Hackensaw Boys

Billboard

You see them in the early hours of the morning walking hotel corridors, or boldly traversing rush hour streets. They are sincere, polite but talkative men with instrument cases. They admire the local scenery and appear unfed. By day they seem incapable of action but at night they step onto a stage and with taut fiddle bows, worn cutlery and dirty strings bring you a focused, vibrant and joyful sound. They are the Hackensaw Boys - and they are in your town.

After seven years of relentless touring throughout the United States, Europe and the U.K., the Hackensaw Boys are being recognized as one of the most exciting groups on the diverse Americana music scene. The group's second release for Nettwerk Records Look Out (available June 19th - 2007) represents the recorded culmination of the Hackensaw's unique vision: A celebratory but defiant sound culled from old-time mountains, backstage doorways and punishing drives through the evolving American landscape. Nine of the album's 12 songs were written from within the group and sometimes-Modest Mouse-sometimes-Hackensaw, Tom Peloso, contributed two tracks. A pounding rendition of the traditional "Gospel Plow" rounds out the package.

The Hackensaw Boys have survived departures and arrivals, tribulations, blessings and, most importantly, each other. Add to this, thousands of nights in hundreds of clubs from Nashville to Bangor, from Los Angeles to Rotterdam and you begin to get an idea of the dedication and sheer mule-like tenacity that is the Hackensaw Boy ethic. So, whether you catch these guys on the road or pick them up in a store, be sure to check out the Hackensaw Boys - the perfect anodyne for the aches and pains of modern life.

The Hackensaw Family (circa 2007)

Baby J. (Jesse Fiske) - bass, accordion, harmonica and guitar
The Kooky-Eyed Fox (Jimmy Stelling) - banjo and fiddle
Mahlon (Robert Bullington) - mandolin, guitar
Four (Ferd Lionel Moyse, IV) - fiddle and bass
Cousin Spits (Ward Harrison) - guitar
Salvage (Justin Neuhardt) - charismo, spoons and saw

Pee Paw (Tom Peloso) - spends his time with Modest Mouse these days but he contributed two songs to Look Out as well as vocal and bass duties on the track "Hobo".

History

In the fall of 2000 the boys left the Blue Moon Diner in Charlottesville, VA in a 1964 GMC motorcoach ("The Dirty Bird") and circled the country in a six-week tour that found the then 12-piece ensemble playing in bars, streets and alleyways of America's most reputable and disreputable cities. Since that time the group has evolved, explored and adapted. They've toured with a bevy of diverse acts who were quick to embrace the group's sound and songcraft: The Flaming Lips, Modest Mouse, Camper Van Beethoven, The Detroit Cobras, Cake and De La Soul among them. In 2003, the Hackensaw Boys were honored to serve as Charlie Louvin's backing band on that Country Music Hall of Fame member's nationwide tour. Since that time they've also collaborated with Johnny Hickman and David Lowery from Cracker as well as fronting numerous side-projects.