BUMPIN UGLIES Drop Live Acoustic EP + Summer/Fall Tour Dates

Article Contributed by 1888 Media | Published on Saturday, April 22, 2023

Revered road warriors Bumpin Uglies have released another live acoustic EP of material recorded at the Sugarshack in Western Florida.

Featuring three songs from their recently released album, Mid-Atlantic Dub (“Wild Girls,” Make It Through The Day,” “You Don’t Gotta Die”), one track each from 2019’s Buzz EP (“Serving”) and 2011’s Free Candy full-length (“Lie to Me”) plus a spirited cover of “Cover Me Up,” the Jason Isbell staple from his Southeastern opus, the band sound loose and confident, focused and ebullient.

Returning to the Sugarshack in Bonita Springs, FL, just north of Naples, the Maryland-based band welcomed the opportunity do another visual EP with some trusted comrades, a follow-on to their well-received collection recorded at the same venue in May 2020.

Bumpin Uglies founder/vocalist Brandon Hardesty explains, “Sugarshack has been a staple in our scene for almost 10 years, and we’ve done a lot of work with them. We ended our fall tour in southern Florida so we really wanted to make a session work to record some of these new songs. It was honestly a pretty low stress situation because the Sugarshack guys are such pros and we’d been playing those songs for months, so we had them tight and ready to go. The caliber of their work is so top notch, we knew if we got a good take they would crush the mix and the video, which they did. I really feel like we captured lightning in a bottle, I’m very proud of it.”

Joining Hardesty were band members Dave “Wolfie” Wolf (bass, vocals), T.J. Haslett (drums), Ethan Lichtenberger (keys) and Will Lopez (tenor saxophone) and regular collaborators, Nick Reider (trumpet) and Ben Bays (conga/percussion). Also partaking were special guests Joey Harkum (harmony vocals on “Lie to Me”) and violinist Liz McBryde, who’s worked with The Who, Sting, and Brian Wilson (of the Beach Boys), on an intimate, yet spirited, take on a love song written for Amanda Shires by the former Drive-By Trucker.

“Cover Me Up has been a favorite of mine since I first heard it, but it really became special to me when I sobered up a few years ago. Making a life in music is extremely challenging. Making one while not drinking is even more challenging, while also being a bit easier, if that makes sense. The temptation is everywhere, but the clarity that comes with it helps me cut through the bullshit. I know Jason was newly sober when he wrote it, and to me, it feels like it’s a song about redemption. It’s a very special song to me and it makes me feel very deeply. I love to sing it,” said Hardesty.

Parlaying the gritty, but hi-def vibe of the Sugarshack session, a full acoustic record is in the works for fall, with Brandon recording live, in studio, doing solo acoustic versions of previously recorded songs as well several unreleased songs that draw inspiration from Isbell, John Prine and others.

For more than a decade, the Maryland-based band, who blend rock, hip hop, dub, reggae and punk into a refreshing blast of spacetime funk, has toured constantly, starting with local open mics and backyard parties to ever-expanding audiences, festival slots and sold-out shows coast to coast. Whether live at the Sugarshack or at marquee venues from Brooklyn to Tahoe, from Austin to Albany to their very own ‘Weekend at Wolfies,’ the thinking man’s party band continues to bump, and grind, from ocean city to sector nine.

Bumpin Uglies Tour Dates:

4/19 - Tulsa, OK - The Shrine

4/20 - Dallas, TX - Deep Ellum Art Company

4/21 - Austin, TX - Empire Control Room

4/22 - Corpus Christi, TX - House of Rock

4/23 - Houston, TX - Scout Bar

5/04 - Washington DC - 9:30 Club w/ Joey Harkum & Higher Education

5/05 - Asbury Park, NJ - House Of Independents w/ Joey Harkum

5/06 - Pawtucket, RI - The Met w/ Crooked Coast

5/07 - Syracuse, NY - Funk 'n Waffles w/ Crooked Coast

5/11 - Raleigh, NC - Bowstring Pizza & Brewyard w/ Joint Operation

5/12 - Isle of Palms, SC - The Windjammer w/ Doze & the Drift