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Rig Rundown: Lucero

The country-punkers out of Memphis share the roadworthy gear that allows them to seamlessly blend neo-Stax soul and barroom rock 'n' roll.

Ben Nichols, the band’s founding member, has been a big fan of Epiphone 6-strings since he bought his first Dot model decades ago. Since then, he’s graduated to the Epiphone Sheraton II that gets beats to hell all night, every night. At the end of the day, Nichols appreciates how it sounds, how it plays, and that if something ever were to happen to it he could go to a local guitar store and replace it without taking out a loan. He actually records with the Sheraton II rather than the higher-end, fancier cousin ES-335. Like Venable, he uses Ernie Ball Slinkys .011–.048 strings.

PG’s Chris Kies catches up with Lucero’s Brian Venable, Ben Nichols, and John C. Stubblefield before the band’s first tour date in support of All a Man Should Do at Nashville’s Cannery Ballroom.

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