San Diego Reader

Tim Butler: Bass guitar, Vocals | Buzz Campbell: Guitar (acoustic), Guitar (electric), Vocals | Ty Cox: Drums | Jackslacks: Drums, Percussion, Vocals

Genre: Acoustic, Bluegrass & Roots, Rockabilly

Sound description: Rockabilly Americana.

RIYL: The Stray Cats, the Blasters, the Beat Farmers

Upcoming Local Shows

• Prescott Promenade — Friday, July 12, 6pm – 8pm

Related Links

• Hot Rod Lincoln website

• Musician Interviews · Feb. 1, 2007

Synoposis

Current Status: Playing and recording.

Influences: Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Dave Edmunds, the Stray Cats, Waylon Jennings, Carl Perkins, B. B. King, Link Wray, Scotty Moore (Elvis Presley guitarist), Mojo Nixon, the Beat Farmers, the Blasters, the Paladins, Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Johnny Burnette

Background:

“I once got electrocuted while doing a gig on Revolución Avenue in Tijuana,” says rockabilly guitarist Buzz Campbell of Hot Rod Lincoln. “Something to do with the power — I went to sing and shocked my mouth on my mike. I thought my lip fell off.”

Campbell and Hot Rod Lincoln released a CD in 2006 called Runaway Girl (with song titles like “Too Drunk to Drive” and “Betty Page”). Buzz also plays lead guitar for former Stray Cats bassist Lee Rocker’s band. “Lee stole me from Sha Na Na. I did that gig for three years. That was quite an experience.

“I was a kid when I first saw the Stray Cats in 1991. I dropped out of school to play music after that show. Now I play with the bass player, Lee Rocker — who needs dreams?”

He describes his favorite guitar: “A 1958 Gretsch Country Club. I have it signed by some of my biggest influences...when I met Carl Perkins many years ago, I was seeing him perform at the House of Blues in Hollywood. Lee Rocker was producing our record at the time, 1997, and invited me to see him and his group open up for Carl. After the show I went back with my guitar and met Carl. He was very nice and signed it for me. As I was leaving, someone grabbed the neck of the guitar. I turned around to punch the guy — it was Dave Edmunds, English rocker and producer of the Stray Cats. I restrained myself after seeing who it was and let him play it. He signed it for me as well. Good thing I didn't punch him — he made some of my favorite records.”

His favorite local gig? “I opened for Brian Setzer at the Del Mar Fair on the Grandstand Stage one year. Close to 10,000 people — so they told me. Ty Cox, the drummer, and I did a quick shot of tequila just before the show, then really hit the stage hard. San Diego really supported us that night; it was really something. The band was really on that night, and the crowd was really fired up — better than sex. The tequila didn't hurt either.”

Discography