American folk music enjoys a colorful history. Before the advent of musical recording and distribution technologies, folk music in the United States was regional in character. The diversity of these regional styles reflected the diversity of the American working class itself. In fact, the American working class has always had a decidedly international identity. Irish immigrants, African Slaves and their descendants, Chinese rail workers, German artisans, oppressed and disenfranchised indigenous peoples and many other nationalities from around the world contributed to the dynamic post-colonial culture of the United States. Their hopes, turmoils, struggles and prayers all made there way into our folk songs. These songs, like our nation itself, are made up of equal parts beauty and horror, kindness and violence, majestic landscapes and rugged city streets. That's where Los Duggans come in. Hailing from Los Angeles, CA, one of America's true "melting pots", Los Duggans re-interprets classic pre-war country blues and Appalachian music. We truly love and admire the originators of these songs, but we are living in today's reality. It's not so much that we don't appreciate the essential efforts of many people to accurately perform and recreate the original music; it's just that we celebrate these traditions by adding our own influences and experiences. As the music industry has steadily set out to destroy music that comes organically out of the working class, people have always continued to struggle and innovate new ways of expressing the reality of their lives through song. These new forms of working class music are always attacked and disregarded by the music industry until they become so resonant and powerful among the masses that the industry decides to co-opt them. This process occurred with every style from blues, jazz, rock, country, on up to punk, metal and hip hop. So here we are, playing our own brand of Appalachian/metal/blues/punk...distorted guitars raging with banjo, gut bucket beating along with a modern drum kit. Music is a form of communication. It can communicate ideas, stories, or even emotions. What are we setting out to communicate? The pride and aspirations of working class people, who beyond the grave are still telling their stories to us with the songs they left behind. We believe in the capability of working people to forge their own identies. Last year, millions of workers marched through downtown Los Angeles demanding full human rights. We believe in the fact that all workers can and should celebrate their culture, a culture they share (in some form) with over 90% of planet Earth. Life is not a sit-com where everyone lives in spacious artist lofts, where everyone is beautiful, where everyone is generally happy. But it is life, and that's enough for us. By Old Bull www.myspace.com/duggansband www.losduggans.com/ youtube.com/user/losduggans www.facebook.com/pages/Los-Duggans/347545204591 Have your lighters ready alongside your raised fists. Los Duggans is the fiercest quartet this side of the Mississippi. They first came of notice at the Sundance film festival, where they accompanied the controversial live performance "Proving Ground." A piece that Village Voice called "one of the only Sundance products that wasn't for sale." This is music aimed squarely at your belly. Mixing genres like a marinade, they play their own brand of Appalachian/ metal/ blues/ punk...distorted guitars raging with banjo, gut bucket beating along with a modern drum kit. Los Duggans have opened for such greats as Bob Log III, Joe Buck Yourself, Unknown Hinson, and John Doe.