Live Review - 6/22/2011 Deadly Gentlemen at Passim

I spent a lot of time in my review of their latest album Carry Me To Home talking about the unique vocal style of the Deadly Gentlemen, and I can honestly now say after seeing them live: I didn't get it.  Their unconventional technique is a mix of rapping / talking and singing / harmony, but rather than borne out of an inability to sing (as I previously suggested), it's an exploration of the psychedelic properties of the vocal instrument.  Imagine the surrealistic poetry and relentless rhythm of Bob Dylan's "Subterranean Homesick Blues" over dense melody and harmony as performed by some of the most talented musicians in the Boston acoustic scene, and you get some of the idea.

Which isn't to say it's all high-falutin', because Deadly Gentlemen are FUN.  The crowd was completely into it, especially after some of their punchier numbers like "Police."  When they announced "one more song," it seemed like they had just gotten up there; they were so entertaining, the time flew.

Most excitingly, frontman / banjo genius Dr. Greg Liszt suggested that the quintet might get a residency in Boston, playing weekly gigs at a club starting in the fall.  The Punch Brothers did this, and it helped to solidify their tightness as a group as well as allow them to experiment with anything from Bach to Radiohead.  Given that the Deadly Gentlemen features Liszt (most known from Crooked Still) as well as young turks Sam Grisman (also plays bass with his dad David Grisman's band), Dominick Leslie on the mandolin, fiddler Mike Barnett (who I saw with John McGann at Cantab), and charismatic guitarist Stash Wyslouch, they could be Boston's answer to The Infamous Stringdusters or the Punch Brothers - an uber-talented group that's constantly redefining acoustic music for the new millenium.

Check them out if they come to your town!

Live Review - 12/14/2010 John McGann's Bluegrass Mashup and The Dixie Butterhounds at Cantab

The Dixie Butterhounds: banjo player Jon Gersh described The Dixie Butterhounds' music at one point (and I'm paraphrasing) as "not too different from what you'd hear on a Friday or Saturday night in northern Georgia in the 1920's or 1930's." They mined traditional music (such as "Sugar Hill") and pre-bluegrass folk music stars (such as Uncle Dave Macon and The Carter Family) for their old-time set. The group is strong vocally, with everyone but the bassist taking a turn. Particularly good were subtle harmonies between fiddler Mark Wholley and rhythm guitarist Kathy Fletcher, very tastefully done. Nothing too groundbreaking here, but the mix of sounds - double fiddles by Wholley and George Touchstone, and Gersh's clawhammer banjo - was appealing.

John McGann's Bluegrass Mashup: I was prepared for McGann's excellence - though I hadn't heard him previously, his reputation as one of the best mandolin players in the Boston area precedes him - but the excellence of his accompaniment was a welcome surprise. McGann was joined by Deadly Gentlemen fiddler Mike Barnett, Della Mae bassist Amanda Kowalski, and the uber-talented Courtney Hartman. Kowalski brought the energy, consistently making eye contact with her band mates, swaying her whole body as she played, and keeping the bass line popping, even as the band played swingier numbers. Barnett and Hartman are just effortless players, playing fast, interesting, tasteful solos like they were just sitting on a chair. Hartman also sang and did a fine job; she's definitely a talent to watch. And McGann was terrific as expected, playing traditional fast bluegrass solos, bluesy riffs, woody chops, and putting the whole thing together I'll be interested to see if this foursome plays again, and also follow along with the other projects this group might have in store.

The Dixie Butterhounds official site
John McGann official site

The Deadly Gentlemen - Carry Me To Home

Rating: B

The "high lonesome sound" has been synonymous with bluegrass since Bill Monroe first assembled his Bluegrass Boys. Vocal performs from Monroe to Jimmy Martin to Del McCoury have continued the tradition of plaintive, mournful tenor vocals and high harmonies. Even modern acts that expand quite a bit beyond the traditional bluegrass sound are enamoured with the classic vocal stylings, from Tim O'Brien to Jeremy Garrett of The Infamous Stringdusters. There's something about the way a high, sad voice cuts through the rhythmic bass thumping and percussive chops and provides a human edge to the technical prowess of bluegrass music.

The Deadly Gentlemen ... yeah, they're doing something completely different. When you first hear Carry Me To Home, it is downright jarring. The band's website describes their vocal style as "three-part harmony singing, group shouting, really dense rhymes, and an almost rap-like phrasing." The clearest example of the oddity in their vocal delivery is the track "Police." The chorus is a call-and-response: "POLICE!!!," shouted by several band members, followed by "are bangin' on my door this morning!," which is neither quite sung nor shouted. Later on we get the band shouting "BANG BANG BANG BANG! BANG BANG BANG!!!" In other words, it's not how Jimmy Martin woulda done it. "The Road Is Rocky," a riff on Bill Monroe's "Rocky Road Blues" is even subject to this treatment, with low harmonized call-and-response and vocal meters that wouldn't be out of place in hip-hop. "Sadie's" vocals consist of alternating spoken whisper and falsetto harmonies against a backdrop of Mike Barnett's weird fiddle sounds and percussive rhythm guitar from Stash Wyslouch.

Perhaps tellingly, the title song, and also the album's best song, has the most conventional vocal delivery. It's not sung the way Monroe would have sung it, but it's the one tune where there's a conscious effort to sound pretty. This probably makes it stand out even more: the harmonized chorus "Someone pick me up and carry me to home!" comes through as really earnest. The chorus is really accentuated by the swell in Barnett's fiddle and Dominick Leslie's mandolin.

In light of that, there's the very good question: does the odd vocal style work? It's high-energy, which keeps the album engaging. It's pretty diverse; for five guys who don't sing (much), they get a lot of different sounds out of the voice as an instrument. All in all, I still love the high lonesome sound, but I respect what The Deadly Gentlemen are trying to do here.

The album as a whole ... hmm. It's interesting. I don't mean that negatively. The unusual vocal sound and feel means it's going to take a while for some of the subtler elements to sink in - I didn't even mention Crooked Still's Greg Liszt and his always-amazing banjo, or David Grisman's son Sam Grisman rocking the bass - and this could be a favorite of mine three months from now. But I'm writing this review today, not then, and so I say: download it now! It's free, for goodness' sake. What are you waiting for?

Download for free at The Deadly Gentlemen official site!