here's the link:
http://www.presentmagazine.com/full_content.php?article_id=1275&full=yes&pbr=1
here's the article:
Track Stars: Scratch Track
Acoustic Blues-infused Hip Hop
Story by Pete Dulin.
Published: Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Scratch Track is a duo comprised of David "DJ" Lee (MC, singer, and songwriter) and Jason Hamlin (songwriter and guitarist), who met while attending Union University in Jackson, Tennessee. Lee grew up in Blue Springs, Missouri and Hamlin hails from Monroe, Michigan south of Detroit. The two music majors formed Scratch Track in 2000 and forged an original acoustic hip hop sound with a foundation of raw blues and smooth soul. Stylistically, Lee and Hamlin draw from a wide range of influences, figure out how to extract ideas, and produce vocals, beats, and rhythm that they can claim as their own. [Listen to the single "Shaker."]
"We both listen to so many different styles of music," says Lee. "Jason taught himself how to play slide guitar and has gotten some really dirty, nasty, gritty sounds out of his guitars and pedals. The vocal stuff i do was just being exposed to every type of gospel music growing up and then listening to a wide variety once i got to college."
Culling influences listed on their MySpace page as of mid-November, Hamlin listens to diverse artists including Blind Willie Johnson, Bob Segar and the Silver Bullet Band, Nine Inch Nails, Tool, and Merle Haggard. For Lee, his list skips from Beck and The Four Tops to Pussycat Dolls and Maxwell. Citing a catalog of music, books, or films is a shorthand technique to profile a person that leaves plenty to read between the lines. What an artist or musician or writer extracts from those influences, folds into their ideas and experiences, and creates in the end is a more valuable gauge for how they measure up.
In their brief career, Scratch Track has released 2003's debut The Simple, Unreleased Sessions (2004), and EP Interpretation of the Afterwards (2006), followed by the new full-length The Legend of Wild Bill.
Delta blues figures heavily in the wiry slide guitar playing of Hamlin on the track "Call" while "Will You" demonstrates the vocal chops of Lee with the fierce soul of Seal and the urgent growl of Robert Plant. Another distinction that sets Scratch Track apart from the galactic forces and minor stars in the hip hop universe is the fact that they perform all of the instruments used in their acoustic sound bolstered by percussive beatbox vocals. The too-hot-to-handle track "Shaker" is a deadly combination of rollicking rhythmic guitar, forceful beatbox vocal thumping, and heat-seeking vocals right on target. The song works whether heard in the college bar circuit, a country blues dance hall, or in a hip hop club kicking it late and defying the sun to rise.
Lee and Hamlin have toured relentlessly since forming Scratch Track and have achieved some notable measures of success. They have performed over 750 shows across the US, played as part of the Armed Forces Entertainment tours in the UK, The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Japan. Their song "Don't Go" was featured on CSI:NY. Television exposure helps, but they also focus on attracting fans with talent rather than hype and fame. It's part of the job description for a self-managed band that tours full-time. To build a following at live shows, they have developed stage presence and showmanship that isn't stereotypical of hip hop.
Lee says, "Sometimes we try to be senstive to our crowd and the vibe that they're throwing out, but for the most part, you're gonna always get the high energy show that we've been known to give for the past five years."
The two have never lost sight of their good fortune as an independent act gaining attention across the country. "We're one of the lucky ones that get to do what they love for a living. We love making new fans daily," says Lee. "We love the opportunity to play for whoever is willing to listen. We are totally intentional about our sound and omission of other instruments, but have tried to make it the most natural sounding music possible."