THE JACKSON COUNTY KILLS

THE JACKSON COUNTY KILLS are a HONKY TONK & COUNTRY SOUL band from Portland, Oregon that play super-charged American folk music. From the hardscrabble twang of Hillbilly songs to the undeniable beat of the Blues, they perform roadhouse Gospel to comfort the afflicted and celebrate the good times.

“Give us three chords and three minutes and we’ll have you cryin’ in your beer or stompin’ along.” laughs Matty Charles, singer and songwriter for the band. “We’re singing about real life. If I’m not the person in the song I probably know them.”

Charles’ plainspoken narratives use folk and country storytelling to draw the listener in. Lead guitarist, Brian Byrnes deftly improvises with an unconscious ease while Kevin Major and Tom Armstrong, on drums and bass respectively, keep the songs tight and focused. Charles and Byrnes sing and play guitar like brothers, anticipating each other instinctively.

“You can practice all the life out of a song in an attempt to perfect it.” Charles ruminates. “Our goal has nothing to do with perfection. Our goal is to create a community that would like to have a good time with us and each other.”

Charles spent a tumultuous youth in the all ages clubs of Portland’s seedy downtown where he learned to play guitar and perform. The DIY culture of this environment instilled skepticism for the mainstream. This attitude was affirmed by the growing Anti-folk movement in New York and San Francisco and inspired Charles’ early Lo-fi recordings.

He spent decades in both cities in rough neighborhoods with people on the bottom rung of society. His songs come from the hard knocks that many artists emulate but it’s his lack of pretense that make Charles’ song-stories so relatable.

“To feel in your heart and guts Country this Real -- tales of the cold hard facts of life spun in unassuming candor -- it is necessary to have done some living. To have struggled your way through hardships and loves both agonizing and salvatory. Only then will you appreciate how magnificent Country can be when market subservience is kept outside the door.” - DC Larson's Jukebox Jury