Jo Carley And The Old Dry Skulls

Deep beneath the flickering candlelight of the underground roots scene… from crumbling medicine shows and haunted backstreet carnivals… a strange and wonderful creation emerged from the shadows of the British coast…

Jo Carley and The Old Dry Skulls

Not simply a band… but a travelling gothic voodoo cabaret.
A living, breathing séance of blues, skiffle, swamp rock, old-time jazz, psychobilly and haunted vaudeville theatre.

Born from a love of early American roots music, horror cinema, old medicine shows and the dark romance of New Orleans mysticism, Jo Carley & The Old Dry Skulls have slowly built one of the most unique underground cult followings anywhere in Europe. Their world is populated by zombies, demons, witch doctors, voodoo queens, ghosts, graveyard dances and midnight rituals — all delivered with irresistible rhythm and dark theatrical flair.

At the centre of the storm stands the mesmerising Jo Carley herself — part gothic blues priestess, part travelling carnival storyteller, part possessed vaudeville chanteuse. Armed with washboard, mandolin, percussion and a voice that swings from sweet melancholy to wicked incantation, she leads audiences deep into "The Voodoo Shack" — the eerie creative world she and husband/songwriting partner Tim Carley created after abandoning conventional life in 2013 to pursue music full-time.

The story of the band feels almost mythological. After years busking around Britain and surviving on odd gigs and underground shows, Jo and Tim eventually settled in a beach bungalow on England's east coast where they built their own recording lair — The Voodoo Shack. From there emerged a sound unlike anything else on the UK roots circuit: battered archtop guitars, rattling shoes, primitive kick drums, haunted saxophone lines, thumping double bass and voodoo rhythms inspired by everything from Cab Calloway and Victoria Spivey to Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Dr. John and the wild spirit of early rock 'n' roll.

Their early records immediately established them as outsiders in the best possible way. Albums such as Them Old Bones, Shake Them Rattlin' Bones and Voodoo Bones & Vaudeville Blues became cult underground favourites amongst psychobilly, blues, gothabilly and roots audiences. Their music sounded like a haunted 1930s Louisiana carnival colliding headfirst with a backstreet London punk club.

Critics quickly fell under the spell.

"Something wicked coming this way." – Folkcast

"A musical heist that robs you of ordinary." – Folkwords

"Spellbound by the performance and its originality." – Blues Matters Magazine

"Let your soul be taken by the voodoo." – Louder Than War

By the early 2020s the band had become a major cult attraction across Europe's underground festival circuit. Their reputation as a jaw-dropping live act saw them invited onto stages alongside psychobilly legends, blues renegades and roots-rock outlaws. They appeared at the UK Blues Challenge, HRH Blues, Upton Blues Festival, Ealing Blues Festival and the notorious Psychobilly Freakout Festival in London alongside acts such as Demented Are Go and Reverend Horton Heat.

Then came the leap into the wider European alternative scene. In 2024 the band performed at Spain's prestigious Azkena Rock Festival sharing festival billing with giants such as Queens of the Stone Age, L7 and Sheryl Crow. They also stormed Belgium's roots-rock circuit and supported Rev. Peyton's Big Damn Band during their UK tour.

What makes Jo Carley & The Old Dry Skulls so utterly addictive is that they never feel manufactured. Everything about them drips authenticity — from the beat-up instruments and DIY ethic to the strange theatrical atmosphere surrounding every performance. They don't merely play songs… they summon spirits.

Live, audiences enter a strange underworld where skeleton-painted double basses pulse like beating hearts, rattling percussion sounds like chains in a crypt, and Jo Carley commands the stage like a gothic voodoo queen from some lost Mississippi fever dream. One reviewer described it as:

"A sideshow where vaudeville, blues and skiffle conspire."

Another called them:

"The UK's first ever Old Timey Death Skiffle band."

By 2025 the band were touring heavily across the UK, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands while continuing to expand their mythology with new recordings, singles and films ahead of a forthcoming 2026 album project. They also shared stages with psychobilly pioneers The Meteors and blues legend Errol Linton.

Now the cult of the Old Dry Skulls rolls into the Pennines…

And frankly… there may be no venue in Britain better suited to their eerie magic than Barnoldswick Music & Arts Centre.

Low ceilings. Flickering lights. Shadows dancing across cellar walls.
Sixty souls.

For one night only, BMAAC transforms into a midnight voodoo shack where the blues rises from the grave, skeletons dance in the candlelight and the spirits of old-time America collide with gothic rock 'n' roll theatre.

This is not just another gig. This is a séance with a backbeat.