Lawrence.com

Don't confuse the F Holes for a bunch of A Holes. The F Holes may drop a few F Bombs, but you'd gladly let your daughter hang out with them after you spent some time barbecuing in their neck of the woods.

Tonganoxie natives Johnny “Redeye” Richard and Luke “Meat & Potatoes” Paul trace their musical partnership back 15 years to high school and a band called P.S.O. The duo connected with drummer Mike “Big Buckin' Chicken” Ryan a few years back and hit if off on their first date. It took 'em awhile to put out a record, but now that “Livin' on Muscle, Guts & Luck” is street legal, they just might have some disposable income for smoked meats and pomade.

The disc's big-buckin' blend of rockabilly, punk and southern-fried rock would be a hoot even without the sampled truck horns that replace naughty words. Redeye plays a mean slide guitar, and all three members sing from the gut. Give our F Holes podcast a spin to hear tunes from the new disc and salty F Holes commentary.

No-fi highlights from the podcast

lawrence.com: Perhaps you could share the stories behind your nicknames.

Meat & Potatoes: Well, just look at Johnny.

Redeye: It's pretty self-explanatory ... I got a lot of allergies.

What's your line of work?

Redeye: Well, mostly I sit around on my couch and contemplate the things I should do the next day.

Does that get you very far?

Redeye: It gets me where I'm going, I guess.

What about “Meat & Potatoes”?

Meat & Potatoes: I used to work at Chili's and they gave me the nickname Meat. I guess that came from “Bull Durham.” Potatoes – that's something the guys threw in, because goddamn I like to eat.

Did you get fired from Chili's?

Meat & Potatoes: Actually, I walked out. I regret doing it, but oh well ... I was booked to play music.

Album Mp3s

Livin' on Muscle, Guts & Luck

• "Locoemotion"
• "Bury Me Shallow"
• "Bring Me My 40"

More

I hope there's a story behind “Big Buckin'Chicken.”

Meat & Potatoes: Well, first it was “The Barber.”

Big Buckin' Chicken: That was from a night of drinking. We went back to my house after closing the bars down, and Johnny drank the whiskey that was at my house while I cut his hair. That's probably the best haircut you'd gotten at that point in the day.

Redeye: So where did “Big Buckin' Chicken” come from?

Big Buckin' Chicken: I guess it just had a nice ring to it. “The Barber” might not have been charismatic enough.

Take heed Burger King.

Big Buckin' Chicken: We'd play music for Burger King anytime in exchange for some coupons.

Redeye: If you lift the lid on the back of the toilet you'll see an F Holes sticker in most Burger Kings.

Meat & Potatoes: We will get paid in meat. We've done that before – we got 30 pounds of smoked pork from a guy.

What's the story behind the song “Renegade”?

Redeye: Luke and I grew up in Tonganoxie and we have an avid love for wild mushroom hunting in the springtime when the morels come out. The song was inspired by a story that his grandfather told about a strange little man by the name of Abner Wickersham who had a piece of land near Tonganoxie called the Lost 80.

Meat & Potatoes: For the past 10 years, we've been hunting morel mushrooms on that track of land.

Do you guys want to give a little eulogy for the Gaslight Tavern?

Meat & Potatoes: That's where we played one of our first shows actually ... It felt kinda like home. They all liked our beer (PBR), they liked our music and the crowd was always great.

Big Buckin' Chicken: In high school I used to play a lot of shows in basements, and it kind of had that same feel.

Redeye: One of my favorite things about the Gaslight was that you always met people there, regardless of whether you wanted to or not. When it got full inside, you made friends with everybody within your vicinity because you were rubbing up against them.

Meat & Potatoes: Remember that one guy? He got kicked out, but we told the door guy we wanted him to come back in. We paid his cover so he could come in and we bought him a beer and told him if he'd just sit there and be quiet he could hang out. He acted so cool the rest of the night. Regardless, he was kind of creepy-lookin'. At the end of the night he probably disappeared somewhere.

Redeye: He turned into a butterfly, actually.

What's next, fellas?

Redeye: We spent a little too long getting our first recording out, so one of our goals this year is to release at least one – if not two – more recordings. We're definitely excited to get back in the studio.

Any other resolutions for 2009?

Redeye: Quit quitting.

Meat & Potatoes: And start starting.

Big Buckin' Chicken: All day every day.

Redeye: And everything in moderation – especially moderation.

Meat & Potatoes: Oh, and riding a bike.