Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Twisted Oak Bringing bluegrass to the foothills August 2, 2013

Starting out a couple years ago as "an experimental spoken word bluegrass band," (doesn't that sound commercially viable?) The Deadly Gentlemen are now playing what they call a mix of "epic folk and grasscore." What does this mean? Well, there are five band members: Greg Liszt (also of Crooked Still), banjo and vocals; Stash Wyslouch, guitar and vocals; Mike Barnett, fiddle and vocals; Dominick Leslie, mandolin and vocals; and Sam Grisman, double bass and vocals.
Instead of having a lead singer, they use a nonstop orchestration of somewhat unconventional vocals, with everybody in the band doing everything they can. Expect a lot of three-part harmony singing, group shouting, really dense rhymes and an almost rap-like phrasing. Their songs have kind of a rock ‘n’ roll feel, despite the acoustic bluegrass instrumentation.
the deadly gentlemenSome of their songs started out as miniature epic poems based on folk songs. That’s where the term “epic folk” comes from. The grasscore songs are the ones where everybody in the band throws caution to the wind and goes completely berserk. Kind of the punk or hardcore mentality, but applied to bluegrass. And please... don’t call it a boy band.

For tickets visit  http://www.twistedoak.com/events