Drag The River
By: Lenny Nero

What do you get when you put 2 punk rock icons together into one band? A great punk band, usually. That’s not the case with Drag The River. Jon Snodgrass – frontman for Armchair Martian and Chad Price – frontman for ALL joined forces several years ago and started playing country music. And not that watered down country crossover crap you hear on the radio. These guys are legit – Hank Williams Sr. and Roger Miller would be proud of the music Chad and Jon make. As the band prepares to come to Las Vegas for the annual Punk Rock Bowling festival in February, I had a chance to interview the guys and find out what makes them tick.

Smash Magazine: Given your musical background with Armchair Martian (and Chad's with ALL), why choose country? And how did you pair up with Chad price - another punk rock icon?

Drag The River: We choose country because it's easier to transport the gear.

SM: Have you considered putting your main projected on the back burner and making DTR your main musical endeavor?

DTR: Considered and DONE!!

SM: What bands, country or otherwise, influence the sound of DTR?

DTR: STRINGBEAN.

SM: Are you familiar with another country band from the early eighties called (someone's name)and Drag The River?" I forget the person's name.

DTR: Michelle Malone and Drag the River?? I'm familiar with her lawyer...he's nice.

SM: Why do you think the punk rock crowd is so accepting of country music? I mean, you and Jackass are straight up country music. The Supersuckers have released several country records...and all of this has been to great fanfare? Why do you think the punks are so accepting? Is it just the fact the punks our age are growing up and are a bit more open to different styles of music?

DTR: Yes, we think the older punks are more accepting of different styles of music…that’s why they like us.

SM: I know if you would have asked me 10 years ago to listen to a country record, I'd laugh in your face. But I know own all DTR records, I love Jesse Dayton, I love my friends in Jackass, I love Cash, Roger Miller, Hank Williams Sr., etc. Do you find yourselves booked on lots of punk tours, or do you try to stick mainly to country bills?

DTR: We generally play rock bars, but we have played some legit country places too.

SM: Have you ever really ever dragged a river? If so, what did you find?

DTR: Tires to the truck we currently live in.

SM: Who are some of the guest musicians you've worked with in DTR, and some you'd Love to work with?

DTR: Everyone on all the records...we wish we had a bigger truck so we could have a big-big band.

SM: Jon - favorite ALL record?

Jon: DECENDENTS-ALL

SM: Chad - favorite Armchair record?

Chad: FLIP YOUR WIG

SM: What are your feelings on this "alt-country" stuff that's kind of popular right now? Ryan Adams and the like?

DTR: Alt country has always been around I guess under one name or another, not on the radio, but some folks loosely get labeled with a title that really doesn't reflect them and we really don't like labels.

SM: Thanks guys…see you on February 18th at the Double Down Saloon in Las Vegas, Nevada.