The Dodge Brothers

The Dodge Brothers
The Dodge Brothers at the Shelley Theatre, Bournemouth, February 2016
Background information
Origin	Southampton, England
Genres	Skiffle, Americana, rockabilly, bluegrass, folk, country, blues
Website	Dodgebrothers.co.uk
Members	Mark Kermode (double bass), Mike Hammond, Alex Hammond, Aly Hirji

The Dodge Brothers are a British skiffle band from Southampton playing Americana, rockabilly, bluegrass, folk, country and blues music. The band includes film critic and BBC television presenter Mark Kermode, along with Mike and Alex Hammond and Aly Hirji. The band played on the BBC Two programme The Culture Show, which is co-presented by Kermode, on 19 May 2007 and took part in the same show’s ‘Busking Challenge’ on 29 March 2008. The band have appeared on Kermode’s video blog ‘Kermode Uncut’, playing ‘skiffle’ covers of blockbuster movie soundtracks including Star Wars, Star Trek, The A-Team and Smurfs 3D. The music heard on the 'Kermode Uncut' blog is extracts from The Dodge Brothers’ music. They also provided skiffled movie theme tunes for one round of a quiz show on Simon Mayo and Kermode’s BBCRadio 5 Live Christmas show in 2010.

The Dodge Brothers have played the live accompaniment to classic silent movies at music and film festivals around the country, accompanied by silent movie pianist Neil Brand.

According to guitarist Mike Hammond, The Dodge Brothers started in 1996 when Hammond and Kermode were introduced by their wives. "By the end of the night, we were drinking whisky and playing piano," Hammond recalls, at which time Kermode suggested they form a band. They then played local gigs with a third member Pete Stanfield on harmonica, and then as a two piece before soundman Aly Hirji joined on rhythm guitar after meeting Hammond and Kermode at a pub where the duo were playing in 2005. In 2006 they recorded their first album, a self-titled record of covers from “the songbook of weird old America”. Drummer Alex Hammond appears on two tracks before joining the band just before their first Culture Show appearance in 2007.