AthFest 2026: Dash Rip Rock at the Georgia Theatre
In this episode, Sloane catches up from the green room of the legendary Georgia Theatre in Athens, GA during AthFest, with Dash Rip Rock, who’s been hard at work on a collection of new songs that are already generating plenty of excitement, especially across Europe.
We dive into the story behind their latest album, A Song in Everyone, recorded at Bobby Matt Patton’s wonderfully eclectic studio in Mississippi, Dial Back Sound. It’s the kind of place that’s old, funky, and full of character, the perfect setting to capture the band’s unmistakable sound.
We reminisce about Sloane catching DRR back in the 688 days, talk about how the band has evolved over the years, and share a few laughs about life in the studio, including the occasional yacht rock soundtrack of Toto and Sting playing in the background while the creative magic happens.
So pour yourself a drink, settle in, and join us as we explore the stories behind the songs in another low-key, high-taste happy hour for music nerds.
Pin Our Tastemaker Playlists
Musicians Featured in this Episode
- Bobby Matt Patton
- Bill Davis (Dash Rip Rock founder)
- Butthole Surfers
- Dash Rip Rock
- Dexateens
- Drunken Prayer
- Eric "Roscoe" Ambel (referred to as "Roscoe" and "Eric Campbell/Amble" in the transcript; misspoken and corrected to be Eric Ambel)
- Lilly Hiatt
Musicians, Bands, Festivals, and Ships
- AthFest (festival)
- HeAthens Fest (festival)
- Dan Baird
- Dave Barbe
- Dial Back Sound (studio/label)
- Drive-By Truckers
- Fat Possum (studio referenced as the former Fat Possum studio)
- Georgia Theatre
- Henry Barbe
- Hurray for the Riff Raff
- Lance Bangs
- Led Zeppelin
- Mammoth Records
- Mary Lee Kortes
- Metroplex (Atlanta venue)
- Mitch Easter
- Mojo Nixon (referred to simply as "Mojo")
- Morgan (of Drunken Prayer; surname not stated)
- Rob Reiner
- Rolling Stones
- Shinyribs
- Spain (mentioned as a touring market, not a venue/person)
- Steely Dan
- Sting
- Sunny Sweeney
- Supersuckers
- The Deslondes
- The Nick (venue in Birmingham, AL)
- The Outlaw Country Cruise
- The Whole Truth and Nothing Butt: The Story of the Butthole Surfers (documentary)
- Tom Petty/Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (referenced as "the Heartbreakers")
- Toto
- Warner Hodges
- 688 Club (referred to as "688" and "688 Presents")
- 688 Presents (record, concert promotion series)
The Regulars
Chapters
- 00:00 - Introducing Dash Rip Rock
- 01:22 - New Music
- 05:03 - Musical Connections and Band Origins
- 07:02 - The Impact of Music on Creativity
- 08:35 - European Audiences
- 11:27 - The Return to Familiar Stages
Recommended If You Like
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Transcript
Welcome to the Dive Bar Music Club podcast, where the guest hosts drop in and out, but the opinions are always passionate and the playlists loud.
Speaker A:It's like cheers if everyone at the bar had a strong take on 90s alt rock or a suspicious number of burned CDs.
Speaker A:Around our table, you'll find an emerging touring songwriter, a former cult band favorite whose work since then is even more interesting, a portrait photographer with a not so secret metal penchant, a record store owner who learned about Swifties the hard way, a retired folk singer who regrets nothing, and a zine maker with more cool music projects than we can count.
Speaker A:We're all just here to share what we're currently obsessed with and maybe convince someone that, yes, that weird Icelandic synth folk band is worth a listen.
Speaker A:Okay, that last one's probably me, Sloan Spencer.
Speaker A:It's Dive Bar Music Club.
Speaker A:Low key, high taste happy hour for music nerds.
Speaker B:Hey, y', all, it's Lauren Spencer.
Speaker B:I am upstairs in the awesome green room here at the George Theater during ATH Fest with my friends from Dash RIP Rock, which has been a while for me.
Speaker B:Pretty fun.
Speaker B:I go Back to the 688 presents Aces of clubs days, and I'm excited to get to catch them again.
Speaker B:So, gonna hang with the guys, have them kind of pass the mic, introduce themselves, and just ask them real fast.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker B:What y' all been doing lately?
Speaker C:We got a brand new album out.
