Premiere: Dwayne Shivers in these “Particular Times”

Micah Dalton is Buffered & Blest

Real musicians make up Dwayne Shivers (Is it a guy? A group? Or what Dwayne does at the North Pole?). Actually Dwayne Shivers is a funhouse folk ensemble from East Atlanta, GA, and its leader, Micah Dalton, has skewed Americana—so often presented in the context of white America’s music—to his own persona: stylistically incongruent, zany, southern, racially ambiguous. The music is soaked in an attitude less like Ryan Adams’ and more akin to Beck and Allen Toussaint’s, while the lyrics display a potentially broader view of what is truly “Americana.”

“Particular Times” is featured on the album Buffered & Blest, and offers a taste of what Dwayne Shivers has to offer. This acoustic rendition and video for the song was shot live in the studio, and Micah Dalton described the process for Elmore:

“We filmed this acoustic version of ‘Particular Times’ at 800 East Studios—a diamond in Atlanta’s music community. The bare bones arrangement and performance of this song provides a close, raw look ‘underneath the hood’ of the dense production. Matt Wright lent tasteful treatment on keys.”