The extended happy hour at The Jinx to launch the album was simply great fun. Predictably, there was a huge, diverse crowd throughout the evening.

Damon Mailand, Anders Thomsen, Mike DiSanza, Igor Fiksman, and Charlie Hodge were joined by a number of other musicians during the four hours of nonstop live music. My apologies if I leave anyone out, but those on stage included Ricardo Ochoa on violin, singer Shannon Schebell, drummer Matt Collett, bassist Mike Redmond, singer Ray Lundy from Bottles ‘n’ Cans, plus the full lineup of Tonto for a short set — Thomsen, Corey Barhorst and Lee Vallier.

Special support was provided by Fred Hodge, who wandered the crowd hawking CDs.

At the end, Igor jumped up from his pedal steel for his typically entertaining rendition of Judas Priest’s “Breakin’ the Law.”

If you can’t get a copy from the band at one of their live shows, you can find the album on Amazon and

I took some pictures:

Despite being plenty skeptical, I told him I’d catch one of their Saturday happy hour gigs at The Jinx on Congress Street. So at the end of March — I remember because it was during the Savannah Music Festival — I dropped in.

And I was sort of shocked by how good they were — by Damon Mailand’s easy command of so many country classics, by the tightness of the young band as they moved quickly from one song to the next, and by the sheer improbability of catching an act so good, so early, and free.

So for the past four years, there has probably been almost a 50/50 chance that someone looking for me on Saturday evening between 6:00 and 8:30 could find me at The Jinx listening to Damon and the Shitkickers. In addition to Damon on guitar and vocals and Charlie on bass and backing vocals, Igor Fiksman plays pedal steel, Anders Thomsen plays lead guitar and sings, and Mike DiSanza plays the drums. The lineup has changed only slightly over the years, but there have been some key changes: Damon has slowly but surely added originals to the seemingly endless set list; not long after I started following them, the band started playing gigs elsewhere around town and throughout the region, including weddings and other special events; Charlie’s hands toughened up so they wouldn’t start bleeding as he attacked the upright bass.

And now Damon and the Shitkickers has finally released their debut album, Short Cups and Long Nights. Happy hour at The Jinx on Saturday, June 8th will be an extended one — roughly 6 to 10 p.m. — to celebrate the release. You can read more about the evolution of the band and about the CD in my latest Unplugged column in Do in the Savannah Morning News.

You can follow the band’s gigs via the Damon and the Shitkickers Facebook page.

Like the classic outlaw country that it, Short Cups and Long Nights hits a few recurring themes — women, booze, loss, and longing. Not to dig too deep, but you can also hear the pressure in modern America to conform to limited expectations of manhood, relationships, and country music itself.

“Heartache To Go” — one of my favorite tracks — talks about life on the road: “I’ll take a six pack with a whiskey back, and a heartache to go.”

From “My Grandma’s Ranch”, which mocks the girls who want the country boys but then don’t want them to be country anymore:

I ain’t going to take you to London for Christmas,
I don’t vacation in France.
I take a week every summer and go up to Montana,
and shoot gophers on my grandma’s ranch.

“Shit (Or Get Off the Pot)” is in the same vein — it’s about a clinging girlfriend demanding marriage.

“There Ain’t Enough Whiskey (In This Bottle)” dispenses with that mockery. The speaker is clearly just trying to bury memories of a lost love, and when Damon says the word “sorrow”, it feels like he means it. It’s a perfect companion to the only cover on the album: Merle Haggard’s “What Am I Gonna Do (With the Rest of My Life)”.

It’s rich and varied stuff.

And sometimes it’s just really funny.

The most challenging issue for Short Cups and Long Nights is that no album can capture the energy of Damon and the Shitkickers’ live shows. It’s certainly an adjustment for this listener. Maybe the band’s followup should be a live album, about half of which could be devoted to covers that are highlights of the stage shows, like “Guitars, Cadillacs” and “Georgia on a Fast Train”?

But whatever Damon and the Shitkickers do next, I’m pretty sure I’ll be following along.

Here are some pics I took last year:

As I suspected, it was a great night with energetic performances by three strong, tight Savannah bands: Damon and the Shitkickers, Niche, and CUSSES.

Damon and the Shitkickers played their normal Saturday happy hour — and don’t let the word “normal” count too much there. The band is always good, with some catchy originals amidst the classic country covers. I’ve been a regular at their Saturday gigs for a couple of years now.

Niche and CUSSES are both hard-charging rock bands out of very different traditions.

All three bands are a blast to watch and offer some compelling visuals.

By the time Angel Bond and CUSSES stormed the stage, things were pretty hot in the packed club.

For those who’ve never caught CUSSES, here’s their video for “Worst Enemy” as seen on MTV:

And some pics. Click for bigger versions — once you’ve enlarged one, you can scroll through them all at full size.

Savannah being Savannah, that means some great musicians and artists pooling their talents to raise money for Rexrode.

The “Rexrode to Recovery” benefit runs all evening at The Jinx on Saturday, July 21. Click here for the Facebook invite. By the way, I obviously can’t guarantee a celebrity sighting, but a number of CBGB stars have been stopping at The Jinx late at night.

