“Music can, and in many ways, should be about community and I hope that it can be a way for people to come together at a time when there is so much division and polarization in our world.”

Dustin Arbuckle: Wichita Blues Fighter

Dustin Arbuckle & The Damnations are a blues-centric band with a wide reach. Out of Wichita, Kansas, they roll from a Delta groove into honky tonk, into Southern soul, and into a country-rock trucker’s anthem in a single set, never losing the thread. That broad stylistic reach is one of the biggest draws of their live shows. Arbuckle and Brandon Hudspeth bring the blues pedigree. Arbuckle sang and played harmonica in Moreland & Arbuckle for 15 years, recording for Alligator and Telarc and sharing stages with Buddy Guy, ZZ Top, George Thorogood, Robert Cray, and Los Lobos. Guitarist Hudspeth, a multiple-time Blues Music Award and Blues Blast Award nominee, leads Kansas City’s Levee Town and the duo Hudspeth & Taylor. Bassist Caleb Drummond and drummer Colby Aiken, both music-school graduates, are a big reason why the band can range so wide, having toured with acts across styles from jazz and bluegrass to rock and reggae. There’s not much this band can’t touch. Wichita, Kansas roots-rock powerhouse Dustin Arbuckle & The Damnations return with “Fight Like The Devil (Or Run Like Hell)”, a hard-hitting, razor-sharp release that captures the band at the absolute peak of their creative focus.

(Dustin Arbuckle & The Damnations / Photo by Monica Salmaron)

Celebrated for their sprawling live sets that pivot seamlessly from Delta blues grooves into high-octane honky tonk, Southern soul, and trucker-rock anthems, the band turns in their most disciplined, muscular, and focused studio album to date - a straight-ahead blues and roots-rock powerhouse built on an unbreakable spine. The record balances road-tested musicianship with memorable songwriting, pairing Arbuckle's expressive harmonica and vocals with highly skilled musicianship, in Brandon Hudspeth's guitars, Caleb Drummond's bass, and Colby Aiken's drums. Built from years of touring and collaboration, the album embraces traditional blues while reaching naturally into rock, soul, country and Americana. Rather than chasing trends, the band delivers songs rooted in perseverance, restless travel, hard-earned love, and the resilience required to keep moving forward.

Interview by michael Limnios            Special Thanks: Betsie Brown (Blind Raccoon)

How has the music influenced your views of the world? What moment changed your musical life the most?

I think music, and my career as a touring musician, has helped to broaden my view of the world in a variety of ways. Just the process of getting into blues and roots music when I was a teenager made me realize how much great music and art there is out there in the world beyond the mainstream pop music I'd primarily been surrounded by as a middle class, suburban, white kid from Kansas. Listening to and learning the history of the music and the artists has been a part of the expansion of my worldview throughout my life. I've also been incredibly lucky to have the opportunity, through touring, to visit places and interact with other cultures in ways that I probably never would have if I'd chosen a different path in life.

The moment that probably changed my musical life the most is the day I really got started playing music. I was 16 years old and had been interested in Blues for about a year. I'd always loved singing and was talking about wanting to get into a blues band. My dad pushed me to learn an instrument and I decided I wanted to try harmonica, so he took me to meet an old friend of his named Bill Garrison. Bill played harp and guitar, and had been a working musician around our local scene in Wichita, KS off and on since the late 1960s. He played and sang a bunch of tunes for us that day. It was the first time I ever really saw someone who really knew what they were doing play the harmonica up close and in person, and he explained some basic things about the instrument to me, which got me on the road to playing. Bill also had a great record collection and played several cool old blues albums for us, in addition to showing us bootleg videotapes of the old American Folk Blues Festival TV broadcasts from Europe in the 60s (which were really hard to find in those days), so I got a tremendous musical education that day. In the end, it turned out to be the day I stopped just being a music listener and started becoming a musician. 

“If you're going to make any form of art your career, it has to be because you truly love it and can hardly imagine doing anything else. It's a difficult way to make a living, and the vast majority of us don't end up making a lot of money, so getting to do something you love for a living has to be the biggest part of the reward.” (Dustin Arbuckle / Photo by Jay Douglass)

How do you describe your sound, music philosophy and songbook? What keeps a musician passionate over the years in Soul, Blues, Rock music?

I think the best way to describe The Damnations' sound is a blues-centric mix of electric American roots music. Old-school electric blues is probably our most prominent single influence, but from the beginning we've always been a band that will play anything we enjoy as long as we feel like we can deliver tastefully and effectively. Most of our original material is in the blues and roots-rock vein, and we really leaned into that on "Fight Like the Devil (Or Run Like Hell)", but at live shows we're likely to play soul music, honky-tonk country, jazz, and electrified country blues, among other things. I think that stylistic variety definitely helps keep it fun and interesting. 

