Herbert Wiley & The Checkmates

Herbert Wiley & Checkmates will be backing a number performing and backing a number of artists at this year's Ponderosa Stomp in New Orleans. The band consist of Herbert Wiley - vocals, band leader; Matty Crockett- congas, percussion; Tricanna McGee- vocals; J.D.Mark- guitar; Matt Patton- bass and Anthony "Amp" Wortham- drums.

Herbert Wiley formed the Checkmates in his hometown Oxford, Mississippi in 1960. After a dozen years playing a circuit that stretched from the Gulf Coast to the Midwest, Wiley quit music to run the family business. After watching the Oxford punk band the Preacher's Kids rehearse in a local storefront, Wiley was inspired to reform the Checkmates in 2002.

Wiley and the The Checkmates have become a force of Southern soul with performances in Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, and the 2006 Ponderosa Stomp in Memphis, TN., where they backed soul singers Bobby Patterson and Harvey Scales and blues guitarist Fillmore Slim. The Checkmates have been feted in soul and blues magazines around the world and have appeared on the playlists of blues and roots radio programs around the U.S. as well as in England, Holland, Italy, and Argentina.

Wiley and the Checkmates full-length debut CD "Introducing..." and their "Streak-A-Lean" b/w "Deep Shit" 7-inch are available at www.pickmarkrecords.com