Album Review: Hackensaw Boys - Charismo

The last two days I've listened to an advanced copy of the Hackensaw Boys upcoming album Charismo. It is produced by Larry Campbell who was the ringleader of Levon Helm's band it's last few years. The album will drop on Tax Day by Free Dirt Records and I recommend using your refund to procure this release. The band has evolved over the years with the current iteration a trio consisting of founder David Sickmenn, who returned after a long hiatus in 2012, festival favorite Ferd Moyse, and Brian Gorby, who inherited the album's namesake - the Charismo - from Justin Neuhardt. 

The songs on Charismo are all original written by Sickmen and Moyse and a good ear can distinguish them. There's more sophistication and maybe more seriousness to the songs, and not the jamming thrillers we loved at festivals. But the harmonies are still killer. The opening track "Don't Bet Against Me" is in my opinion the best track with "Happy For Us in the Down" and "Flora" two more favorites. Festival goers will want to listen to "Limousin Lady". As much as I'd like to pair this album with Veritas Winery, where the band plays often, but Starr Hill Brewery seems a better option. Cheers.

2012 Music on the Mountaintop Rounding the Corner

Time to start planning another trip to the mountains, this time to Boone NC and the 2012 Music on the Mountaintop - held August 24-26 at the Grandfather Campground. General admission tickets for the three days are $99.00 + fees with %50 single day tickets available for Friday\Saturday and $40 Sunday.

Those are the basics, here's why you should go. The host band is Railroad Earth and not only will the guys be performing, but they will be leading musical workshops throughout the weekend. The remaining lineup consists of Dr. Dog, Sam Bush, JJ Grey & Mofro, Greensky Bluegrass, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Futurebirds, The Hackensaw Boys, Holy Ghost Tent Revival, Larry Keel & Natural Bridge, The Black Lillies, River Whyless, Rose’s Pawn Shop, Naked Gods, SalemSpeaks, and Monroeville.

We really look forward to seeing Holy Ghost Tent Revival, particularly after our MyJoogTV episode.

FloydFest9 Day3 - Sunday

The last day of any festival starts with a little anxiety. For campers, the gear has to be packed; and then there's the ride home. We had to return early for sitter reasons, so we were determined to see as much music as possible in a shortened day. Luckily Floydfest obliged. We started off with husband and wife team The Honey Dewdrops on the Front Porch. Loved their version of Prine's "In Spite of Ourselves". We were remaining on the porch for Mountain Heart so in the break we rolled down the hill to see a few songs from the Jason Spooner Trio. The trio had traveled down from Maine and they exude a more west coast sound than the folk tunes usually composed in the northeast. We really liked this sound and the trio is a tight little outfit. As soon as we heard Mountain Heart finish their sound check we raced up the hill to grab a seat. This was an extremely informal performance with the band playing requests, responding to questions, and wondering where Aaron Ramsey was - he was actually back at the hotel waiting for a shuttle that never arrived. This was an entertaining set as the band interacted with Jon Lohman and the crowd. Another version of Whipping Post ensued - this time with telephone sounds from the keyboards. There was also a train song and a gospel a Capella. Very nice.

The rest of the afternoon was a blur - we started with the final set of the weekend for the Hackensaw Boys. Another tight performance by the band and the first where Ward didn't have to change a string while singing harmony. They also brought aboard a special guest who jammed right along. Afterward we headed to the VIP Tent for more craft beer and our first look at Town Mountain. Unfortunately we spent more time talking to newly made friends that we could concentrate on the set - maybe next time. Then it was off to hear a few songs from Tift Merritt, Rose's Pawn Shop, and then Bearfoot. I feel for the later, they are trying to find a flat picker and Jake Stargel filled in finely. And a typical great performance by Jason, Odessa, and Angela. We finally found ourselves back at the Beer Garden in order to see The Steel Wheels. We had missed Trent and the boys at Ocrafest and in our last stop at Harrisonburg - so we really made an effort to fit them in. Love their sound. Finally, we had a decision to make, stay and listen to William Walter, stick around for Grace Potter & The Nocturnals, or start the trip to relieve the sitter. Sadly we picked the latter - next year we will stay through Sunday night. But for now, thanks to the volunteers and Across-the-Way Productions for a fabulous weekend. And once again more photos are available at the MyJoog Gallery.

FloydFest9 Day2 - Saturday

We woke early Saturday to the sound of portables being cleaned and shook off the drowsiness to examine the day's schedule. Like all festivals, there were many difficult choices to make on who to see. Like most Floydfest mornings, the day started with Kat Mills in the Beer Garden. No beers served yet, just nice acoustic music to allow us to collect our thoughts and literally charge our batteries. We decided to plan our afternoon around seeing Hackensaw Boys again and Joe Pug with our evenings revolving around the Main Stage: JJ Grey & Mofro, Old Crow Medicine Show, and the Levon Helm Band. What a core lineup, right?