Speaker C:Well, it's maybe five months old now.
Speaker C:It's called A Song in Everyone.
Speaker C:And we made it with Bobby Matt Patten from the Drive By Truckers at his studio in Water Valley, Mississippi, called Dialback Sound.
Speaker C:And that's also the name of his label.
Speaker C:So we're super excited about it.
Speaker C:I mean, it was just, you know, it's been well received and all the gigs going well and got some airplay on satellite radio and here and there, and real good reviews coming out of Europe, believe it or not, which is kind of cr.
Speaker B:No, I definitely believe it.
Speaker C:Yeah, but.
Speaker C:So that's it.
Speaker C:We just sort of caught another wave.
Speaker C:You know, we've been riding the waves for the last 40 years or so since you saw us at 688.
Speaker B:That's cool.
Speaker B:Well, so as I was listening to this, I'm gonna call it the new Record.
Speaker B:Cause it's the new record.
Speaker B:Yeah, but when I first listened to it, I was really excited because it's very fresh.
Speaker B:It's not trying to be what we all used to be or anything like that, but it's also recognizable.
Speaker B:There were a couple Tunes, though, that I was like, oh, I can tell Bobby Matpatton is on this record.
Speaker B:There was one in particular that I'm like, this.
Speaker B:I mean, this.
Speaker B:Well, could be a Dexa Teens tune.
Speaker C:Yeah, yeah, he put it.
Speaker B:He sprinkled that in the best way possible.
Speaker C:Yeah, he sprinkled his magic dust on it.
Speaker C:And.
Speaker C:Yeah, and the studio itself is so old and funky.
Speaker C:It's the old Fat Possum studio.
Speaker C:And just the equipment there and the walls and the acoustics, it just lent to it being a real honest record,.
Speaker B:You know, that whole town.
Speaker C:It's cool.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:We had no ide what to expect.
Speaker B:But how did you connect with him?
Speaker C:We had a.
Speaker C:He was in the Dexa Teens and we played.
Speaker C:Met them back in the day playing at the Knick, you know, and then we just had a few friends that were buddies of his in Alabama.
Speaker C:And, you know, when he first.
Speaker C:When I first met him again, I guess recently, he said, you know, the one man I really wanted to be on my label is Dash Riprock.
Speaker C:And I was like, come on, that's awesome.
Speaker C:I said, well, we're on.
Speaker C:Where do I sign?
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker B:And I say that because the first time I saw Dexa Teens, I was like, I can tell you they listened to Dashboard Rock.
Speaker C:Oh, we totally.
Speaker C:Yeah, we were cut from the same cloth.
Speaker C:They were just Amazing band.
Speaker B:Very cool.
Speaker B:So what were y' all listening to, if anything, while you were in the studio?
Speaker B:Writing?
Speaker B:Because I know some people do and some people don't.
Speaker C:Henry Barbee was the engineer.
Speaker C:That's Dave, Barbie's kid.
Speaker C:And he was making us listen to Toto and Sting.
Speaker C:It was so humorous that he.
Speaker C:We cracked up every time that he would shoot an idea towards us.
Speaker C:But, you know, he really helped contribute to the record with some of his goofy ideas.
Speaker C:But that, you know, that.
Speaker C:That's the weirdness.
Speaker C:And I mean, really, I couldn't say what exactly I was listening to two years ago, I mean, we.
Speaker C:You know, when we.
Speaker C:When we signed on with Matt, he gave us a bunch of albums off his label.
Speaker C:So he said, hey, get familiar with my other artists.
Speaker C:And then we played here at the Flickr during the Athens the Heathens Fest for Drive By Truckers.
Speaker C:And we played with Drunken Prayer.
Speaker C:And so I can vouch, fell in love with Drunken Prayer and Morgan and the guys.
Speaker C:And then he had this amazing song called Cordelia.
Speaker C:And it was a record I think was produced by Mitch Easter.
Speaker C:So it was an older record, but I knew I was spinning that heavy.
Speaker C:When I first went to Dial back.
Speaker C:So I would give them a plug in a minute, because Cordelia actually just got covered by the Deslons, and they live in New Orleans for a little while, you know, with Hooray for the riff raff, so.
Speaker C:So there's a little connection there as well.
Speaker C:So.
Speaker D:Cool.
Speaker A:And how about y'?
Speaker B:All?
Speaker B:So how did.
