While I was visiting my Vermont-trapped brother-in-law a few weeks back, he told me, "You've got to hear this band." He shoved a tape in the deck as we sliced down a highway that divides snow bank from snow bank, and the Gourds shared their enthusiasm for sipping "Gin and Juice."
"Hell," I told him, "where I'm from, these guys play a Mexican restaurant every week for free. They won't even play this song anymore 'cause of all the frat boys who've caught wind of it."
"Maybe so," he said, "but in these parts, this is the closest we get to good music."
Fear not, dear brother, 'cause your neck of the woods just got a lot better. Frog Holler's home state of Pennsylvania may be a good ways from Vermont, but it's close enough that my brother can take comfort in the glow of these stellar pickers. In the spirit of the Gourds, Wilco and Whiskytown, Frog Holler's second CD laces great hooks with sweet harmonies. Some -- such as "Stray", which weaves an introspective tale of a lost hippie chick who, like Snoop Dogg, takes comfort in gin and juice, among other things -- lure listeners with their elegant licks and catchy choruses. Others, including "Pennsylvania", tip the hat to traditional bluegrass. Loaded with rich harmonies and a competent, if subdued, fiddle solo, this cut casts the same net as the Soggy Bottom Boys' "Man of Constant Sorrow", which won over many a bluegrass-phobe who saw the film O' Brother, Where Art Thou? Both songs prove that an irresistible lick shuns genres and burrows right into the soul.
"Choose a Path" pays homage to the traditional bluegrass breakdown. While spirited and smile-inducing, the song lacks the stunning speed of, say, a Bill Monroe chestnut and the finger-blistering passion of a Tony Rice solo. That may be one area where the Gourds have the upper hand on Frog Holler. But hell, these boys are from Pennsylvania. Get them down to Austin, pump them full of Shiner beer and set them up in a weekly gig at Jovitas, and I guarantee they'll find that same fire and lust that makes the Gourds so damn appealing to a Yankee like my brother-in-law.
|
