Dope Skum Invoke “Folk Magic” in Fuzzy New Burner
Poster by Novendrika Setyawan Pratama
When I lived in the South as a child, I remember fondly the mesmerizing sounds of the cicada on balmy summer evenings in rural East Texas. Their chorus surrounded us on walks through the neighboring pasture. And every so often I'd see one up close, after they had mated and fallen to the ground.
It is said cicadas symbolize a new beginning, and it's easy to see why. Once born, these mysterious insects fall from their tree branches and burrow into the ground where they feast on the roots for some thirteen to even seventeen years. They are buried in one form and then rise from the underground to fly away, reborn a new creature.
Chattanooga's DOPE SKUM summon the cicada's cry as their latest track begins. In fact, the cymbals even start to sound like cicadas as the song goes on. Guitar strings strum ambiently and percussion taps ritualistically. Then all three musicians emerge for a swampy blues riff, the only lyrics being: "Folk Magic."
Frontman/guitarist Cody Landress-Gibson gives us the dowlow:
Growing up in a small rural town in Appalachia, there were always older folks in town that could help remedy illnesses with herbs and fauna of the region. Once when I was a child, I had a wart on my finger that wouldn't go away. My mother took me to a local elder, who had taken a wart off her when she was younger.
When I went to see the man for my wart he rubbed some sort of small stick on the wart, whispered some words under his breath, and then told me to not think about or mess with the wart for a week. I'm not saying it's magic, but low and behold, a week later the wart had gone completely and there are no remnants of the wart on my finger. Maybe it would have gone away naturally, but I like to think there was something supernatural going on.
This story is similar to other stories that come from Appalachia and the surrounding areas of granny witches or granny witchcraft being used to cure or alleviate ailments of the community. It was this experience and the tales of others that influenced naming the song "Folk Magic" and incorporating some of the sounds you hear on the track. Real or not, I wanted to pay homage to the granny witches of new and old for bringing healing and peace to the foothills and mountains.
Hell yeah. Let's give it a listen. This is the Doomed & Stoned world premiere.
Dope Skum and Doomed & Stoned are giving away "Folk Magic" singles! Just redeem one of the codes below on Bandcamp.
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