type='html'>
I first heard The Blackberry Bushes Stringband when my friend Thena brought some of their albums over that she had bought at the Oregon Country Faire last year. In her ongoing mission to support independent artists and share good music, she had the stereo going with a pile of albums from various bands she had enjoyed that day. I hadn't payed them any mind beyond enjoying some good string music, until I heard a cover of Bruce Springsteen's "I'm on Fire" come on. Now, I grew up with Bruce Springsteen as a regular musical installation in my family, and although I hadn't listened to The Boss in years, this was my favorite song by him, and it sounded damn good with a fiddle and banjo. They've got some excellent original work with a good handful of revitalized tunes. I especially enjoy their song "Salt Creek," a feminist response to all the old-time songs in which women don't fare too well. And did I mention they have an incredible banjo player? I was hooked, so Thena made me some copies of their albums, and they became the soundtrack to my Summer and Fall.
Last week, I realized they were coming to town to play a show at my favorite watering hole, Sam Bond's Garage. I hadn't been out to any live music in a few months, so this was exciting news. I invited some friends, and we ventured out on a Sunday evening to hear good music, drink good beer, and kick up our heels. There wasn't much of a dancing scene going on, so my friend and I created it ourselves. We were finally joined by one other lady, and the hoe-down commenced. Since there were dancers out on the floor, they said they would pull out a few of their good dancing numbers, one of which was a cover of Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" done old-time string style. Rowdy fun abounded. I was very surprised to see an old friend from back home walk in the door who knows some of the band members from college and time spent living in Olympia. He was travelling through and stopped in to see the show, so we got to do some catching up. I love how good music brings people out of the woodwork.
On to some samples of this fine music:
Here's a Youtube video of them playing their "I'm On Fire" cover at Fort Flagler.
And a video of their awesome rendition of "Cluck Old Hen" (a personal favorite of mine.) One of the lead singers, Jess, does old time mountain stomp dancing that really adds a cool percussive element to parts of the song. I made a point of asking them to play it last night, and was not disappointed.
If you find yourself liking their music, they have some albums available on their website that are very worth adding to your collection. They also just finished funding their new album "At the Break" via Kickstarter, so it should be available soon. I picked up a copy last night and am enjoying it immensely. Part of their Kickstarter project was funding towards a veggie oil powered bus for touring, so I'm hoping to see them come through again in the near future.
One can only go so long without kicking up their heels.
0 comments:
Post a Comment