Jesse James Dupree Covers It All In This Interview, From Sturgis History Lessons to New Music

In August, it's expected that nearly one million people will descend upon the Black Hills of South Dakota to celebrate the 85th annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. Jesse James Dupree joined Loudwire Nights on Monday (June 23) to help get listeners ready for the biggest party of the year.

Listen to the full conversation in the player near the end of this article.

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"It's seriously the last fantasy island for adults left in this world," Dupree told host Chuck Armstrong about the center of all the fun at the rally and the world's largest biker bar, Full Throttle Saloon.

"Everybody should see it. You're out there in the middle of Mount Rushmore. Crazy Horse. Deadwood. Devils Tower. I mean, the gold rush started in Deadwood ... It's beautiful. It would take you five years to get out there and see everything in God's country."

Fortunately for fans, Dupree and the Full Throttle Saloon have partnered with Loudwire Nights to give away wristbands for the Full Throttle Saloon; get all the details you need and get entered to win here.

"You don't have to ride a motorcycle," Dupree assured listeners. "It's the time of your life."

Jesse James Dupree Is Working on New Music

Along with getting ready for Sturgis, Dupree told Chuck he's been hard at work on new music following his latest solo record, Breathing Fire.

"I'm working on the final mixes and it's just a slab of rock," he said with obvious excitement in his voice.

"You know the song 'Crossroads' ... That's just age-old, the most ultimate rock and roll story ever, because we all go down to the crossroads at one time or another ... I thought, you know what? I'm going to tell that story another way. So I wrote a song called 'Mississippi Madness' and I use a voice box like Peter Frampton uses to make the guitar talk...I'm excited about that song."

In addition to his fresh take on "Crossroads," Dupree said he's created a heavy version of "Country Boy Can Survive" and he's also anxious for fans to hear a response to an old-school classic country tune.

"Do you remember the old Kris Kristofferson song that Johnny Cash had a huge hit with called 'Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down,'" Dupree asked Chuck.

"I thought about it, what was the guy doing the night before? Where was he on Saturday night? So I wrote a song called 'Down to Me and Jesus.' When Saturday night turns into Sunday morning."

What Else Did Jesse James Dupree Discuss on Loudwire Nights?

How a massive country band had their early roots in Black Sabbath: "I used to go and watch a band practice in this guy's hardware store, in the basement of his hardware store, and they used to play Black Sabbath. And I thought, man, these guys are evil. I was just a little young thing. You know who the band was? Alabama. Then they moved to Myrtle Beach and became a country band and had all those hits, but they used to play Black Sabbath."
Why Sabbath still means so much to him: "Music and times have changed so much that it's not as scary now to people as it was when I was a kid ... It was like going to see the movie, The Exorcist. It was that kind of a thing. It was the sound of all that as evil ... They showed me the power of music. I knew I had a reference point because there was nothing like it before and they invented it."
Why he named his campground at the Full Throttle Saloon after Pappy Hoel: "[Pappy] started hosting an annual picnic and everybody would come and ride their motorcycles up there and they would see who could climb the hills the highest on their motorcycle. And it grew over the years, up until the 50th anniversary and it overtook the city. It overflowed in the park ... The city said, 'No more rally,' and tried to shut it down but then it just exploded even more."