"Whenever someone comes up to us after a show and says, 'I'd never seen a bluegrass band before,' we say, well you still haven't."
So say the Hackensaw Boys, a six-piece acoustic act from Charlottesville that plays moonshine-era-inspired melodies with a punk rock swagger.
"If anything, we're a fiddle-stomping rock 'n' roll string band," Harrison said.
For the Hackensaw Boys, that joyful noise is as much informed by the music of their youth as that of their great-grandparents. The bandmates came of age in the era of such alternative rock pioneers as The Replacements, a noted influence.
"That band directly inspired the angle at which we approach music," Harrison said. "They had that sort of reckless, throw-it-all-up-and-see-where-it-lands kind of spirit."
The Hackensaw Boys will conjure that spirit at The Jewish Mother in Virginia Beach on Saturday, using traditional instrumentation such as mandolin, upright bass and fiddle along with a rhythm device called the "charismo," a homemade contraption of tin cans, spoons, bicycle bells and hubcaps.
"It is kind of a spectacle, I have to admit," Harrison said of the band's stage show.
But that doesn't mean the Hackensaw Boys aren't capable of tugging at heartstrings with an Appalachian-style lament.
"We're certainly known for very high-energy, dancey kind of stuff, but at the same time we can switch gears into something more contemplative and mature," Harrison said. "I liken it to an evening at the theater; we cover the gamut of emotions."
Eclectic but not gimmicky, the Hackensaw Boys embrace old-time music without a stitch of irony.
Sure, they have fun with the concept, as evidenced by their grizzly-bearded appearance and use of old-fashioned country music nicknames, but Harrison - aka "Spits" - says the band's intent is genuine.
"We love the tradition of the music that we do. It's what's in our hearts."
No comments:
Post a Comment