Continuing to try and find my own voice within these now long-established musical styles is also a big part of maintaining the passion. Maybe the biggest thing for me is simply a love of performing. There is a very unique and special feeling that comes from the act of playing music you love, with other musicians you enjoy playing with, for people who really enjoy hearing it. I haven't been able to find that exact kind of energy anywhere else in my life, so I just keep playing. 

Why do you think that Kansas music scene continues to generate such a devoted following?

I'm biased, of course, but I believe the music scene in Kansas is underrated and under-known. I think there are a lot of great artists and bands that are based in Kansas, but they really have to work and fight to get noticed by the outside world because they aren't from a place that the average person considers hip or a hotbed of great music. A lot of us end up coming up in niche or "underground" scenes, which I think tends to inspire devotion and passion from the fans because they see how hard we're working and they know they're supporting someone that everyone else doesn't know about. 

Are there any memories from gigs, jams, open acts and studio sessions which you’d like to share with us?

I wasn't a professional musician yet, but when I was 17 I got to see the legendary Chicago Blues guitarist Hubert Sumlin, who had played for decades with Howlin' Wolf, at a small festival in Kansas. I ran into him after his set, told him how much I admired him, and how much his music had meant to me. Mr. Sumlin smiled, looked at the friend who was with him, and said "Man, see, this is what I'm talking about!", then pulled me in for a big hug. At that point in my life, having one of the greatest blues guitarists of all-time be that kind and cool to me was about the greatest thing I could imagine. About a dozen years later I got to meet Mr. Sumlin again at a festival that we were both playing. This time I got to have a real conversation with him and he was incredibly friendly and gracious with his time. Both of those experiences had a big impact on me and taught me the importance of being appreciative of the audience.

“I think the best way to describe The Damnations' sound is a blues-centric mix of electric American roots music. Old-school electric blues is probably our most prominent single influence, but from the beginning we've always been a band that will play anything we enjoy as long as we feel like we can deliver tastefully and effectively.” (Dustin Arbuckle & The Damnations / Photo by Monica Salmaron)

What do you miss most nowadays from the blues of past? What are your hopes and fears for the future of?

I think the old-school blues was focused on the voice, the songs, and having a groove that made people want to move. There is still a lot of that, but I think at some point a lot of the artists and fans started to place a bigger emphasis on instrumental prowess and a lot of solos (especially guitar solos), which I feel like has been detrimental to the quality of the songwriting in the genre. There's absolutely a place for that, and big crazy solos are fun sometimes, but my hope is that we have more of a return to the genre being about the singer and the song. Personally, I believe more people can connect with that emotionally.

What is the impact of the Blues and Jazz on the racial and socio-cultural implications?  How do you want the music to affect people?

Your first question here is a big one, and I'm not sure I'm the right person to answer it, but I'll do my best to give some thoughts. I believe that, as Black American art form, Blues and Jazz music have historically served as platforms for the Black community to have a public voice when most other avenues to speak out were systemically closed to them. I would also say that, sadly, the music industry and society as a whole have rarely given the Black artists who were the originators of these styles the level of credit and acknowledgement they deserve. All that being said, I also believe that this music has often helped to bring people together and promote understanding across racial and cultural divides. Music can, and in many ways, should be about community and I hope that it can be a way for people to come together at a time when there is so much division and polarization in our world.

As for the way I want OUR music to affect people, I just hope it can give folks some joy. It's a shitty world out there in a lot of ways and life can be so stressful and sad, but there is still joy that makes it all worth living through. Sometimes just hearing a song or songs that you love, or getting to go to a live show and feel that energy from the band and the other people digging the music can be the thing that helps you feel that joy and love. If we can do that for people, then I'm happy. 

What are some of the most important lessons you have learned from your experience in the music paths?

If you're going to make any form of art your career, it has to be because you truly love it and can hardly imagine doing anything else. It's a difficult way to make a living, and the vast majority of us don't end up making a lot of money, so getting to do something you love for a living has to be the biggest part of the reward.

“I think the old-school blues was focused on the voice, the songs, and having a groove that made people want to move. There is still a lot of that, but I think at some point a lot of the artists and fans started to place a bigger emphasis on instrumental prowess and a lot of solos (especially guitar solos), which I feel like has been detrimental to the quality of the songwriting in the genre.”

(Dustin Arbuckle / Photo by Jay Douglass)

What are you doing to keep your music relevant today, to develop it and present it to the new generation?

I don't think we're really making a concerted effort to stay relevant from a pop cultural standpoint. We do our best to write good, honest songs that we know we can perform well. It's just about being as good a band as we can be and finding the audience who digs what we do. 

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