Hungry For More

Band spokesperson Teddy Weber grew up in rural northwest New Jersey - in a village not unlike Kenmore, he tells me - and was exposed to all kinds of music except for early country and bluegrass. Originally playing cornet in ska bands, college jazz and classical ensembles, he moved to Maine to study forestry and within months had traded in his horn for an acoustic guitar and found himself on stage picking six-string, Dobro, National steel and electric lap steel guitars as well as singing and writing songs.

String bass player Matt Downing established his musical roots in Iowa where his parents took him to jazz clubs and music festivals from the time he could walk. When a local bluegrass band needed a bass player, he rented a bass and joined in. Along the way he picked up mandolin, banjo, ukulele, guitar, plus a little songwriting, and now performs in clubs and recording studios with a variety of groups.

Newest band member is Adam Tanner, a North Carolina based musician who plays pretty much everything with strings on it. He has a long history of playing all kinds of music, from a rock group to touring internationally with the Crooked Jades, who some readers may have seen on their Scottish tour last year.

The Hunger Mountain Boys took The Courtyard by an understated storm in a delightful evening’s entertainment with its roots in such various styles as string band music, Mississippi Delta Blues, ragtime, Western Swing, early jazz and what would eventually become bluegrass. It’s a well-known, though little said, fact that what we now call Country music was Celtic music before the Americans got their hands on it, but bands like this make the influences obvious.

And the quote of the evening came from Teddy Weber when he commented on the band’s journey from their hotel in Glenfarg to Kenmore. “In the USA we have to travel,” he said, “but in Scotland we get to travel.“

This was the real traditional North American music, with no Crystal Chandeliers in sight and - thankfully - no trace either of the dreaded Country’n’Irish, so congratulations once again to The Hunger Mountain Boys and to Jake and Kim for arranging their visit to The Courtyard. Keep a lookout for other artistes who will be coming to entertain; The Hunger Mountain Boys played to a full house and let’s hope this is a continuing trend.

Next up at the end of October is an interesting gig featuring Boston-based singer/songwriter Alastair Moock, described by The Boston Globe as “one of the town’s best and most adventurous songwriters” and by The Washington Post as “every song is a gem.” His writing style is often compared to those of John Prine and Woody Guthrie, so it looks like being another interesting evening.

Alan Brown