With a follow up to 2006’s “Great Lake Heart Ache” nearing completion, these are exciting days for the well-traveled Lansing (via Ann Arbor) Southern rock-and-blues outfit Dirt Road Logic.
Eric Kelly (vocals/guitar), Paul D (guitars), Luke Elder (drums) and Jeff Rester (bass) have been on the blue-collar Midwestern grind for the past few years, and in that time they’ve generated an enviable underground following and perfected their live performance.
On Friday the long and winding road stops for the night at Hamtramck’s Small’s where Kelly says DRL are quite pleased about touching down in the Dirty D for the weekend.
How did the band get together?
It was three or four years ago. I played with our first drummer in my solo band, and he started another band with our guitar player Paul. It was guilt by association, and they were all Lansing kids so we all drifted together like that. It was hard to find people that we got along with, that we didn’t want to strangle, but this band is a good fit.
What’s the Lansing scene like right now?
It’s such a middle-sized town and there aren’t many places to play anymore. Sometimes we go through periods where there are five or six great bands, and then it dissipates for a while. We’re in a lull right now and I don’t get over that way much anymore.
Do you enjoy playing Detroit?
It’s a weird market for us. Being from Lansing, we’re a little under the radar when we get over that way. We’ve played some good shows there; we played The Magic Bag last year, and we do a lot of Hamtramck shows. We’re centrally located, so we play towards Chicago a lot, too, and Grand Rapids.
Describe the band’s sound.
We’re just a good old rock ‘n’ roll band. We try to keep our existing influences but also update them. We’re all classic rock ‘n’ roll fans, but we’re also country fans. We try to keep it honest and updated.
Who are your influences?
Lately I’ve been listening to a lot of the Hold Steady and the Drive-By Truckers. They’re my two favorite bands of the year by far. We’re all big Springsteen fans from way back, and anyone like The Black Crowes – any Southern rock bands. We drift toward those bands.
You’ve played with some fairly big names…Who has made the greatest impression on you?
The nicest guy we played with, strangely enough, was John Corbett, the guy who was on “Sex and the City.” He was loading our gear out of the van with us. Over the years, we’ve played with some great guys.
Are you looking forward to the show at Small’s?
Yeah, we’ve got a bunch of new songs. We’re actually finishing up a record right now at Rustbelt studios in Royal Oak with Al Sutton (Kid Rock, Easy Action, Electric Six) and Eric Hoegemeyer (Charm Farm, Gold Cash Gold, Crud). We worked specifically with Al for the record, but Eric will be coming in for the tail end. Eric’s a great guy and a hell of a drummer.
What do you have planned for the rest of the year?
The record is being wrapped, so we’re getting a tour together. The train’s starting to a roll a little bit now and we’re starting to do well.
Dirt Road Logic play Small’s Friday night, TC’s Speakeasy Saturday night for the Elvis Fest after party and the Intersection in Grand Rapids on Friday, July 18.
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