Tag: Dave Hartman

I can thank CB for mentioning this band. What a fun band they are! They have a quirky and humorous style that reflects elements of Southern culture and kitsch. They have listed their influences as The International Submarine Band, Buck Owens, Merle Haggard, the Byrds, the Seeds, and the Chocolate Watchband. That is a cool mixture!

This band is out of North Carolina and they cover a wide area of music and also mash it up. They sometimes merge Americana, surf, rockabilly, and swamp garage rock. The band was formed in 1983 by guitarist Rick Miller, Mary Huff on bass and vocals, and Dave Hartman on drums. They have appeared on Conan O’Brien (my favorite modern talk show host) and The Tonight Show. This song combines surf and rockabilly…it has a faint sixties sound. Miller plays fantastic and smart licks throughout this song and album.

This song came out in 1995 on the album Dirt Track Date. It was distributed by Geffen Records. Firefly was written by Rick Miller. Michael Lipton played Steel Guitar on this album, and The Soul City Singers provided backing vocals. This was their 4th album. They have 19 albums so far and they last released one in 2021 called At Home With Southern Culture on the Skids.

Rick Miller on where the name came from: ‘We were just art students who liked bands like The Cramps (an American punk band), blues, R&B and rockabilly but everyone else was into bands like R.E.M., It was weird, people were saying that was the new sound of the south and we said “If that’s the new south, it sure don’t rock ‘n’ roll like it used to, guess we liked the music better when Southern culture was on the skids” so that’s where our name comes from!’

Rick Miller plays a Danelectro guitar (check the video below). They are cheaper guitars but I have two of them and they have a unique sound. Jimmy Page used one in Kashmir. They are fun guitars. What I did with my electric 12-string Danelectro is to put better Seymour Duncan pickups and a bone nut (the original nut is metal) and now it sounds close to a Rickenbacker…and around $1500 dollars cheaper. Sorry, I got sidetracked!

Entire Concert

Firefly

I was at a party it was late one night
Moon was hitting i was sitting alright
Two ugly girls on both sides of me
I was praying for you firefly

I say firefly won’t you shine some light
Let me see what’s happening tonight
Firefly won’t you shine some light
Let me see what’s happening tonight

Little girls followed me all the way home
They say don’t leave me out here in the
Dark all alone by myself
Reach into my pocket trying to find my keys
I was praying for you firefly

I say firefly won’t you shine some light
Let me see what’s happening tonight
Firefly won’t you shine some light
Let me see what’s happening tonight

I was at a party it was late one night
Moon was hitting i was sitting alright
Two ugly girls on both sides of me
I was praying for you firefly

I say firefly won’t you shine some light
Let me see what’s happening tonight
Firefly won’t you shine some light
Let me see what’s happening tonight