BIOGRAPHY

Swampcandy is an internationally touring, primitive blues influenced Americana duo. Ruben Dobbs’ aggressive finger-picking and rhythmic style (which often adds up to sounding like more than one guitar) combined with Joey Mitchell’s bass playing, pounding kick drum and percussive bass throttling (representing the presence of a full drum kit) easily fill up the sonic space normally created by a trio or even a four-piece. Dobbs’ soulful, passionate vocals are the glue that holds it all together and makes the band tick.

The band was founded by Dobbs in 2007 and functioned with various lineups until he teamed up with Joey Mitchell in 2010 and the permanent die was cast. After only a few months together, the duo began to tour aggressively and have not slowed down since. Whether its a 20-minute opening slot or a three-hour headlining gig they give 110% in every performance, leaving the stage exhausted and crowd satisfied. 

Dobbs is a volatile creative force while Mitchell is a pragmatic technician. They balance each other out like the two hemispheres of one brain. Growing up they both enjoyed and played the music of their respective generations and found a deep affection for the music of the past; Ruben with Delta blues and Joey with jazz and classical. Dobbs has studied music on a need-to-know basis from an early age, becoming enamored with classic rock while still in grade school. Always careful not to destroy the sonic mystery music has represented to him, his curiosity led him down music’s family tree to rock’s roots in Mississippi Delta Blues and the greats who played it. Mitchell’s musical journey began upon hearing the opening bass line to Alice in Chains’ “Would.” The song inspired him to work it out on an old guitar he found in the attic, eventually leading him to pick up the bass at the relatively late age of 16. Focusing his attention on learning all he could to become the master of his craft, he has become a university schooled academician with degrees in performance and music education. Dobbs aural home-schooling has encompassed listening to thousands of hours of field recordings of early American music, developing a rare level of knowledge about the true roots of multiple genres. In distilling the essence of nearly undecipherable songs and incorporating that authenticity into his own compositions he’s writing new chapters in the history of roots music that inextricably link the past, present and future. Mitchell has spent thousands of hours studying complex music theory and composition, practicing the ins and outs of his double bass while reinventing the percussive aspects that can be delivered between his primary instrument and his kick drum. These juxtapositions are the key to their success. 

Building on the strength of their 2014 double album, Midnight Creep/Noonday Stomp, which placed in NBT Music Radio’s Top 150 Albums of 2014, and the track “1000 Miles” placed in the Top Singles category, their 2015 release, Land, garnered substantial airplay from blues stations and syndicated radio shows across the US, UK and Europe. 2015 proved to be productive and rewarding as they set a new high bar for themselves, playing a staggering 268 live dates at venues and festivals across the US and UK, including four performances to capacity crowds at the 2015 Floydfest. (The band won the 2014 Floydfest ‘On The Rise’ competition, coming in first place out of 37 bands competing at the festival. They also outsold the headliners in merch both years)

2016 Swampcandy saw the band expand sonically with auxiliary members for festivals and special shows. Dominic Fragman, on drums, rhythm and/or lead guitar and vocals – SIMULTANEOUSLY, and the equally multi-tasking lead/back-up vocal/keyboard/percussionist Gina Cottey add new dimensions to the sound. Their collective goal is to leave the audience with the feeling they have experienced a short festival rather than seeing a band play a great show. 

2017 Is the year of organization and execution for Swampcandy. Two full length albums are due out this year, one of them live one of them studio.  Also a large pool of videos are to accompany this year’s releases. The boys find time in-between festival appearances with the full band and their local and regional duo dates to book tours into new territories and go after the festivals that suit their fancy, all the while working on new material and preparing material for release.   

That’s why and how Swampcandy makes that pig drinkin’, whiskey eatin’, foot clapping’, hand stompin’, american music.

Swampcandy was founded by Dobbs in 2007 and functioned with various lineups until he teamed up with Joey Mitchell in 2010 and the permanent die was cast. After only a few months together, the duo began to tour aggressively and have not slowed down since. Whether its a 20-minute opening slot or a 3-hour headlining gig, they give the audience 110% when they perform, leaving the stage exhausted and crowd satisfied. 2015 was their most productive and rewarding year to date. Not only did they play shows at venues and festivals across the U.S. and U.K.they also broke there previous years record of 250 shows preformed in a year. Having won the 2014 Floydfest ‘On The Rise’ competition, coming in first place out of 37 bands competing at the festival, they returned to play 4 more shows to capacity crowds in 2015. Midnight Creep/Noonday Stomp, placed in NBT Music Radio’s Top 150 Albums of 2014, and the track “1000 Miles” placed in the NBTMR Top 150 Singles category. They were awarded “Best Opening Act 2014 & 2015” at the #1 venue in the world under 500 seats, Rams Head On Stage (Annapolis, MD), and received one of college radio’s bigger nods when they were given Radio Flag’s Radio Star Award for “Best Artist Fall 2014.” The boys were also recognized as one of the top 20 bands to watch in the Mid Atlantic region by Blue Ridge Outdoors Magazine.

Their 2015 Release “Land” received quite a bit of air play from blues stations and syndicated radio shows across the U.S., U.K. and Europe. 2016 sees Swampcandy aggressively touring as they are known to do but this year is also seeing them expand sonically. Select shows feature Auxiliary members Dominic Fragman, a drummer the likes of which no one has seen (he plays kit, rhythm and or lead guitar simultaneously while singing leads or harmonies) and the multi tasking lead/back up vocalist, keyboardist and percussionist Gina Cottey add a completely new dimension to the sound of a band that already defied logic. Their collective goal is to leave the audience with the feeling they have experienced a short festival rather than seeing a band play a great show. Also in 2016 Expect new music to trickle a out a song at time monthly for the next year or so. These songs will eventually be compiled and released in exciting formats tied together with multimedia art that will surely entertain and and stimulate the senses in unimagined ways.

Dobbs is a volatile creative force while Mitchell is a pragmatic technician. They balance each other out like the two hemispheres of one brain. Growing up they both enjoyed and played the music of their respective generations and found a deep affection for the music of the past; Ruben with Delta Blues and Joey with Jazz and Classical. Dobbs has studied music on a need-to-know basis from an early age, becoming enamored with Classic Rock while still in grade school. Always careful not to destroy the sonic mystery music has represented to him, his curiosity led him down the family tree to rock’s roots in the Mississippi Delta Blues and the greats who played it. Mitchell’s musical journey began upon hearing the opening bass line to Alice in Chains’ “Would.” The song inspired him to work it out on an old guitar he found in the attic, eventually leading him to pick up the bass at the relatively late age of 16. Focusing his attention on learning all he could to become the master of his craft, he has become a university schooled academician with degrees in performance and music education. Dobbs aural home-schooling has encompassed listening to thousands of hours of field recordings of early American music, developing a rare level of knowledge about the true roots of multiple genres. In distilling the essence of nearly undecipherable songs and incorporating that authenticity into his own compositions he’s writing new chapters in the history of roots music that inextricably link the past, present and future. Mitchell has spent thousands of hours studying complex music theory, composition and practicing the ins and outs of his double bass while reinventing the percussive aspects that can be delivered between his primary instrument and his kick drum. These juxtapositions are the key to their success. That’s why and how Swampcandy makes that dirty, sweet music that cuts straight to the bone.

Live show Review From Rambles “Swampcandy not only played the blues, they transformed the genre, taking one of American music’s oldest forms and rendering it brand new.”