The Dig 3 — “Damn the Rent”
This album has been around for a couple of months now, and much to my chagrin, I’m just getting around to it. My very bad, since it’s easily one of the finest blues efforts I’ve heard this year.
What makes it special is a rare combination of musical style and substance, performed with considerable skill and gritty authenticity.
The Dig 3 is sort of an old-timey, gutbucket trio featuring guitar and smart vocals by Andrew Duncanson of Kilborn Alley Blues Band, sharp harp by Ronnie Shellist, and the one-man-band that is Gerry Hundt — he plays Farmer FootDrums and percussion, bass, guitar, harmonica, and mandolin. They got together during the pandemic, released their splendid rootsy debut album, “The Dig 3,” last year, and their sophomore effort, “Damn the Rent,” is hot on its heels.
The production here is clean and pure, with the first 10 tracks all being cut live in the studio in a day. It’s clean and pure, but at the same time raw and gritty, with unmistakable passion for the music. And the music, all original, feels just like it’s been freshly dredged from its swampy origins.
The set opener “Take a Ride” drives along over a wicked Bo Diddley beat with plaintive harp fills all wrapped in a torrent of percussion. “All the Love That I Got” is soul with a beat stirred into a winsome blues shuffle. “Big Water” is a rolling boogie with Shellist adding tough harp lines.
“Big Toe” adds bluesy fuel as Duncanson wails “just dip my toe in gasoline.” The instrumental “Chuck and Willie” adds organ riffs to fierce guitar and soaring harp. It’s a gem of a blues track.
“Coconut Curry Dance” is a rollicking upbeat track, as tasty as its title. “Gold Tooth” is another slow boogie with Hundt on mandolin and introducing a line that contains the album title, “damn the rent.” “Blanco Boogaloo” is another instrumental, featuring a snaky harp by Shellist. “Red-Tailed Hawks” is an open-road song, driving hard on a “cold hard road and them red-tailed hawks.” The vintage sound of a raspy kazoo resonates in a snaky tribute to the “Old Dog.”
The final two cuts are very different. Recording at a different studio as the The Dig 3 BIG, a quintet without Shellist adds backup singer Lauren Dukes, bassist Aaron Whittier and drummer Rick King. Hundt plays guitar and organ. “Southern Fantasy,” from their debut album, has a thumping bass and a funky counterpoint to all that’s gone before. “All the Love That I Got” is a smooth soulful take by Duncanson, again in a different vein, but still stemming from the same musical roots.
How to best say it? “Damn the Rent” is a damn fine album. If you’ve never heard The Dig 3, you need to. If you have, do it again. Dig it.
Minor partially related digression:
The name of The Dig 3 got me to thinking (no snark, please): It reminded me of the Big Three Trio, the group that in 1946 launched the career of the legendary Willie Dixon (The three were Dixon plus pianist Leonard “Baby Doo” Caston and guitarist Bernardo Dennis (later replaced by Ollie Crawford).
A quick search of the interwebs also revealed that in 1962, Cass Elliot, Tim Rose and James Hendricks formed a group called The Big Three and began playing clubs and coffeehouses in New York City. That led to, among other things, the Mugwumps, and later, the Mamas and Papas.
Aren’t you glad you read this far?
“Big Water” from the album:
Tracklist:
1. Take A Ride
2. All The Love That I Got
3. Big Water
4. Dip My Toe
5. Chuck & Willie
6. Coconut Curry Dance
7. Gold Tooth
8. Blanco Boogaloo
9. Red Tailed Hawks
10. Old Dogs
11. Southern Fantasy
12. All The Love That I Got
Blues Roadhouse 