Jackyl is an American hard rock band from Kennesaw, Georgia, formed in 1991 by vocalist and rhythm guitarist Jesse James Dupree alongside guitarist Jeff Worley, drummer Chris Worley, guitarist Jimmy Stiff, and bassist Thomas Bettini. The band drew deeply from the well of AC/DC and Lynyrd Skynyrd — loud, unashamed, Southern-tinged rock and roll with no interest in subtlety or fashion — and built their reputation on the road before a single note was commercially released. The story of the chainsaw is also a Georgia story: Dupree's father attended one of their early concerts and told the boys they were making enough of a racket that they ought to bring a chainsaw onstage. So they did. It became the most recognizable element of their live show and the musical centerpiece of their signature song.
Jackyl signed with Geffen Records and released their self-titled debut album in August 1992, produced by Brendan O'Brien — who would go on to produce AC/DC and Stone Temple Pilots. The album went platinum and produced the rock radio hits Down on Me, When Will It Rain, I Stand Alone, and The Lumberjack, in which Dupree performed a chainsaw solo that became their defining image. When a Kmart in Georgia refused to stock the album, the band responded by playing an impromptu concert in the parking lot in front of the store — footage of which became the music video for I Stand Alone. Ted Nugent, recognizing a kindred spirit in their rawness and their refusal to apologize for anything, took the band on the road.
Push Comes to Shove (1994), produced by Juno Award-winning producer Bruce Fairbairn at Vancouver's Warehouse Studio, peaked at number 46 on the Billboard 200 and went gold. The title track reached number seven on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart. The band delivered one of the most acclaimed performances at Woodstock '94 in Saugerties, New York, appearing on the platinum-selling double album from that event, and followed with tours alongside ZZ Top and Aerosmith. Their touring ethos during this period was nothing short of extraordinary: the band earned two Guinness Book of World Records citations for performing 100 shows in 50 days across 27 states, and for performing 21 shows in a single 24-hour period in Texas — full lights and full sound for every one of them. Dupree has said the 21-shows-in-a-day feat was the more grueling of the two.
The band followed John Kalodner — the legendary A&R executive who had signed them to Geffen — to Epic Records and released Cut the Crap (1997), produced by Mike Fraser and mixed by Kevin Shirley. The album produced Locked and Loaded, which featured guest vocals from AC/DC's Brian Johnson — the first time Johnson had ever recorded with any artist outside of AC/DC since joining that band 17 years earlier. Johnson returned for a second collaboration on Relentless (2002), which included the track Kill the Sunshine. Less than a month after September 11, 2001, Jackyl wrote, recorded, and released Open Invitation, a direct response to the attacks that received significant airplay. The band has continued recording and touring with remarkable consistency: Best in Show (2012), Rowyco (2016), and 30 Coming In Hot (2022) have kept them active into their fourth decade.
Wayne Dennon photographed Jackyl as part of an archive built around bands that treat the concert stage as the only thing that really matters. Jackyl are the living definition of a live band — Guinness records, chainsaw solos, Kmart parking lot concerts, 21 shows in a day — and Jesse James Dupree is exactly the kind of performer that rewards a great photograph: all energy, no filter, and completely in the moment every single night.
