Dryggs: Bringing Y’allternative to Utah County

_{By Mike Romero}

Keith Lambson made a name for himself drumming in the Provo pop/rock band Roseburg. Their brief, powerful run from 2018-2020 led to millions of streams, several Spotify editorial playlists, viral YouTube videos, and a high profile collaboration with Kellin Quinn of Sleeping with Sirens. A national tour was planned for 2020 after a successful Kickstarter, but was shelved indefinitely by COVID-19.

Roseburg went on hiatus mid-pandemic as the world waited for things to improve. Lambson wasn’t able to meet with his bandmates in person, and he needed a musical outlet.

“I had a lot of songs I’d written that didn’t work as Roseburg songs and I wanted a place for those to live,” he says. So he started working on them: playing every instrument and recording and engineering the songs himself. The result was a gritty, Y’allternative project called Dryggs.

What is Y’allternative, exactly? “To be honest, Y’allternative is kind of a clickbait buzzword, but I really like the concept,” Lambson says. “I grew up in Idaho, and country music is decently prevalent there. I grew up hiking and fishing, and my grandparents owned a dairy farm. At the same time, I encountered heavy music and the alternative side of things and fell in love.” Lambson has experimented with most styles of music, but his biggest influences for this project are Alt Rock, MetalCore, and independent country music.

While other people who use the term Y’allternative do it in a humorous or cheesy way (like adding a breakdown to a Luke Bryan song), Dryggs feels like a more natural fusion of these genres. For instance, the song “Fake” begins with booming drums that wail on the toms while heavy guitars join on the accents. A lead guitar melody screams over the top of it – and its tone is most definitely classic country rock. However, Lambson’s vocals feel pop/punk, and the work of featured rap artist Daniel Sherman adds some nu metal flair. It’s a fascinating blend for sure.

Through Dryggs, Lambson has been able to express himself in ways he wasn’t able to before. This has been quite a leap of faith for him. “I don’t write almost any lyrics for Roseburg, so it was really vulnerable to put my words out there for the first time,” he says. “My sound is a lot more rock, and a lot more raw, and I feel like my lyrics are a lot more literal and less poetic than Roseburg. It’s been really nice to have an outlet for heavier, more folksy, and just more experimental music.”

His first full length record, Deconstruction, is due out July 14. It chronicles Lambson’s journey through several significant life changes. Moving, getting married, becoming a father, and enduring the pandemic changed his perspective and opinions on just about everything.

“A few years ago I made a conscious decision to evaluate and take apart everything that I had been taught and believed,” he says. “A lot of my core beliefs ended up changing from there. From religion to politics to day to day life, I rethought everything, and that’s what this album is about.”

Sound wise, this album runs the gamut from a jazzy piano intro and shoegazey riffs to raw acoustic songs and symphonic metalcore influences. “The sound is extremely varied, but I still think it feels cohesive,” explains Lambson. “And the message is what really ties things together.”

One of the downsides to playing every instrument on a record? You need to find people to cover those parts for live shows. Between that and Roseburg’s comeback, Lambson hasn’t had a lot of time to devote to live Dryggs performances, though there have been a few.

“I will definitely be playing more shows!” he says enthusiastically. “The Dryggs live show is a rock show at its heart. Heavy hitting drums and loud guitars – and that’s the way I like it.”

No matter how they experience Dryggs, Keith Lambson hopes that listeners walk away feeling introspective. “My challenge to people would be to reconsider your beliefs and values. I think constant evaluation is important so that we don’t just take our beliefs for granted. I’m sure my opinions in a few years will be different from where they are now, and I think that’s how it should be. Basically I just hope this challenges people to think, learn, and evolve constantly as humans.”

Make sure to follow Dryggs on Instagram and listen to the single “Fake” below. Deconstruction drops this Friday, July 14. Presave it here.