From 10:00 am until 2:00 pm, we basically criss-crossed back and forth across the festival grounds listening to parts of many artist's sets: Mitch Barrett, William Walter & Co., Rocknoceros, Blue Mule, Rising Appalachia, Hackensaw Boys, Holy Ghost Tent Revival, and the Ralph Roddenberry Band. Except for the first and last, we had seen these acts before, all incredibly entertaining. Yes, we could have slowed down and stayed at the same stage - but then you end up missing so much good music. The biggest surprise among these was the Ralph Roddenberry Band - this year's festival theme appeared to be more roots rock and less bluegrass.

The afternoon ended with the main event - finally being able to see a live performance from Joe Pug. We've followed this artists since receiving a two song demo containing Nation of Heat and Hymn #101. We worked instantly hooked; the songs are full of powerful vocals and lyrics. Pug continued this craft with Messenger - just an awesome CD. And today we finally heard live sets to these songs. I don't want to come over as too dramatic, but his performance was chilling - spectacular. We missed his Front Porch performance that day, but we heard Jon Lohman sing his praises for Hymn #101. Watch out for this guy - he is going places.

In order to catch our breath, we headed to the beer garden to hear Possum Jenkins before returning to the Hill Holler stage and Mountain Heart. Foothills Brewing had also recommended Possum Jenkins and since Big Daddy Love was a hit, we figured why not. Plus we were able to try the brewery's awesome Sexual Chocolate stout. We enjoyed that brief interlude - good music and good beer - but returned to meet Echo Propp from WAMU Bluegrass Country. Echo has posted her travelogue of the festival that we recommend reading. Plus she had highly recommended that we see Mountain Heart - a very good "choose". The band is basically a bluegrass band that "crosses over" to other styles. How else to explain their rendition of Whipping Post. This band has the entire package - instrumentals, harmonies, Jake Stargel, humor; you name it. Definitely planning to see them Sunday at the Front Porch.

Besides Joe Pug, the other artist that was a must see was JJ Grey & Mofro. Since our first exposure at ACL in 1994, we watched and listened to Grey mature from a raw blackwater blues artist to a funky, soul, R&B, blues sensation. And now he's touring with a full band - not just Grey and Daryl Hance - but a full band: horns, keyboards, a third guitar. And he did not disappoint - from playing Lochloosa to Everything Good Is Bad to The Sun Is Shining Down to Orange Blossoms. Not convinced that Grey compares to the greatest soul singers of our generation - listen to A Woman. Hats off to the promoters for scheduling JJ Grey - that was the highlight of the day.

While the main stage was being cleared we decided to get a beverage from Starr Hill Brewing, The River Company Restaurant and Brewery, or Foothills Brewing, and see who was playing. The first band turned out to be Tennessee Boltsmokers, a bluegrass band out of Memphis. They had a nice Americana vibe to them as did the next act - Dangermuffin. Our friends, Steve and Jo from Blacksnake Meadery, had recommended this band so we pushed back our return to OCMS to see about the fuss, which is, the trio gets more sound out of an acoustic guitar, an electric guitar, and a drum kt than most five or six piece bands. Let's head to the beach.

Instead we headed to the main stage and the rest of the Old Crow Medicine Show. This band has been playing for a decade now, hard to believe, since their breakout CD Old Crow Medicine Show. They are worthy of all accolades, but sometimes I wonder why the Hackensaw Boys haven't reached the same level. Maybe the absence of a hit song? And whereas the crowd exploded when Wagon Wheel started, I prefer their more bluesy roots tunes: Tell It To Me or James River Blues. In any case OCMS puts on a good show and they definitely set the stage for the Levon Helm Band.

This was the second time in four nights that we got to see the old master perform - following their Wolf Trap performance. Even though the set list was practically identical it was still a thrill watching Helm interact with the crowd and the band. And what a band: his daughter Amy Helm, bassist Byron Isaacs, Larry Campbell, Teresa Williams, keyboardist Brian Mitchell, Jim Weider, and the entire rhythm section. I could listen to Amy Helm sing all night and Williams vocals on Long Black Veil were still chilling. Then there's Campbell, Williams, and Weider; who all masters of their craft. But the crowd was ready to hear Levon and he mustered all the energy that his frail body can exert and electrified the audience. And the photographers; the paparazzi was out in full force. But the crowd loved him - and we could barely hear the stage when they played The Weight. Another great performance.