Speaker B:How did y' all musically connect?
Speaker D:It was not Craigslist, but it was a phone call from a friend who worked for a mutual friend who knew Bill and said that he was looking to get some new blood in the band.
Speaker D:And that's how I came to be the drummer.
Speaker D:I guess that was about nine years ago now.
Speaker D:And Izzy's been with us now for three years.
Speaker E:Similar story for me.
Speaker E:A friend was like, oh, man, you should go play with these dudes.
Speaker E:You know, this might be off topic, but just did listen to the new Butthole Surfers record.
Speaker C:Oh, that's right.
Speaker E:And.
Speaker E:And, you know, I don't think Bill liked it.
Speaker C:Like, made me physically ill, but.
Speaker E:But.
Speaker E:But I.
Speaker E:For the record, I liked it.
Speaker E:I thought it was a great new Butthole Surfers record.
Speaker B:I lost my hearing at a Butthole Surfer show at the Metroplex in Atlanta, and I have been deaf in one ear ever since.
Speaker D:Right on.
Speaker E:Well, that.
Speaker E:That might explain a lot for me, because I've seen him a couple times now.
Speaker C:What?
Speaker B:That's hilarious.
Speaker B:The way I found out they had a new record was I saw a bluegrass band posting something online today covering.
Speaker B:They said, hey, we're covering the new Butthole Surfers.
Speaker B:And I'm like, do what?
Speaker E:We just listened to it once today, but I think we can probably do a cover.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:Plus, we're preparing ourselves for their movie that's about to come out.
Speaker C:The Whole Truth and Nothing but the Story of the Butthole Surfers.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker C:Their film's about to come.
Speaker E:Yeah, we're gonna go see that.
Speaker B:So is.
Speaker B:Who's doing that?
Speaker B:Lance Banks, somebody.
Speaker C:I don't know.
Speaker C:I heard that.
Speaker C:Didn't you say that?
Speaker C:Rob Reiner.
Speaker C:It was the last movie he watched before he passed away.
Speaker E:Yeah, that's what I.
Speaker E:That's what I heard.
Speaker E:But he loved it.
Speaker E:Yeah, it was.
Speaker E:No, it's supposedly.
Speaker E:It's supposedly a really well done documentary, so.
Speaker E:Looking forward to that.
Speaker C:I mean, how can you lose with their antics, you know?
Speaker C:The Butthole Surfers?
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:I mean, it doesn't matter who directed it.
Speaker C:It's just because they themselves are film enough.
Speaker B:So now, how about you?
Speaker D:Musically, I. I don't remember what I was listening to.
Speaker D:Two years ago either.
Speaker D:But I probably Tom Petty, probably Rolling Stones, probably Steely Dan.
Speaker D:I can vouch for the fact that we did in between sessions for the new album, watch the yacht rock documentary.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:I have not actually seen that one yet.
Speaker C:The one yacht rock and then, and then Henry kept playing yacht rock.
Speaker C:So, you know, I think the new album is a, is a reaction, a knee jerk reaction against the hate or for the hate of yacht rock.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker E:But then also around that time, I think we.
Speaker E:We watched the Led Zeppelin movie in the hotel room.
Speaker E:That was pretty badass.
Speaker E:Well, I think, I think we were.
Speaker E:I don't know if that's after we recorded though, but we were pretty inspired.
Speaker E:We like that.
Speaker D:During.
Speaker E:It was during.
Speaker E:Yeah, during the time the next show we played, I was like, Bill, you got to play really loud.
Speaker B:I just saw that the Tom Petty estate released some.
Speaker B:A couple extended versions today, I believe.
Speaker B:American Girl and from the 70 from particular tour.
Speaker B:I'm too tired.
Speaker B:My brain works like this.
Speaker B:2:00 Clock this morning, I'll be able to tell you exactly all of that.
Speaker E:I hope it's an extended version of Don't Do Me like that.
Speaker D:Oh yeah, keep that one.
Speaker E:It's a good song.
Speaker D:No, I saw the American Girl one.
Speaker D:It was really great.
Speaker D:It's really just like 20 extra seconds past where it faded.
Speaker D:But like as a lifelong heartbreakers fan, that 20 seconds is manna from heaven.
Speaker E:We do a version of that song that's probably 20 seconds shorter than.
Speaker D:Right.
Speaker D:Specifically we like to speed it up.
