one-man freight train, Smokestack and the Foothill Fury, who kicks his contraption and bites and spits the blues both hard and fast ... like a lone wolf."
-Adam Leech, Colorado Springs Independent
"This guy caught me by surprise. Having never heard of him, I was preparing to use his set as a chance to grab a beer and take a piss, but when he was done I found that I was still standing in the same place I was when he began, doing the “I gotta piss” dance"
-autopsy4 , Nine Bullets.net
"ABOUT CD:Given name Jarod Yerkes, is a vagabond minstrel, a one-man band, traveling the country with his self-styled punk-country-blues. He summons in equal parts the spirits of Son House and Joe Strummer, belting his raspy baritone over a furious slide guitar and a snare/bass drum rhythm section "
-Dave Stallard, Blue Ridge Outdoors
Matters what night it is. SmokeStack and the Foothill Fury is a sure enough, hard drivin', one man band. Incorporating snare, bass drum, and others.SmokeStack's energy comes from things forgotten in todays society....The music should renew your take on original music made today
Anything good!SmokeStack's musical fathers are: Lightnin' Hopkins, Buddy Guy, MudCat, Willie Nelson, Buddy Boy Hawkins, Blind Willie McTell, Mr. Frank Edwards, Hubert Sumlin, Professor Longhair, Beck, and many others. His musical mommas are: Billie Holiday, Bonnie Raitt, Etta James, Beverly Guitar Watkins, his real maw, and any of the great ladies out there. And a few crazy bands from SmokeStack's younger days.
Homemade country-wine. Bad luck, even worse decisions. Southern girls, northern girls. Apple pie and vanilla ice cream. Living off nothing more than what the good earth gives us. Mill grinding wheels. Old men at the convienent store waiting for the sun. The crisp cold that is Winter's warn. Big block motors. 6o's and 70's hotrods, 50's and 60's pick-up trucks. Last breathe of a falling star. 45's of your favorite tunes. Snow in the mountains. Real women, real men, Like George fuc*ing Washington, Daniel Boone, William Bartram and almost any Native American Indian, Well.... just about anyone before now... Walleye fishing at 4 am on some lake by yourself. Cast iron skillets. Rabun County Georgia before the flood of people.....About anywhere in Kentucky. Hell...Corbin, Kentucky. Tobacco Barns. Steel mills. Holdin true to who you are and what you've got. Old towns. Fly fishing, Bailey's and coffee at 6 am. Wild Turkey Rare Breed and Coke at 9 pm. Northside Tavern in Atlanta. Fixing your own car. Fish frys for the folk in town. Old music by new souls with fresh ideas. The mother Fuc*in blues like they are suppose to be done. Lightnin Hopkins. Grass cut in the marnin'. Old people in general. Stories of the craziness that made us America. Murder ballads. Whiskey bootleggin'. Mountain marijuana. Hickory and Pecan smoked pork. The dirty,dirty south. The pristine idea of pristine. Curiosity. Corn meal. The few people that don't think I am hell on feet and help me out of my own shit. My few fans. My few enemies. Myself......
SmokeStack, born March 23, 1978, originally hails from the great corn state of Iowa, but soon after ended up a Navy brat, and called Florida home. By age seven he ended up in Georgia, and stayed there for the most part, save a couple of extended trips to Iowa and eight months in North Carolina.
He dropped out of High School at age 16, getting GED, and diving into the construction/carpentry field. Now a journeyman carpenter, and enjoying the more so remodel/refinishing side of hammerswingin'. SmokeStack recently has been playing music again,and the word is out, HIS SHOWS ARE AMAZING. Incorporating the hard, all day energy needed for construction, and putting it into the great art of song writing and performing(Which some say SmokeStack was born to do). He plans on finding or making his niche'. MADE IN AMERICA
Basically a self-made man. Taking care of what is needed to get by, and barely doing so sometimes. He has managed to create and learn some hard-earned knowledge rarely even cared about today. Always having to fix his own cars and trucks through-out life. Farming what little land in hand and doing work for rent has kept everything modest and humbling. Prepared for change, but remembering the great things of the past has always been the way he has led his life.
SmokeStack and the Foothill Fury or just Smokey himself have shared the bill with some mighty fine acts. Including Colonel Bruce Hampton, The Derek Trucks Band, Jeff Coffin, Vince Herman and Drew Emmitt of Leftover Salmon, Rev. Jeff Mosier, Grease Factor, Jeff Sipe, MudCat, Johnny Neel, Derek Jones, King Johnson, Donna Hopkins Band, Big City Sunrise, Barry Richman, Ralph Roddenberry, Beverly Guitar Watkins, Frankie's Blues Mission, Lola Gulley, Sammy Blue, Donnie McCormick of Eric Quincy Tate, the Rib Tips, Bob Wayne and the Outlaw Carnies, Ben Prestage, Jeff Fedora(man behind the Daytona Blues Society), Eddie Tigner, Lil' Joe from Chicago, Cathy Carlisle, Scott Biram, Black Diamond Heavies, Bob Log III, Left Lane Cruser, Hillstomp,and many others. Some memorable moments are:.....Any given moment at the Northside Tavern. The rockin' out of his somewhat home town of Gainesville, Georgia every Mule Camp Market weekend for the past five years, Sage Fest in Georgia, Moon Mountain Zambifest, Hemlock Festival, Deep Blues Festival, Hamline Folk Festival, and many benefits for the ones he loves. Including Beverly Guitar Watkins at Darwin's, Cora Mae Bryant's Sweet Petunia day, and Mr. Frank Edwards Chicken Raid at the Northside Tavern.
ALL IN GOOD FUN
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