DBT DNA

[linkous]

I was wondering if any of you enlightened folks on here were aware of the family history/geneology of the core members of the band?

I would guess that Cooley has Irish roots going by his surname, Patterson's surname sounds as if it could be Scottish (or perhaps English) and Brad's surname is either Welsh or Irish. I think it's safe to say that their forefathers all sailed across the Atlantic from Britain/Ireland. If my guesses are in any way accurate and they all had Celtic ancestory, as a Scot with Irish ancestory and therefore a Celt myself, that would be pretty cool.

[Cole Younger]

I know Cooley is is Native American too.

[linkous]

I know Cooley is is Native American too.

That's a hell of a potent mix, Irish(if indeed he is?) and Native American!!

[Kudzu Guillotine]

Where is the good Rev? I'm sure he can give you the entire rundown, including their shoe sizes.

[Smitty]

Where is the good Rev? I'm sure he can give you the entire rundown, including their shoe sizes.

and if he can't, he will anyway.

[BiloxiParish]

I've got some Cooley's in my family tree from South Mississippi doubt there is a relation to DBT at all with that..

[RevMatt]

Where is the good Rev? I'm sure he can give you the entire rundown, including their shoe sizes.

I've been on a cruise of the Caribbean this past week and just got home last night.

Don't know their shoe sizes. But I have picked up a couple of things over the years through conversation.

In the region where they grew up -- north Alabama -- a family's religious affiliation is a bigger deal than their ethnicity. It is, after all, The Bible belt and when somebody is talking about a new family who moved into the neighborhood they will often say something like, "Oh, they're baptist" or "He's a Catholic and she was raised Church of Christ but they go to the Methodist Church in town."

The Church of Christ, which is an offshoot of The Disciples of Christ, has its stronghold in the northern Alabama/southern Tennessee region. They do not allow musical accompaniment in their worship services. Instead, they sing acapella using shape notes. Shonna Tucker's family is Church of Christ and she learned to sing using shape notes during worship. You can really hear the Church of Christ influence on her singing style.

For a while I was under the impression that Mike Cooley was raised baptist but someone told me that he also has Church of Christ in his family's religious DNA. (Think "Zip City".) I assume one of his parents was Baptist, the other Church of Christ and he spent time going to Sunday school in both denominations.

Patterson told me that the Johnsons, his mother's people, are Methodist (chalk another one for the home team!) and were one of the founding families in the small church in McGee town. ("A Methodist all his life but he don't go to church.) He told me that his father's people are Presbyterian.

Brad Morgan grew up in the western Carolinas. His family was also Methodist. His comment to me was in the area where he grew up the wealthier families tend to be Baptist. His family was more working class and the Methodist congregations tend to have more middle and working people in positions of leadership in a congregation. He said his parents were on various boards and committees in the church he grew up in which was one of the reasons why if he was a church goer he would prefer the Methodists.

Jay Gonzalez grew up first in Yonkers and then in Westchester County, NY. Three of his four grandparents are Puerto Rican. The fourth is Italian. I believe all of his grandparents lived in The Bronx. I assume they are all Roman Catholic.

As far as their ethnic backgrounds go, I would assume that Cooley, Hood, Tucker, Isbell and the rest of the Shoals area contingent are Scots-Irish as that is the predominant ethnicity in that part of the country. If there is a Native American ancestor in their family tree it is likely Cherokee.

I think Matt Patton told me his family was also Methodist but I may be getting him mixed up with Lee Bains.

[Smitty]

There were very few Cherokee Indian tribes in Alabama; if Cooley has indian heritage it's most likely Chickasaw, Choctaw or Creek.

[njMark]

Its so odd the small differences between folks up here and down there. I don't think I know what any of my childhood friends religious persuasions were but we all knew who was Irish, Italian, Polish or German. That way you would know what to call them when they did something dumb. In my neighborhood, you were Christian, never bothered to really find out what variety.

[Clams]

[RevMatt]

Its so odd the small differences between folks up here and down there. I don't think I know what any of my childhood friends religious persuasions were but we all knew who was Irish, Italian, Polish or German. That way you would know what to call them when they did something dumb. In my neighborhood, you were Christian, never bothered to really find out what variety.

That's what struck me as well when my parents moved to the south and I started spending a whole lot of time there. In the south a family's religious affiliation is often an indicator of more than just their beliefs. Social standing, economic class and many cultural things are also tied up in that identification. Those not affiliated with any church are often referred to as heathens in the south, a term that really isn't used in other regions of the country.

[dime in the gutter]

In the region where they grew up -- north Alabama -- a family's religious affiliation is a bigger deal than their ethnicity.

if you are white.

[beantownbubba]

In the region where they grew up -- north Alabama -- a family's religious affiliation is a bigger deal than their ethnicity.

if you are white.

Best clarification ever.

[RevMatt]

In the region where they grew up -- north Alabama -- a family's religious affiliation is a bigger deal than their ethnicity.

if you are white.

For African Americans the distinction between Baptists, Methodists, Pentecostals is also significant and this extends beyond the south. Also, African American families who have constituted the upper class of that culture tend to be affiliated with the congregational (today United Church of Christ), Presbyterian or Episcopalian.

[beantownbubba]

In the region where they grew up -- north Alabama -- a family's religious affiliation is a bigger deal than their ethnicity.

if you are white.

