Make mine a whiskey...
Country & Western is back in fashion. Not the clothes you understand; frankly there's no justification for wearing a Stetson and spurs in Central London - unless you happen to frequent some of the more adventurous clubs in the throbbing metropolis. No, I mean the music. Since the death of Johnny Cash and the release of 'Walk the Line', C&W is firmly back in vogue. Don't believe me? Check out your local record store. I'll bet you my horse and ivory grip Peacemaker that it's full to overflowing with The Man in Black's back catalogue - and all at bargain prices too. Cash sure is cheap these days...
Anyway - The Deadstring Brothers is a five-piece alt-country rock band (although I swear six of them took to the floor) with two critically acclaimed albums under their (gun) belts. Consistently compared to 'Exile on Main Street'-era Rolling Stones, they're on a drive through the UK at the moment and, as I knew absolutely nothing about them (so don't be expecting many song titles to be revealed here guys) I dropped into The Borderline for a nip of whiskey and a plate of beans to see what all the fuss was about.
As they mounted the stage, only drummer E Travis Harrett kept the country tag alive by wearing a shirt straight outta 'Bonanza'. The rest of the posse were clad in your standard rock 'n' roll outfits: skinny jeans, skinny t-shirts (probably all due to skinny lattes) and they were all soon drenched in the customary beads of sweat. (Hey, you Borderline guys - that place REALLY needs some air conditioning...or maybe keep the barn door open a little wider next time.) Furthermore, bassist Philip Skarich resembled Christian Bale in 'The Machinist' to such an extent I thought that the American Psycho himself had taken to moonlighting to supplement his earnings. There was a man who needed some good tucker and no mistake.
"It's good to be back home", was the cry from frontman Kurt Marschke as The Deadstring's rifled through a eclectic melange of traditional C&W, alt-folk ballads and straight-up rock 'n' roll. It took a while for the band to lasso the wayward cattle, but pretty soon everyone was caught up in a dance floor stampede and I barely survived the jostling beasts. On stage though, things were getting a little mellower. Backing vocalist and percussionist Masha Marijieh came to the fore to soften the rough edges of The Deadstring's sound with some effortlessly sublime yodels and some undeniably enthusiastic tambourine slapping.
Of the tunes I did manage to Google (in an effort to identify), 'It Takes Love' and '27 Hours' were inclusions as popular as a barn raising dance on the 4th of July and the crowd loved every cotton-pickin' minute of them.
To finish, The Deadstring's served up a tune that wouldn't have sounded out of place in a 'Dukes of Hazzard' episode (if it's of any help, one of the lines was "You look like the devil in the morning") and it was a fitting end to a thoroughly professional and slick gig.
If you're a fan of alt-country-rock (and no, I don't mean Billy Ray Cyrus), you'll adore The Deadstring Brothers. They've got a great sound, they're lyrically diverse (though can be accused of occasionally wallowing in a saccharine-laced swamp) and they know how to put on a great show. However, like me, if you prefer the darker side of C&W, (Johnny Cash's later recordings with Rick Rubin would be the most obvious examples I can think of) then you might not fully embrace the more mainstream material that The Deadstring Brothers include in their set.
When all's said and done though, The Deadstring Brothers are a talented and accomplished bunch of musicians who are goddamn sure to give a darn good time to any passing cowpoke they meet as they canter over the sunset-drenched prairie.
Yeehah!