'Setting The Woods On Fire'
Supper & Song with The Hunger Mountain Boys
Hank Williams will, for many, always be their biggest musical hero as his unique brand of American ‘folk’ took the world by storm and started what came to be known as ‘Country’.
These days, fans of the genre who prefer to hear the music pared back to basics but played in the old-style, say that it’s The Hunger Mountain Boys who are “setting the woods on fire”.
Those who like their bluegrass music to come direct from the source, will want to get a fix of this. The trio arrives in the UK for a string of major theatre dates with leading bluegrass band The Earl Brothers and has added a “sideshow” date at The Courtyard at Mains of Taymouth, Kenmore, as part of the venue’s successful season of Supper & Song evenings. |
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Their gift to crank out “something nobody does better” won them appearances at festivals across America, and theatre slots alongside legendary performers such as Del McCoury, Tim O’Brien, Doc Watson and Ralph Stanley.
Explaining their appeal, a recent review said: “They busk a blend of toe-tapping ragtime/old-time/country blues ’n’ bluegrass that has a patent leather vaudeville sheen and shuffles merrily along aided and abetted by mighty fine pickin’, stylish slide guitar, dancing fiddle, mellow mandolin…and chugging slap bass.”
The band pays homage to Country’s best brother duos but, sharp playing and crisp vocal harmonies aside, their biggest strength is the quality of the original material. You cannot tell the old from the new. The old is likely to be a cover of a Delmore Brothers song or a Jimmie Rodgers jewel.
The band came together in 2000 and has released four albums. Some of its originals were featured on King of Bluegrass, the 2003 Jimmy Martin documentary. Those who saw top American five-piece The Crooked Jades when they appeared at summer festivals here last year (pictured above) will recall the outstanding playing of multi-talented fiddler Adam Tanner who has recently joined the Hunger Mountain Boys’ line-up.
Date for diary: Tuesday 2 October at The Courtyard, Mains of Taymouth, Kenmore. Tickets (£12.50 – including supper) available now from the venue – 01887 830763
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