After twenty-five years into their worldwide crusade, it’s clear those Legendary Shack Shakers have become the leaders in the underground music scene’s “Southern Gothic” sound.

Led by their charismatic front man, Col. JD Wilkes, the band continues to wow crowds with their explosive interpretations of swamp blues, rock n’ roll and hillbilly music, making fans, critics, and now, an entire new generation into true believers.

Despite Wilkes’ extracurricular writing and solo projects, the Shakers’ reputation for intense entertainment endures.

On stage, JD has been compared to the likes of Iggy Pop, David Byrne, and Jerry Lee Lewis. The Nashville Scene named Wilkes “the best frontman in Nashville”, while former Dead Kennedys frontman Jello Biafra has called JD “the last great Rock and Roll frontman.”

Guitar-slinger and “illustrated man” David Lee intones a variety of styles, from blues to surf to cowpunk, while the rhythm section rounds out with drummer Declan Dachowski and Tomas “Frenchy” Lorioux thumping the upright bass.

With ten critically-acclaimed studio albums (and songs that have been featured on television shows such as HBO’s True Blood, CBS’s The Unit , Swamp Loggers, and movies like Julia Roberts’ Duplicity), the band shows no sign of stopping. Past tour mates and fans include Sturgill Simpson, Reverend Horton Heat, Rancid, The Black Keys, Slim Cessna’s Auto Club, and Hank Williams III. Robert Plant is also a noted Legendary Shack Shakers fan, and picked the band to open for him on his “Strange Sensation” tour of Europe. Plant named the band’s third album Believe as one of his favorite records, and the list of esteemed admirers goes on to include horror novelist Stephen King. King listed “CB Song” as among his iPod’s Top Five in an Entertainment Weekly article.

Such a wealth of devoted, cult-like fans has only added to the mystique that the Legendary Shack Shakers possess, carrying them down the road toward new creative pursuits and intense new music and ideas.