When something comes from Charleston, S.C., it usually has a lot a flavor. The food, architecture and music scene all come with a side of authenticity. Bringing that funky, laid-back style to Starkville is the folk-rock-Americana trio Dangermuffin.
Saturday night from 5 to 9 p.m. on the Historic State Theatre’s main stage marks the band’s first visit to Mississippi.
While members Dan Lotti, Steven Sandifer and Mike Sivilli have toured regionally with shows in St. Simons, Ga., Asheville, N.C. and Nashville, Tenn., the guys have never been in the Deep South until their fall tour.
Dangermuffin formed in the summer of 2006 and released its first album Beermuda in 2007.
“It’s been a real blessing,” Lotti said. “We’ve been able to be self-sufficient the whole time.”
The following year, the band released its EP Emancee, an album Lotti refers to as a homegrown deal.
“It’s made of six songs I put together in June 2008,” he said. “The collection is really just getting into the truth of things out there. It’s not nearly as polished as Beermuda, and we only digitally distributed it.”
With a name like Dangermuffin, one must ask oneself where something this bizarre comes from but try not to focus so much on the combined words as much as what its entirety stands for.
Lead guitarist Sivilli said people have taken stabs at the meaning behind the name, guessing everything from it being a nickname for certain women to it being a recipe for the band’s image.
“We never give the same answer twice to this question,” Sivilli said. “It just fit our personality. We’re always making up different names for things, throwing things together, it’s just part of our anecdotal shenanigans. It works well for open-minded people and feeds their curiosity.”
Each member brings something instrumentally different to the band’s sound.
Sivilli’s admiration of bands like Phish and Pink Floyd has created a smooth vibe for the band, but his outstanding talent prevents the industry from slapping the jam-band label on the trio.
“He’s the most amazing guitarist I’ve ever played with,” Lotti said.
With the band having shared the stage with musicians like Martin Sexton, Grace Potter and George McConnell, Sivilli must have the skills to back up that compliment.
The band’s percussionist, Sandifer – a former member of Charleston-favorite band The Biscuit Boys – not only brings flavors from those who have inspired him, he also brings drum grooves from various cultures and genres ranging from salsa to tribal to conga.
“He’s our wild card,” Lotti said. “He brings a lot to our sound [because] he’s an avid student of drums. He wants to learn every groove and every possible sound he can make with them.”
As for frontman and lyricist Lotti, he said parts of his inspiration branch from his uncle teaching him how to play the guitar.
“He would sit me down, say, ‘Listen to this’ and pop in Steve Earle or something like that,” he said. “Then I started listening to people like Gillian Welch and Lucinda Williams. But really, it doesn’t matter what you listen to, or if you mean to or not, it’s gonna get into your music. But give me a good song, that’s what inspires me.”
Dangermuffin was recently honored in the April/May issue of Relix magazine for winning JamOff!, the publication’s prestigious competition for unsigned artists. The band also recently finished laying down 15 tracks in a Nashville, Tenn., studio for an upcoming album due in spring.
“The writing started on the beach this past winter while I was walking my dog,” Lotti said. “A melody just popped in my head and things got started.”
The beach Lotti refers to is the beautifully laid-back Folly Beach in South Carolina. He said the tracks “Walk into the Wind” and “Moonscape” came from taking the elements around him such as the wind’s ability to work with or against you and the ocean’s tide creating surface craters mimicking that of the moon.
He said the new album is focused on roots music of all kinds such as acoustic, jazz and reggae. In a few songs, the guys switch their regular instruments for ones like an upright bass and a banjo, giving the songs a more honest and unrefined sound. With this mixture, the album can only be described as eclectic.
The most refreshing thing about Dangermuffin is its honest, pure view of music.
“It’s just about writing music, keeping it honest,” Lotti said. “Pure perspective is the truth, you can’t fake it. But I think we’ve been playing so much it’s been memorable, we’ve never sounded better than we do now.”