The Homemade Jamz Blues Band, from Tupelo, Mississippi, consists of three Perry siblings: Lead guitarist Ryan, bass player Kyle and drummer Taya.
There are three interesting things about the group. The first is their youth. When they signed with NorthernBlues Music, a Canadian label, Ryan was 16, Kyle was 13 and Taya was 9. A nine-year-old girl as a professional drummer. You don’t see that every day.
The second interesting thing is that the lead and bass guitars are made of car mufflers, which I suppose gives a new meaning to the term “auto-tune.” Ryan tells the story in the first couple of minutes here.
The third thing is that this is not a novelty act. They are young, they use mufflers for instruments — and they are very good. Not just good for a bunch of kids with car instruments. Very good, period. And Ryan’s guitar has a nice sound.
Here is the band’s website. Above is “Gotta a Bad, Bad Feeling” and below is “Who Your Real Friends Are.”
Editor’s note: It occurred to me the day after posting that making a muffler into a guitar actually is as far from a novelty as it’s possible to get. The adaptation of things in the environment to produce sounds is at the very heart of music’s early evolution. Another example of this being done in modern times is the music of the unfairly forgotten Washboard Sam.
