The Black Diamond Heavies, that raw, gruesome twosome that shows up on one of our town’s stages every few months, will bring the noise once again tomorrow, Thursday, at the Off Broadway.

The Heavies, who have become something of an underground institution here, play soulful garage rock. It’s rhythmic, it’s bluesy (as in Delta blues) and it’s always distorted. It’s a marriage of R.L. Burnside’s nasty, unapologetic blues  and Tom Waits’  rock bottom piano laments.

With no guitar in sight, John Wesley Myers’ tweaked-out keyboards provide the color as Van Campbell pounds away on the drums. The Heavies made its name here at the old Frederick’s Music Lounge with their high-energy, raunchy shows.

I spoke with Campbell today as he and Myers drove to a show at Kansas City’s Davies Uptown.

“It’s too bad Frederick’s is gone, but the Off Broadway has taken up its legacy - to an extent,” said Campbell. “Fred would give everyone a chance. When we were leaving town for the first time, he said, “yeah, come on.’ Since then, St. Louis has become a home base for us.

“We have a lot of friends there and it’s not too far from our homes. It’s been a lot of fun,” Campbell continued.

The duo and former guitarist Porkchop Holder formed in Nashville years back and now live in separate towns, Campbell in Louisville and Myers in Chattanooga. They are coming off a trip to France, where they played on the flat bed of a moving truck during a festival parade.

“That was pretty wild,” said Campbell. “The keyboards and drums would fall over sometimes, but we started playing along with the rhythm of the tractor.”

Myers came into the band with a soul/jazz/blues background and Campbell was more into punk rock.

“The sound you hear on our record and live is a blending of old school blues and soul with high-energy punk and heavy Led Zeppelin-type stuff,” said Campbell.

The band will go into the studio this December-January and plan to release their second full-length in 2008.

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Scott H. Biram with The Black Diamond Heavies

Thursday, August 23^rd, Off Broadway

Show time: 9:00 PM; Doors open: 7:00 PM, $10

MySpace: www.myspace.com/blackdiamondheavies, Website: www.blackdiamondheavies.com

Album: Every Damn Time LP

2007, Alive Records (L.A. blues punk label)