The Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band members move forward after near-death road experience

NASHVILLE, INDIANA — As he recovers from an unusually memorable tour on the deck of his Lake Somerset home, green corduroy overalls allow for the display of Reverend Peyton's two bicep tattoos: one for his home state of Indiana, another featuring a washboard and the name of his wife and bandmate, Breezy Peyton.

Breezy Peyton, seated next to him on a gorgeous October day, is dressed in all black save for leopard-printed boots. There isn't much on her arms — at least not since the tire tracks faded away and the bruises healed.

The Peytons are in good spirits, given they were both nearly killed a few weeks prior.

"It was such a surreal feeling, because I couldn't believe I was alive," Breezy Peyton said. "I knew I had been ran over. (Reverend) is like 'Are you OK?' And I'm like I think I am."

The Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band believes in positive energy. Bad things can happen on the road, but they don't define the road. Or this group.

"This was a negative chance encounter with one very bad person," Reverend Peyton said. "That's it."

The Big Damn Band known for roots-inspired rock

The Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band has released 10 albums since forming in 2006, with several charting at the top of Billboard's blues charts. They've built up a decent following, with millions of Spotify listens and 133,000 Facebook followers.

But like most bands, they make their living on the road — 250 shows in North America and Europe per year before the pandemic, now about 150. They've barnstormed — sometimes literally — up and down their native Indiana each year, having ignored the external pressures to move to Tennessee's Nashville or a coastal city as their career progressed.

The band works hard to put on a good show, with roots-inspired tunes enlivened by rock 'n' roll antics. It's not uncommon — perhaps even expected — for Breezy Peyton to light the washboard she performs with on fire.

"We love being out there," Reverend Peyton said. "Our fans have been great. They've been awesome. But the road is weird … there is no normal. You're out there with other people who are travelers, transients, truck drivers, musicians. You're kind of surrounded by people who are just a little strange."

'This man is going to kill someone'

It was not unusual, then, when a man who claimed to be selling gold chains approached the band's tour bus in the parking lot of a hotel in Aurora, Colorado, in the early evening of Sept. 21. The Peytons, their drummer, Max Senteney, and a handful of crew members had just arrived for a tour of the mountain states.

"As I walked up, I knew it was going to be a problem," Breezy Peyton recalled. She said the man smelled like alcohol.

Reverend Peyton attempted to brush the man off, he said. When the would-be salesman got out of his car, the vehicle was still in gear and crashed into the band's tour bus. The man then backed the car away before gassing it right back into the bus.

A friend who had been working under the bus on its generator was nearly run over, Peyton said.

The car then hit Reverend Peyton, knocking him onto its hood.

"I'm looking him in the eye, and I kind of realize this man is going to kill somebody," Peyton said. "He doesn't really care."

At this point, the Peytons' touring party and other onlookers began shouting for the driver to park his car. When he did not, Breezy Peyton leaned in through the passenger-side window and attempted to shift the car into park.

The driver then accelerated, with Peyton hanging out of his window for what she estimated to be about 200 yards. She then fell, and the car ran over her right arm and right leg before driving away.

"I'm having a conversation with him while it's happening," she said. "I'm going please stop. You're going to kill me … I will let you go, just let me get out of here."

"He said 'I don't give a f---.'"

The show must go on

Breezy Peyton was taken to the hospital. X-rays and an abdomen ultrasound revealed no broken bones, she said, though her skin was heavily bruised and scraped.

Reverend Peyton suggested the band call the tour off, but Breezy was able to push through. They did not miss a single show.

"Going home and feeling sorry for myself wasn't something I really wanted to do," she said.

Speaking a few weeks later, she said she has difficulty lifting or rotating her arm. Drumming is difficult, but she can play her washboard. She suffered some nerve damage, but doctors believe it will be temporary.

Peyton remains shaken by the ordeal and believes mental health therapy may be in her future.

Police interviewed the Peytons, whose given names are Josh and Brianne, in the hospital after the incident.

A police report from the Aurora Police Department notes the man was cited for three misdemeanor charges, including hit-and-run. An attempt to reach him through the number listed on the police report was not successful.

According to the Colorado Judicial Branch, the man is due to be arraigned on the misdemeanor charges in December. IndyStar does not typically name individuals accused of misdemeanor crimes.

The Peytons said they were willing to testify against the man in hopes of a more severe charge. But for now, they're hoping to untangle various insurance webs in order to cover the cost of Breezy Peyton's injuries and damage to their tour bus.

"As mad as I was — our bus had been ran into and all of this other stuff — the only thing I cared about was she was OK," Reverend Peyton said.

Breezy Peyton's sister set up a GoFundMe page to help with the costs. As of Nov. 2, it had raised about $11,700.

'Thankful to be alive and together' and heading back out on the road

The fundraiser and speaking to a reporter about her injuries make Breezy Peyton a little uneasy. She'd rather talk about something else. Acquaintances and strangers alike have, innocently enough, reminded the couple of its traumatic experience when asking about their wellbeing.

"I just want her to keep getting better, mentally and physically," Reverend Peyton said. "I'd like to not even have to think about this anymore."

"We're just very thankful to be alive and together," Breezy Peyton said.

The band will be back on the road soon.

The bills? They'll figure it out. They've survived worse. In the early days, the couple was living out of their van. The COVID-19 pandemic wiped out their livelihood.

It will be hard to shake the memory, but they will try.

"I don't want this to shape who I am," Breezy Peyton said.

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Rory Appleton is the pop culture reporter at IndyStar. Contact him at 317-552-9044 and rappleton@indystar.com, or follow him on Twitter at @RoryEHAppleton.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band members recall near-death experience