Chistopher Deshazo talks about his new band, Durwoord, which makes its debut July 2 with The Butchers and Cathead Biscuit Boys at the Blue Moon. And his solo project Shazzerine, which is blowing up the summer charts.
What’s the band sound like? What are some of the key influences?
The band sounds like Americana, country rock influenced by the great songwriters and musicians of the past a la Townes (Van Zandt), Willie (Nelson), etc., etc. We have a large and varied spectrum of musical tastes and influences that we draw from … we aren’t your mee-maw’s country band, but your mee-maw can bug out to it.
Tell me about the name — it sounds a bit like Dire Wood.
The name, Durwood, is a misspelling of Jeremy’s (Steward, bass) dad’s middle name. He was a hard-working country dude and it fits with the sound we were working on and stuck.
Do y’all do originals or covers? If covers, what are a few you cover? If originals, tell me about one or two.
We have a couple of covers in our set at the moment. Doug Sahm’s “It’s Gonna be Easy” and Guy Clark’s “Black Diamond Strings.” [We are] Big fans of those artists and those two made it to the set list. But we would rather focus on our original music. “Beautiful Nothing,” for example, tells of not having much money and wanting to share your life with someone if they’re willing to take that possibly bumpier ride. “Come away to my beautiful nothing/Come away to my empty home/You can stay as long as you want to/ You can stay and we’ll have nothing on our own.” Most of them walk the happy side of melancholy.
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Any chance y’all will be playing your “Shazzerine” single, recorded with Dege Legg and Greg Travasos and available via iTunes and CD Baby?**
I’m stoked that so many people dig the single. I wrote it as a goof for the band and it got airtime. When Degerine (Dege Legg) and Gregerine (Greg Travasos) get back from their West Coast summer tour, we will seriously discuss a full length album but for now we have other projects to promote.
Two-thirds of Durwood was in Frigg A-Go-Go. That band had a really good run. What’s your goal for this band?
Frigg had a great run. It seems a lifetime ago. With Durwood, we hope to take that experience further — if we can — based on solid songwriting, musicianship and incredible melodies. I believe our old fans will appreciate this new sound and will be filling the dance floor and singing along. We are shopping around for a great local studio to record our first album, so stay tuned.