Southern Culture on the Skids

A little more than 10 years ago, I actually proposed to my girlfriend at a Southern Culture on the Skids New Year’s Eve show in New Jersey. Why not, I figured — there was the onstage limbo contest, the fried chicken the band threw into the crowd, SCotS’ kitschy slow-dance anthem “For Lovers Only,” and all the beer and bourbon, of course. A few months later, the girl and I split up, but Southern Culture on the Skids has stuck around; in fact, the North Carolina band has been doin’ it for 21 years now, give or take a brief hiatus or two. The band’s blend of rockabilly, swamp blues, surf, and country music is still as addictive as always (and highly accomplished, too, though the group downplays its formidable skills with a humble kinda aw-shucks-ness). And their show remains an orgy of sexual innuendo and a celebration of white-trash culture with, yes, plenty of fried chicken to go around. Eat up, drink up, dance, and get crazy, but don’t do anything you might regret later — y’know, like getting engaged or something.