Something Wicked Radio - Dickie Ziggen S20E08

The Ziggens are a band based out of Orange County, California whose self-described style of "cowpunksurfabilly" combines elements of cowpunk, surf, rockabilly, punk, ska, and country. The Ziggens are led by Bert Susanka who sings and plays rhythm guitar. Other members include Dickie Little on lead guitar, Jon Poutney on bass, and Brad Conyers who plays the drums and provides background vocals.[1] The Ziggens have been playing since the early 1990s and have developed a strong following in Southern California.

The Ziggens were contemporaries with Sublime and were originally signed to their Skunk Records label. Their song "Big Salty Tears" was covered and popularized by Bradley Nowell on the Sublime acoustic album. The Ziggens, and more specifically Bert Susanka were also mentioned in the Sublime song "Greatest Hits". Also, their song "Outside" is sampled in the Sublime song "Smoke Two Joints" for the line "Smoked cigarettes 'til the day she died!" The Ziggens contributed a cover of the song "Paddle Out" to the Sublime tribute album Look at All the Love We Found, released in June 2005. The Ziggens' bassist Jon Poutney formed the supergroup Volcano with Meat Puppets frontman Curt Kirkwood, Sublime drummer Bud Gaugh, and Sublime soundman Michael 'Miguel' Happoldt after the breakup of Eyes Adrift. They released one self-titled studio album in 2004. More recently, Bud Gaugh formed the band Jelly of the Month Club, a children's music side project, with Bert Susanka. The Ziggens are currently signed to Cornerstone R.A.S., which is a subsidiary of Skunk Records. Their long-awaited seventh studio album will be released in February 2020.[2]