Wiley and the Checkmates
Press Assets
Hailing from Oxford, the soul of the Mississippi Hill Country, Wiley and the Checkmates have a lot to live up to. In this sleepy town, high and low culture has co-existed for generations, allowing its practitioners to cross-pollinate their creativity and resulting in music, art and literature with depth, darkness and humor. The bounty from these casual associations is well known; the hill country blues of Fred McDowell, Junior Kimbrough, and R.L. Burnside inform the literary landmarks of William Faulkner, Larry Brown, and John Grisham. Likewise, the sacred and profane exist side by side, with gospel in the churches and the soul music in the clubs and parties sharing one thing: snaky, funk-drenched bass lines. A more perfect breeding ground for a band has seldom been found, and the Checkmates took full advantage, delivering what Juke Blues calls “a good ol’ fashioned no nonsense soul romp.”