Rhythm N’ Blooms 2015: The Dirty Guv’nahs

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There’s going to be a special moment for Dirty Guv’nahs singer James Trimble this weekend. He and his band have performed at several festivals over the years with Southern California fellow travelers the Delta Spirit—always as openers.

“We’ve actually been at festivals where we’ve been on stage before the Delta Spirit, but here they’re actually before us,” Trimble says. “But it’s because its our hometown. We get to be last at this one. We’ve been at other festivals in other cities and it’s been like, ‘Hey, we’re the band that usually plays before you.’”

It’s hard to believe that the Dirty Guv’nahs haven’t played Rhythm N’ Blooms before. The local roots/Southern rock band, known for its incendiary live shows, is an ideal fit for Knoxville’s biggest roots-rock festival. But the Guv’nahs are also one of Knoxville’s busiest bands, maintaining a heavy schedule of touring for the past nine years in between a sequence of increasingly accomplished albums.

“We got asked to play, and obviously the answer was yes—why wouldn’t we do it?” Trimble says. “It’s an exciting festival. It’s been growing. I’ve been to see two or three shows. There’s always been a lot of local bands involved—we’re honored to be asked to play. If there’s one thing we love to do, it’s wave the Knoxville flag.”

This year’s Rhythm N’ Blooms happens to fall during a period of reflection for the band, which is winding up support of last year’s album, Hearts on Fire, and considering its next project.

“We’ve been working on new music,” Trimble says. “We would like to do a live record. People say to us all the time, you’re a live band, you’re a live experience, and I want that captured.”

After that, the band may head in a new direction. Or not. Either way, the decision will be a serious one.

“We’re trying to figure out our direction—like every band, you’re always writing music and always trying to stay busy,” Trimble says. “We’ve got this certain genre and this certain thing we’ve developed, and it’s our career, but we’re trying to always ask the question, do you just keep doing more of the same or do you try to expand? And it’s a hard question, once you get into your 30s and you’re in a band. But it is still fun. We’ve never had that big hit—we may never have that. But we know what we are. So the question is, do you keep on doing that or do you try something outside the box?”

 

The Dirty Guv’nahs play the Cripple Creek Stage on Friday, April 10, at 8:30 p.m. Read all our Rhythm N’ Blooms coverage here

Senior Editor Matthew Everett manages the Knoxville Mercury's arts & entertainment section, including the comprehensive calendar section—Knoxville’s go-to guide for everything worth doing in the area. You can reach Matthew at matthew@knoxmercury.com.

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