After a quick refresher at the VIP Tent it was back to the beer garden and the second set from
American Aquarium. And they didn't disappoint. These guys can rock - their set from yesterday was more alt-country - tonight was pure jamin'. The crowd was all in and demanded a second encore. Good for them. This second encore forced us to drink a few more Starr Hill beers waiting for Rose's Pawn Shop - alt country from the west coast. These guys can also play and were quite impressive with a now standard lineup: acoustic guitar, electric guitar, fiddle, upright bass, and drum kit. That works for me.

Thanks again to the promoters and all the wonderful volunteers for making this another amazing day. And once again more photos are available at the MyJoog Gallery.

FloydFest9 Day1 - Friday

We arrived at Floydfest and settled in just in time for the Friday afternoon lineup. We had several bands on the agenda started with a rock band from Raleigh, American Aquarium. I had seen that they had toured with Sons of Bill and were opening for the Drive By Truckers later this year, so we wanted to check them out. They were just starting into a cover Springsteen's Thunder Road, and we came to find that they are a rock and roll band with the additional of a pedal steel. Makes a nice deviation in their sound. The band rocked through a few more songs just long enough to confirm that we would want to see them again - this time in the beer garden at midnight. Might be trouble. We took a beeline to the Main Stage to see the remainder of Deer Tick set; any band that combines elements of blues, folk, country - your basic American sound - is worthy of a listen. What a great sound. We returned to the Hill Holler stage to catch the rest of Cornmeal's performance. Love Allie Kral on the fiddle - she seems to bring smooth vocals and high energy to each show. This is basically a jam band in bluegrass clothing. I think the beginning of the Hill Holler dust bowl started with this set.

At this point we split, with one part going to the Beer Garden to see what the breweries have to offer and the other to the Main Stage again. I was the other and had received an email mentioning Konono No 1 - a band of Congolese players who play an unusual with their thumbs. Plus their sound system was built from old car parts. They weren't bad - nice percussion grooves - and the crowd was definitely in a dancing mood. I was in more of a beer mood and after a few songs headed to the Beer Garden to enjoy some hefeweisen. See our joint Wine-Compass coverage for the beers and wines on tap. I had missed Charlottesville native Travis Elliott and Richmond based Farm Vegas, but arrived in time to hear Do it to Julia. They were good - which shows how many talented groups are out their sweating in relative anonymity. But not any more, this band is on the radar. Apparently Travis Elliott is another to watch, he expanded from his normal singer-songwriter routine to include many Charlottesville-area musicians to form a rockin' band for the festival. Railroad Earth was coming quickly to the main stage, so after one more brew - it was off to the Main Stage. What else is there to say about this band. They are as talented as talented gets; and I've never seen a bad performance. And Amen Corner has never left the iPod. They played several from this CD as well as many classics - just another great performance.

We left a tad prematurely in order to hook up with the Hackensaw Boys, whom we were planning to feature throughout the festival. We had heard of this band for years, downloading a few songs here and there; but this is a band to see live. Raucous entertainment. We rushed back to the Beer Garden to say hello to find the entrance barred - power was out and so the garden had been cleared until power was restored. That meant good news and bad news. Good that we were not late and would see two other bands, bad that the night would now go into the late hours. In the meantime I just happened to strike up a conversation with Daniel Justin Smith, frontman for Big Daddy Love. The representatives from Foothills Brewery had actually recommended the band, so it was a nice coincidence. If only the beer was flowing. Once power was restored we realized how far behind schedule they were, starting off with some 70's funk and guitar from Soulhound. Soon Big Daddy Love was onstage and this was a real find, without the power outage we would have maybe heard their last song. The band plays Appalachian Rock™, a combination jam band, bluegrass, and roots-rock, sounds similar to some of the early raw Drive By Truckers - with some mountain instruments. I really enjoyed American Sycamore - honest songwriting from the mountains.

It was well past 1:00 AM when the Hackensaw Boys lined-up onstage - and I mean lined up - seven players in a row on the small stage. Co-founder David Sickman had rejoined the boys for the weekend and the band and crowd were ready to jam. And jam they did. An hour straight of organized chaos - sometimes you think they are out of control and then they stop and start in unison. And since practically each member contributes songs, you never know where the music will start. By 2:00 when the stage hands were ready to pack it in, and calls for an encore continued, the band complied to both and jumped into the crowd. They then performed three acoustic songs with fans collapsing into their protective circle. All proves that a live performance is a necessity. And it was time for bed.

More photos are available at the MyJoog Gallery.