The Silver Spring Penguin

Shake the dust from your overalls and break open a tin of Dapper Dan. Silver Spring’s very own Jonny Grave is gonna tell you a little story about the dirty, broke South.

Jonny Grave

Grave’s take on the Delta blues has a great “share cropper” feel to it. Unlike T-Bone Burnett’s finely polished “O Brother, Where Art Thou” soundtrack, Grave’s vocals and slide gee-tar are rough, gruff and stripped raw to the bone. Like homemade hooch in a dirty jelly jar.

In “Out the Door” (above), Grave unravels on some Mississippi Fred McDowell string action. But his vocal style is a rich, smoky blend of Tom Waits and Bob Dylan. The result is enough to make any suburbanite trade the mini-van for a scraggly mule, and a well-manicured lawn for half an acre of dust, dirt and pebbles.

Sample Grave’s music on his MySpace and YouTube pages, then get the full dose next Wednesday evening (Dec 19, 2007) at the Quarry House (8401 Georgia Ave). The dirty blues are free. The burger, beer and tater tots will cost you.

Photos and music courtesy of Jonny Grave.