Artist Picks: Nick Dittmeier & The Sawdusters
One of our newest additions to the SofaBurn Records roster, Nick Dittmeier & The Sawdusters have been criss crossing the country bringing their special brand of Midwestern Roots Rock N’ Roll & Blues to audiences for over a decade. We spoke with Nick, the man behind the songs, to get a list of tunes and artists that have inspired him over the years! Give the playlist a listen and save HERE, and read on below to learn more!
JP Payton - “Big Bright Moon”
This song is a co-write I did with one of my close musical brothers, JP Payton. I recorded two of his songs, “I can’t Go home” and “Many Stones” on the “All Damn Day” album. This is one we co wrote together, I came to him with the chorus and he filled in the verses.
J.J. Cale - “Oklahoma”
“JJ is such a northstar for me as a writer and arranger, just the way he is a master of minimalism and simplicity while introducing big ideas. He’s a one of a kind guitar player and musical mind.”
Little Feat - “Cold Cold Cold”
“Lowell George is one of my Mt. Rushmore influences. One of my old drummers and I would try to map out the time signature for this one while riding to shows and could never totally clock it.”
Parliament - “Bop Gun”
“George Clinton is an artist that has heavily inspired me over the last 5 years or so. His influence is very multi-pronged and he’s definitely one of the most sampled artists ever. His output and impact on other artists is staggering.”
Little Richard - “Greenwood, Mississippi”
“I love “lost albums” or great albums artists made that never really broke through. This is a scorching Muscle Shoals Little Richard album that he did in an attempted 1970’s comeback.”
Roseanne Cash - “7 Year Ache”
“When I scour the corners of my brian and try to think of songs I remember hearing first or being conscious of, this one comes to mind. Everything about this song is perfect from the writing to production and definitely leans heavily on 80’s pop elements.”
Black Sabbath - “The National Acrobat”
“When I started using Spotify I committed myself to listen to entire band discographies and one of the first ones was Black Sabbath. I became completely engrossed with Ozzy era Sabbath, just the sheer impressive amount of groundbreaking material in a very short amount of time. Sabbath isn’t Sabbath without Ozzy, and to me, he’s the greatest Rock n’ Roll frontman ever. There’s something really important about him fronting that band and adding a degree of comic relief, almost like a jester to this dark band, that allows them to not be so serious.”
Ghost- “Kiss the Go-Goat”
“When we were on tour in Sweden in 2021, I made a playlist of all Swedish artists, and while digging for them I came across Ghost and was completely hooked on their music. Everything about Ghost is exciting to me from the costumes and the character backstory to their impeccable hooks and stage presence.”