The $6 cover — cheap! — is enough to see all or part of this lineup:

6- 8:30 pm Damon & The Shitkickers
10:15-11pm Niche
11:15-12:15am CUSSES

Raffle item donors include:

• Elev8ed Skateshop
• Graveface Records
• Sentient Bean
• Starland Cafe
• Angel’s BBQ
• Brandy Koch Accessories
• Foxy Loxy

Donors of artwork for silent auction include:

• Laura DiNello
• Juliana Peloso
• Jessica Knapp
• Panhandle Slim
• Irene McCollam
• Kenny Ward
• Brandy Koch
• Olivia Morrison-Bressler

Looks like a really good night and a good cause.

Angel Bond of CUSSES in a No Control show

Anders Thomsen, Damon Mailland, and Charlie Hodge of Damon and the Shitkickers

Niche in a show at The Jinx last year

Itâ€s ironic that all this attention is going to a hole-in-the-wall live music venue. Many Savannahians would never dream of going to such a place.

The exterior has been recreated on West Congress Street just a few doors down from The Lady and Sons. Some lucky tourist salivating for fried chicken might get a chance to see Rupert Grint of “Harry Potter” fame playing The Dead Boys†Cheetah Chrome while the actual Cheetah Chrome is on set for a cameo.

And itâ€s ironic that the mock dive club is practically across the street from a real one.

I go to The Jinx a lot — dozens of times just for Saturday happy hours with Damon and the Shitkickers. There are three bartenders who know what I want before I even order, a cause for both celebration and concern.

In honor of The Jinx and the movie CBGB, I just wanted to post some photos. I’ve been more organized at taking pictures during the Savannah Stopover, so some of these are from those gigs.

Roll over to see the captions if they don’t show up automatically. All of these were taken since I began this blog about 18 months ago.

Click for bigger pics.

I wrote in my Do column today about tonight’s CD release party for Roger Moss and Eric Jones’ Sentimental Strain and the Savannah Stopover-produced gig on Friday at The Jinx with Modern Skirts and The District Attorneys. (Click here for clips from those two Athens-based bands.)

The SMN also has coverage of several gigs by Eric Britt and of Tuesday’s Live Wire appearance by Orgone.

Looking ahead over the next couple of weeks, Live Wire has some especially big gigs.

There are obviously all sorts of gigs by other Savannah acts, including one of my favorite bands Damon and the Shitkickers who have a typically busy weekend: Friday – 10pm-2:00am at Huc-A-Poo’s on Tybee, Saturday – 6pm-8:30pm at The Jinx and later that night 10pm-2:00am at Wild Wing.

But you’re likely to see and hear some pretty good live music on your computer this weekend. There’s a live webcast from Bonnaroo starting at 12:30 p.m. CDT on Friday:

So that means 1:30 p.m. Eastern time. Alabama Shakes, Radiohead, Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, The Avett Brothers — and all that is just on Friday.

Here’s the rather weak trailer Bonnaroo has created for the webcast:

From the Friends of Jason Statts:

On June 28, 2008, Jason Statts, a local musician, talented artist, and very good friend, was a victim of a violent crime in Savannah, GA. Jason was shot point blank in the neck and suffered irreparable damage to his spinal column. Since then, he has relied on government assistance to cover his mounting medical costs, and the support of his friends and family to keep him smiling. Cuts in his benefits have caused Jasonâ€s health to decrease exponentially in the past few months. His family and friends are currently organizing another fundraiser to help fill in the gaps in his finances so that he can receive the benefits and medical assistance that he requires. The benefit event will be held on April 14th at four different bars and restaurants in downtown Savannah; and will include a silent auction, raffles, and live music. We are again asking for the communityâ€s help to support one of our own, and hope that you can be a part of it. Please feel free to contact us at friendsofstatts@gmail.com to find out how you can help a musician, an artist, and most importantly our dear friend, Jason Statts.

Silent auction items — including lots of art plus various vacations unique services — are now open for viewing and bidding at ThincSavannah, on the 3rd floor at 35 Barnard Street, just south of Ellis Square.

Click here to download the Statts Benefit Block Party details (PDF)

Click here for the Facebook event page, which now has the full lineup of bands for the afternoon and evening in City Market, Wild Wing, The Jinx, Congress Street Social Club, The Rail, and Hang Fire. Passes are $25 and are now on sale at The Jinx.

The lineup of bands includes:

• Floor
• Withered
• U.S. Christmas (USX)
• Damon and the Shitkickers
• The 8-Tracks
• Slave Grave
• Halmos
• White Dress
• Jason Bible
• Arum Rae
• Lonesome Swagger
• Dare Dukes
• Meghan Mulhearn
• Vic Burgess
• Superhorse
• The Train Wrecks
• Dead Yet?
• KidSyc@Brandywine
• Bottles and Cans
• General Oglethorpe and the Panhandlers
• Sinister Moustache
• Indian Giver
• Crazy Man Crazy
• Canary Oh Canary
• Tony Beasley
• Nate Hall
• Joe Nelson

+ DJ Dance Party at Hang Fire

South magazine already has a short preview here. See photos from the silent auction preview reception last Thursday here.

The SMN has coverage here.

Connect Savannah’s coverage is here.