For African Americans the distinction between Baptists, Methodists, Pentecostals is also significant and this extends beyond the south. Also, African American families who have constituted the upper class of that culture tend to be affiliated with the congregational (today United Church of Christ), Presbyterian or Episcopalian.

I'm not sure whether you missed dime's point or ignored it.

[Mike127]

Being a bit of a genealogy nut myself, I stumbled across this page a few weeks ago that actually traces Jason's family back through Tennessee and Virginia and eventually to England. I think they got Jason's birth year wrong, but still interesting info all the same:

http://genforum.genealogy.com/isbell/messages/3063.html

Interesting (to me) in my own family how the England->VA migrations are the same, but instead of continuing south to Alabama, my people went first to NC and then across the Cumberland Gap into eastern Kentucky and (eventually) southern Ohio.

[RevMatt]

I'm not sure whether you missed dime's point or ignored it.

I missed it. Got it now. Duh, Matt.

[Iowan]

Its so odd the small differences between folks up here and down there. I don't think I know what any of my childhood friends religious persuasions were but we all knew who was Irish, Italian, Polish or German. That way you would know what to call them when they did something dumb. In my neighborhood, you were Christian, never bothered to really find out what variety.

That's the way it is here, but for being as rural as it is, Iowa isn't exactly the Bible belt.

I could give you the general rundown of most of my childhood friends' genealogy, and their family's religious backgrounds, but that's because there were pretty much two religions where I grew up: Catholic and Lutheran. If you weren't one of those, your family probably belonged to some church that referred to itself as "non denominational" but was clearly of an Evangelical/Calvinist bent.

People around here are far more likely to identify with their ethnic heritage.

[RevMatt]

In the NJ county I grew up in neighborhoods and entire sections of towns were ethnic enclaves. The neighborhood I lived in until I was eight was a post-war development set aside for Catholics -- Italian, Polish and Irish -- complete with its own swim club that was identical to the one on the north side of town that was restricted to WASPs, though by the time I was three or four years old the board of realtors had to lift those restrictions. When I was eight I moved into a school district that included a development that had been set aside by the board of realtors as a Jewish neighborhood. It had its own pool, a cabana style swim club. Of course, by the time I moved into that school district things had changed and all of the neighborhoods became more diverse. The restrictions were probably more ethnically based than religious as people with German surnames and Germanic features were able to live in just about any neighborhood after WWII regardless of whether they were Catholic, Protestant or Jewish.

In the south the religious affiliation of a family tends to go back for generations. There are also smaller Christian denominations that have a huge foothold in various regions of the south. You don't see very many Free Will Baptists in most of the USA but in eastern North Carolina they have a foothold. Church of Christ is huge in the Muscle Shoals region but that denom is a small minority elsewhere.

Two factors are changing this cultural phenomenon. First, independent evangelical mega churches are displacing denominational congregations for people born after 1970. Second, the percentage of unaffiliated and un-churched people is rising in the south. Southern Babyboomers attended church at almost the same levels as their parents while a greater percentage of their peers in other regions of the country did not affiliate with a congregation once they became adults. However, southern Gen Xers do not feel as much of a social stigma if they do not affiliate with a church. Things are changing.

When I meet musicians from the south and they find out I am an ordained clergy person they usually share stories of their religious upbringing. Musicians from other regions of the country tend to ask me about my seminary education and the requirements for ordination.

[Rocky]

Big scores for Clams and Dime in this thread.

[Humboldt]

I read somewhere that Cooley's grandfather was Spade Cooley. Spade was a famous bandleader in the 40's and 50's and was known as the "King of the Western Swing". He had the misfortune of allegedly beating his 2nd wife to death and spending years in prison. He was paroled and died of a heart attack backstage at the first show he was putting on after getting sprung.

I have no idea whether the source of information is correct.

[Mike127]

I read somewhere that Cooley's grandfather was Spade Cooley. Spade was a famous bandleader in the 40's and 50's and was known as the "King of the Western Swing". He had the misfortune of allegedly beating his 2nd wife to death and spending years in prison. He was paroled and died of a heart attack backstage at the first show he was putting on after getting sprung.

I have no idea whether the source of information is correct.

Apparently untrue: "Cooley says most things that have been reported about him are correct, but there is one thing: He isn’t the grandson of Texas swing star (and convicted murderer) Spade Cooley."

http://www.knoxville.com/news/2011/mar/ ... d/?print=1

[Humboldt]

Thanks

[linkous]

Ever South.

[dime in the gutter]

good thread.




off topic...

linkous, do we have a post punk thread on 3dd? i'm asking.

[linkous]

good thread.




off topic...

linkous, do we have a post punk thread on 3dd? i'm asking.

Can't remember , but if not we should. I do seem to remember saying on some thread or other that there may be a difference of opinion over what post punk means in the UK and US. Post punk in the UK described bands such as PIL, Wire, Gang Of 4, Joy Division etc - bands who sounded a bit "weirder" and more off kilter than the 1234 garage rock of the punk bands, these bands and others also had a bit of a funkier element to their sound with emphasis on bass and drums. My impression of what post punk means in the US is that it is bands from the early 80's such as Black Flack, X, Dead Kennedys, Husker Du etc who initially stayed true to that frantic energy and thrash of the "original" punk bands of the mid to late 70's.

I could be miles off though in regards to my impression of US post punk.