Lost Dog Street Band Take On Jim Ringer's 'Hubbardville Store'

(IVPR) Lost Dog Street have released a video for their new single "Hubbardville Store". The track comes from their forthcoming album, "Survived", which is due out on April 26th via Thirty Tigers.

"The story in this song is so close to any young man's heart," says Benjamin Tod of the single. "It's a tale of tragedy, exploitation, and revenge that cycles throughout every society and culture. Originally written by Larry Murray, Tod discovered the song by way of Jim Ringer, one of Tod's biggest folk-era influences. "He is an extremely obscure folk juggernaut from the 70s era who, somehow, has never been given attention or credit for his far reaching work," says Tod, who has always been keen to share his love of Ringer with anyone who might dig him.

"Hubbardville Store" hits fairly close to home for Tod. "My family two generations back lived on company property and lived on credit from the company store," he says. "My great grandfather being a coal miner and my great grandmother being a cotton picker down in Brilliant, Alabama." The song narrates a tale all too common: industry moves in, buys up everything, and sells it back to the town's workers at more than they're able to pay. But this story, however, has a different ending, one less common but still true to history, where the oppressed take on the oppressor in the final act. "Here in the south especially, these types of mutinies happened frequently when unfair and unjust terms were put on the lowest class at the time," says Tod.

"This is my spin on this tune and I'm damn proud of it," Tod notes, but he can't help adding, "With that being said, I do encourage you to check out the rest of Jim Ringer's catalog. He deserves credit for carrying this tune and many others to me on my journey as an American folky."

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