Speaker B:A little because you can.
Speaker D:Right, right.
Speaker B:Well, so I want to go back to a little bit more about this current record.
Speaker B:And you were mentioning that you got a surprising audience happening in Europe and I used to be surprised by that, except that as long as I've been doing kind of this end of music, we found huge audiences for the music in Spain and in the Netherlands and Belgium and Scandina.
Speaker B:Just huge in many ways.
Speaker B:Much more dedicated fan bases, which was very surprising to me at least because I didn't view like the kind of music I cover as something that would potentially be popular there.
Speaker B:But woo, boy, is it ever.
Speaker C:Yeah, I mean, I mean, we haven't been over in quite a while, but you know, we're getting contacts from Spain just because all our pals are going over there.
Speaker C:I mean, bands like Super Suckers, the Scorcher, you know, Warner Hodges, Dan Baer, they all go over and they have a dedicated following.
Speaker C:And the audience doesn't just go to the club, they go to the club and they dance and go crazy, you know.
Speaker C:So we're, you know, we're sort of hoping to scoop in on that one of these days.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Hook up with, like, Roscoe, Eric Campbell, Eric Amble.
Speaker B:I can't say that Roscoe, we played.
Speaker E:With him in New York last time.
Speaker B:He's got a massive following in Spain.
Speaker B:As you should.
Speaker C:I'll hit him up.
Speaker C:I'll call him tomorrow.
Speaker E:Wasn't his wife going over there all the time?
Speaker C:Merrily?
Speaker C:Yeah, of course.
Speaker B:She's awesome.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:Well, we love that.
Speaker C:We love them.
Speaker C:I mean, these are all friends of ours from the outlaw country cruise, you know, and friends through Mojo, because Roscoe and I worked on a Mojo record back in the 90s.
Speaker C:I didn't realize that we're.
Speaker C:It's.
Speaker C:It's become family.
Speaker C:And when we saw Lily today, Lily Hyatt, it was like, you know, hey, you know, you're my cousin from Nashville.
Speaker C:Because we were on the boat and Sunny Sweeney and I mean, everybody just sort of connects on the.
Speaker C:All the musicians do, because there's a musicians area where we all hang out.
Speaker B:Yeah, I love that.
Speaker B:That particular set of cruises lets the musicians have their own space.
Speaker B:I think that's so important.
Speaker C:It really is cool.
Speaker C:But we've made pals with laid back country pickers, Shiny ribs.
Speaker C:And I mean, we have this network now, which is crazy.
Speaker C:And it's just like family.
Speaker B:That's fun.
Speaker B:And I'm glad to hear that because I was just speaking with musician last week who said a similar thing was like, you know, I was kind of like, I don't know if I get on a boat, y', all, but.
Speaker B:But it was like.
Speaker B:It was just a fantastic experience.
Speaker C:It is.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:You kind of forget you're on a boat for a while and then the shows are just unbelievable.
Speaker C:Really good.
Speaker C:And inner.
Speaker C:Inner band jams, you know, where people hop up and sing with each other.
Speaker C:Really fun.
Speaker B:Definitely that occasionally happens here at ATH Fest.
Speaker B:People wander in to sit in.
Speaker B:Sometimes known and sometimes unknown.
Speaker B:It's kind of fun.
Speaker B:I'm glad to catch y' all here.
Speaker C:This is going to be good to see you, Sloane.
Speaker C:I mean, you know, from 688 Georgia Theater.
Speaker C:I mean, this used to be.
Speaker C:We used to.
Speaker C:This used to be our big venue when we were, you know, really clicking with Mammoth Records and.
Speaker C:And we would sell this joint out every time we played.
Speaker C:But it's very awesome to be back here and it hasn't changed much, so it feels like home.
Speaker C:Yeah, it smells a whole lot better than, oh, yeah.
Speaker C:Right, right, right.
Speaker C:Cool.
Speaker C:Good job recreating it.
Speaker B:Thank you so, so much, y'.
Speaker C:All.
Speaker B:I appreciate your time.
Speaker A:That's last call at Dive Bar Music club.
Speaker A:If you like the hang, follow the show, leave a review, and tell your algorithm, gosh darn it, we're worth it.
Speaker A:Better yet, share your favorite episode with a friend who actually stayed for the whole set.
Speaker A:See y' all next time for the low key, high taste happy hour for music nerds.
