About RKH

The world of rockabilly, psychobilly and alt. country can be intimidating to those just discovering them.

Unpretentious and friendly, the Retro Kustom Honkytonk blog strives to be a resource for people just dipping their toes into these rich, diverse scenes.

It is also a place for the scene veterans out there to find new things to love within these subcultures.  You don’t need to have a hot rod or be a pin-up to feel welcome here.  You don’t even need to know anything about hot rods or pin-ups!

The retro-inspired scene is not monolithic.  It is more a maddening cluster of overlapping subcultures, each with a complex lexicon, heroes, both past and present, lifestyle “dos and don’ts” and a defined aesthetic sense.  Some have deep opinions about other subcultures, as unhelpful as that is.  Fans of one may not be fans of another.

Tiki Torchbearers, Horror Punks, Hillbillies, Folkies, Rockabillies and Psychobillies, Car Culturist, Retro Fahionistas and Swing Dancers don’t seem to have a lot in common, but different bands, artists and styles connect them all.

To help readers navigate all this, the blog is written in the voice of three different characters, each of whom have distinct personalities and areas of interest.

#rockabilly by Retro	Retro This smart, stylish Chihuahua covers anything “old” (with the sweet spot being anything from the thirties to the early sixties) – or anything contemporary that attempts to be authentic to the past.  This covers music, such as “neo-rockabilly”, fashion, such as vintage-inspired dresses, furniture, décor and housewares, such as reproduction mid-century furniture, or “classic” cars, restored to showroom condition.  The only exceptions are that she doesn’t touch anything Country and Western – that’s Honkytonk’s job – or monster movies, as Kustom handles monsters and horror.  She holds a special place in her heart for Elvis.
#psychobilly by Kustom	Kustom This loud and brash psycho cat loves psychobilly, horror punk, garage rock, radical kustom cars, lowbrow art and any retro-inspired form of expression that injects punk, metal or other more contemporary energy into the work.  Kustom also covers the world of horror, with an emphasis on classic monster movies.
#countrymusic by Honkytonk	Honkytonk This gruff hound dog supports any country, folk or alt.country/Americana that stands in contrast to contemporary pop/country radio.  This includes trad. country, honkytonk, the Bakersfield sound, countrypolitian, Western Swing, bluegrass, gospel, outlaw country, southern rock, “No Depression”, singer songwriter, Appalachan string band music, “old-time” music,  cowboy songs, country-tinged indie rock, country rock, country side projects of rockers as well as most music originating from Texas and swaths of Oklahoma.  Honkytonk also claimed dibs on Johnny Cash.