If there’s one aspect to all the Southern oppression and working class discrimination in this country, it’s that you just can’t keep some folks down. After blowing off his big toe whilst cleaning his favorite shotgun, one might think Weedeater’s “Dixie” Dave Collins would just kind of sit back and feel bad about himself and hate the world for a while — you know, more than usual for a sludger. But no, he’s got a full US tour lined up and he’s rescheduled the sessions for Weedeater’s new album, Jason… the Dragon, with none other than Steve Albini. Here’s to the spirit of persistence, and here’s the PR wire’s take on it:

North Carolina’s Weedeater – in light of the recent loss of frontman Dave “Dixie” Collins‘ toe due to a self-inflicted gun-cleaning wound — have announced the routing for their upcoming US tour, now officially dubbed the “Nine Toe” Tour. The month long tour kicks off a week before this year’s SXSW, where Weedeater will headline the Tone Deaf Touring showcase on March 20th. Support bands for the tour include Black Cobra, ASG, Black Tusk, The Gates of Slumber, US Christmas, and Struck by Lightning.

The band will also enter with Steve Albini’s Electrical Audio Studios in April to record their new release, titled Jason… The Dragon, to be released later this year again on Southern Lord.

Check out a full statement from the band regarding the tour and recording on the band’s MySpace page.

Because there are a lot of them, the tour dates are after the jump.

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And how did Weedeater frontman “Dixie” Dave Collins blow off his big toe? Oh, he was cleaning his favorite shotgun. For any of you non-American Obelisk attendees out there, let me explain something to you: this shit happens in this country. All the time. We are all fucking insane, and in case you haven’t watched the news, um, ever, incredibly dangerous people, even to ourselves. Hell, especially to ourselves. Especially ourselves and brown people. Actually, to pretty much everyone.

While I don’t necessarily have a favorite shotgun (or a gun at all, let alone many, which would necessitate an entire rack), my heart goes out to ol’ Nine Toe Collins, who obviously didn’t intend on shooting his toe off, and finds his plans to record with Steve Albini similarly obliterated. It’s a bummer all around. Here’s what the band, via the PR wire, had to say about it:

Hi folks,
As most of you know, here in the Weedeater camp we pride ourselves on a long tradition of shooting our band in the proverbial foot right before we’re supposed to do something important. Whether it’s a big tour, a recording session, or whatever else we’re supposed to do, invariably we will find some way to try and thwart our grandiose plans. Well, it’s no different for this recording session, except that this time we really did shoot ourselves in the foot. In fact we regret to inform all of you that this weekend, Dixie Dave shot his big toe off whilst cleaning his favorite shotgun. Yup, that’s right. When reached for comment, Mr. Collins gave a quote that speaks for itself: ‘It wasn’t my intention to shoot off my big toe. This really fucking sucks and the pain is unbearable.’

Mr. Collins’ doctors have advised that he is to be bed-ridden for the next few weeks during his recovery. This will obviously affect the recording session (and the few surrounding shows in Jan./Feb.), which will now have to be postponed until after the March/April “nine-toe” tour. Said tour is still 100 percent on, however, so check back soon for updates on venues and exact dates. It looks like the support bands will be awesome and the band is really stoked to play this new material after touring for so many years on the same basic set. Yeah… we knew that too, sorry but we’re about to make good on it. And of course after all, we gotta keep workin’, like workin’ men do. Shooting your big toe off isn’t free, for fuck’s sake!

So to re-cap…Keko sacrificed his pinkie for Down/Melvins, Shep broke his hand for Today is the Day, and now Dixie has generously offered up his big toe for Steve Albini to nibble on. Unless overtly fond of Limburger cheese and rotten flesh, Master Steve is advised to decline. Good day. — Weedeater

Mankind is unkind, man…

It’s good to see there’s actually some news again. Things were pretty dry a couple weeks there around the holidays. This time it’s Weedeater, who according to Blabbermouth (and I tend to believe Blabbermouth on these things), are entering Steve Albini’s Electrical Audio to record their new album. Right on. In case you missed it, their 2001 And Justice for Y’all debut was just reissued by Sleeping Village Records. Note how this story doesn’t say whether or not the new record will be on Southern Lord. Curious…

North Carolina sludge pillagers Weedeater will enter Electrical Audio studio in Chicago, Illinois later this month with producer Steve Albini (Nirvana, Neurosis, Pixies) to begin recording their fourth album for a late 2010 release. Song titles set to appear on the CD include “The Claw of the Sloth” and “The Darkening.”

Weedeater will play a few shows on the way to the studio and back to showcase/road-test the new stuff. A list of dates can be found on the group’s MySpace page.

While the thought of another Down tour saddens me because it means we’re that much less likely to see a new Crowbar or (gawd forbid) C.O.C. album anytime soon, I’m glad long-running North Carolina dirtball sludgers Weedeater are going to get the exposure of a major corporate tour. Should be pretty funny to see how the dudes in the denim BLS vests react when Dixie Dave starts puking all over the stage. Not to mention what’ll happen if some gets on Danava’s $400 shoes. Yeah, they should fit in just fine. Here’s the PR wire news and the dates:

That is right, sound the alarms: North Carolina’s sludge pillagers Weedeater have been confirmed as support for a full-on North American Down tour! The lineup changes throughout the routing; The Canadian dates feature secondary support from Voivod, while the bulk of the American dates feature The Melvins. Other opening support for the tour will be Danava for the first half and Evil Army for the latter half of the dates.

Weedeater will play several shows in North Carolina and Tennessee on the way to the opening and after the closing of the tour, and will headline sporadically in chunks throughout the main tour. And of course they will do what they do best: sonically reduce every venue they enter to a resin-coated heap of rubble.

Weedeater live:

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