Punked-out rockabilly has always been more about attitude than substance. It's about your swagger and your panache; your coif and your glare. So it makes sense that a band called Pussy — who, coincidentally, balance attitude with substance — would rock every rock-punk's cock off and free the word from FCC purgatory.
Pussy advocates — nay, militants — Ruyter Suys and Blaine Cartwright use their Southern wanderlust to meander the globe in promotion of the dirty South and the desire to drink beer and have lots of sex. Based on the rabid worldwide popularity of their band, Nashville Pussy, these are apparently basic and universal desires.
"We're what you call 100 percent name recognition," says Suys. (Her name is pronounced "Rider Sighs.") "When you hear the words Nashville Pussy once, that's it, it's in your brain. The next time you hear it you're like, 'I know that band,' even if you don't."
If you think she sounds nice, she is. She and husband Cartwright are not spilling explicit sexual hedonism and selling America's youth on the benefits of bottle-fueled, drug-induced orgy rock. Well, maybe they are, but they're also just down-home married folk happy to finally be able to afford that AC/DC boxed set they've always wanted and to travel the world as singing sex-minstrels.
"People in Japan went bonkers for us," she says. "They all talk about 'Rynyrd Skynyrd,' with an R. They file it under R too! If you're looking for Led Zeppelin and you can't find it, it's probably under Red Zepperin."
As titillating as it is to hear Pussy — and say "pussy" for that matter — half of their name remains an American stigma. Everywhere else in the world, as Suys says, "is pretty much over it." But when it comes down to it, Nashville Pussy isn't so much about public raunchiness, but about creating smokin' riffs for a rock & roll expression that surpasses the Idol-pop formula of boredom and covets a chick on lead guitar.
"We're trying to rise above or ignore things like fashion and things that are very timely," Suys says. "We're trying to do something a little more classic here. I think when people come and see us, they can relax and let their hair down and have a good time and get laid! We're very pro-getting laid."
