Jesse Ray and the Carolina Catfish Rock the Stache

Photo by Adam Briggs featuring Jesse Ray and the Carolina CatfishJesse Ray and the Carolina Catfish

On Saturday evening, fans of American roots music descended on the Stache for a bill featuring two bands continuing the Americana tradition in 2024: Roosevelt Diggs and Jesse Ray and the Carolina Catfish

Roosevelt Diggs kicked off the show. The 16-year veterans, fronted by brothers Levi and Logan Duddles, showcased a collection of songs that ranged from classic Americana to modern rock. Their sound incorporates the best elements of bluegrass, country, Americana, rockabilly, and even indie rock.

The band immediately got the crowd going with “Life of Sin,” a song from their 2018 album Better Days. Throughout the set, their energy and interplay made for a band that was just fun to watch. Songs from their most recent outing, “Reverie” appeared to be crowd favorites. One such song, “Alcohol,” saw the crowd continue repeating the chorus even after the band had finished, much to the delight of the band members.

Photo by Adam Briggs featuring Roosevelt Diggs

As loud as the crowd was for Roosevelt Diggs, the atmosphere turned electric when Jesse Ray and the Carolina Catfish took the stage. At one point during the show, the band informed the crowd, “We only got the rowdy stuff left,” which was hard to believe. How was the show going to get more rowdy during the later half of this 20+ juggernaut of a set?

Jesse Ray and the Carolina Catfish is a power duo based out of Grand Rapids, MI that plays self-described, “punk ass hillbilly blues.” The band is fronted by “The Reverend” Jesse Ray Cahue who does triple duty on guitar, harmonica, and vocals. Carrying the backbeat is Paul Jensen, who doesn’t just keep the beat but brings absolutely thunderous drums to their high-energy rockabilly sound.

The duo played a set that covered all four of their studio albums, from 2016’s “Angry” to 2023’s outing, “Sick-N-Tired.” Jesse Ray wowed the crowd with his energetic guitar playing (which at times included 5-finger picking akin to banjo playing) his vocals which ranged from soulful baritone to raucous, passionate tenor. These vocals were often accompanied by wails the called back to the R&B greats of the 1905s. Cahue managed to interact with fans throughout the set, often traveling to the front of the stage to play to revelers and interact with several young fans in attendance.

Cahue got the crowd even more into the show in one particularly funny moment. Clearly struggling with a harmNotonica that was not cooperating, Cahue stepped to the mic and proclaimed that he was going to “give this blown out harmonica to the best dancer of this next song.” When the crowd popped, he joked that he wasn’t sure why anyone would want it. When the band launched into their next song, the club turned into a modern day dance hall that continued for the remainder of the performance.. True to his word, the harmonica was gifted to a female attendee showing off her dance moves near the stage.

Cahue and Jensen rounded out the set with more originals, a rockabilly version of “You are My Sunshine” dedicated to the fans in attendance, and an encore performance of The Ramones’ “Blitzkrieg Bop” that left the crowd buzzing at the show's conclusion..

Checkout the photo gallery below for shots of Roosevelt Diggs and Jesse Ray and the Carolina Catfish. If you’re interested in learning more about these bands, you can follow them on Instagram @rooseveltdiggsmusic and @jrccband. You can also check out tracks from both bands on the Spotify playlist, “Ballad Mag bops.” Find more Ballad Magazine content at https://www.balladmagazine.com, and on Instagram and Threads @balladmag.