09/12/2014 Asbury Park Press, Concert preview , 'Q&A: J.D. Wilkes of the Legendary Shack Shakers'

Q: It seems like you're taking a two-pronged approach to the arts. You're documenting what's going on down south in the book you wrote and and the documentary you put together, and with the Dirt Daubers and the Shack Shakers you're taking your own riff on that and spreading it out wide. Can you tell me about taking those two approaches to this culture?

A: Well, I think one of the things missing in the roots world is roots, actually. This music is not rooted in the true historical, cultural roots of the country and our culture, it's rooted in a mix-tape someone has handed them or a reference to something more contemporary.

So, it was important for me to keep delving and digging to get to the source of what it is that I'm doing. Where does it come from? It should be something any serious musician or artist would want to do, get at what this is and where it comes from and explore it from the inside out. That just seems to go without saying for me. But, I think a lot of these kids are content to just get the tattoos and go through the various posturing that goes on in the cowpunk scene or whatever. That's all and good, but doesn't that leave you kind of wanting?

It's not enough to slip a Johnny Cash flipping the bird t-shirt on and call it good. What was Johnny Cash doing, other than flipping the bird? He was listening to old time music and absorbing it into his soul. That's why we like him. Don't we want to be like that? Don't I want to be like that? And don't I want to have that same kind of respect as a public figure and a musician? So, it just seems obvious to me. Why wouldn't someone who tries to make a living at music make it his business to know it from the inside out?